Smarts Leisure Park Database Booking System

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Smarts Leisure Park Database Booking System

Introduction

Smarts Leisure Park has a booking system which is inefficient. They would like an improved booking system preferably by computerising it. I will design and build this booking system for them.

Aim

My aim is to design and create a computerised booking system for Smarts Leisure Park using a Database, using MS Access.

The User

Smarts Leisure Park is a park near Southampton which provides many outdoor and indoor activities for young children aged below or in their teens and family’s 7days a week. Activities include water sports, running and football.

It receives many visitors per year and could use a computerised booking system to register all of the visitors that go there, especially as it is located in a well populated area.

The park is organised with different departments and I will be directly working for Ronnie Starr (SLP), in the sports hall to create this booking system. If my system is successful it may be adapted for use in the whole park.

The Current System

The current system is very inefficient, for example:

Making a booking will be as follows. The customer will come up to the desk and ask to make a booking for an activity. The receptionist will then get the book out and search for the date of which the person wants to make the booking. They will then write their name in the book and the details of the activity booked. The customer will then have to produce a receipt for their booking, all hand written.  

When cancelling a booking, the customer will come up to the desk and want to cancel. The receptionist will have to find the booking and then cross their name off an refund the fee paid.

To change a booking, the customer will have to go up to the desk and, like cancelling, the receptionist will have to not only cross their name out on the day that they booked but then put it in the new date. The receptionist will then have to write a more updated receipt and ticket by hand, the booking is then changed. It is the same by the phone but the receipt will have to be posted to the customer.

The thing that is wrong with it is the fact that the process is long, drawn out, inefficient and not very organised. It would be largely improved if the booking system was computerised so that it could be an easier process to book the bookings, the receipt and also help with phone bookings.  Other problems include:

  • Difficult to analyse data
  • Storage problems with old books
  • Not organised
  • Not easy to find/locate information
  • Writing might not be legible
  • Only one person can use it at once
  • It will get messy
  • Too slow
  • Book can be lost
  • Difficult to create reports

Possible Solutions

There are two possible solutions:

  1. Improve the current system

One of the solution could be to improve the current system.

  • Use more books for their booking system so two or more     people can use the system.
  • Look after the books
  • Lock the book away and use it carefully
  • Use abbreviations
  • Separate books for each sport
  • Use a folder/ dividers

However, it is still not going to be efficient for the company because the book will still get messy due to booking cancellations and still be an inefficient system because with several books, the bookings will have to be recorded several times.

  1. To replace or use a computerised booking system

Use Microsoft Access to create a computerised booking system, on the computer.

Advantages

There are many advantages, these are:

  • It will be quicker to enter details e.g. a booking
  • Make it secure (password)
  • Neater
  • Many people can use at once
  • Can print reports
  • Organised to find specific data
  • Can store masses of data
  • Easy to find info
  • Reduces data duplication
  • Easy to change it
  • Create back up data

Disadvantages

There are some disadvantages however:

  • Expensive to buy the equipment and software, training and also to develop (my fee)

My Solution

For my solution I am going to create a computerised database because It allows the whole operation to be more efficient booking. I will design and create a booking system using MS Access 2003.

User Needs

Mr Starr of Smarts Leisure Park has set the following user needs:

  • Must be able to add, edit and store customer details
  • Must be able to add, and store customer bookings
  • Must be able to enter, edit and store activity details
  • The system must be user friendly:
  • use a simple menu system
  • use input forms to make it easy to enter data
  • have a simple user guide to help new users
  • Must produce a report that shows all customer details
  • Must be able to produce a report that shows a customer’s bookings
  • All reports must look professional
  • The system must be secure
  • Must produce a cancellation report and query to show the manager

My Objectives

I want my database to achieve the following objectives:

  • Organised
  • Easy to use
  • Readable
  • Meet all the user needs
  • Works
  • Is Professional, correct, efficient and well designed.

Analysis

The Computer System

Smarts Leisure Park will need a computer system to run the database and my system; they will need the following items.

Hardware

SLP will need to buy many things including:

An internet connection

This will allow SLP to connect to the information. They need a modem and an internet browser to go on the internet.

Printer

They will need a laser printer for increased accuracy. They will need both a Black and White printer and also a colour printer

Drives

Smarts Leisure will need three disc drives, including a DVD drive and writing drive and also a browsing drive for all data that will be processed on it. A floppy disc drive is not needed.

Accessories

SLP will need a keyboard, mouse (wireless), monitor and computer as the basics for their computers. The monitor will preferably be flat screen to save space. The computer will require at least 1 GB of ram to have sufficient memory for all of the data. It will need about 200GB + of space. For the drives it will need back up drives in case anything goes wrong. The manufacturer of the computers will need to be reliable

Software

The software on the computer will have to be modern and include many things for the database booking system. It will need:

  • Windows XP Professional (to allow a network) (vista if 2007)
  • Pentium R Processors (better on networks)
  • MS Office 2003 (2007) (allowing Word, Access, Excel, PowerPoint)
  • Antivirus software e.g. Norton

The computer that will be used needs to have very minimum requirements such as the processor and the storage available on the hard disk. It also needs quite a lot of ram to deal with the demands of the database.

Data Requirement

I will need certain data to make my booking system work. This data is the Customers, Activities and the bookings that are made.

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  • Customer Data

I will need data about the customer such as Name, Age, Gender, Address, DOB, and E-Mail. This data will come from the customer, giving the details on booking. It will be entered by the receptionist.

  • Activity Data

I will need data about the activity such as what it is, where it is located, who is in charge, Cost, start and end times. This will be inputted by the receptionist or the manager of the sport hall, who will decide the programs and give the information also. If it needs to be changed or ...

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