Customers will have access to the system when they come to the office so they can see all the houses for sale. They have an option to look for information independently or to ask a secretary for help. Customer access will be limited and confidential files will be protected.
Workers may access all files provided they are qualified. There will be one password for all receptionists to use. If customers ask for help, there will always be a receptionist to help them by using the computer. There will different files to make sorting easier for the users.
A website may later be posted on the Internet to advertise Blue Water Estate Agents and the houses for sale. It can be accessed from any working computer with the Internet. This way, people will find out about all houses and prices. It will be easy and efficient.
Collect information from Potential Users
They are going to collect information by using a questionnaire. They will send these to the customers by using mail merge on Access. The receptionist will be asked the similar questions about the database and the new way of storing information. We will ask them how efficient the system is for them and what they think of it. The customers will give a reply and feed back to us what they think about the system.
BWEA Questionnaire
Miss Michelle Wong,
85 Woodgrange Avenue,
North Finchley,
London.
N12 0PT.
15th February 2002
BWEA Estate Agents,
1160 High Road,
North Finchley,
London.
N12 0TD
Please fill in this questionnaire and return to the address above.
- What are the five most important points you need to know about the customer?
- First Name
- Surname
- What type of house they are looking for
- Their price range
- Their phone number
- What information do you collect about the property?
- The type of property
- Location of the property
- The asking price of the property
- The size of the property
- How many bedrooms the property has
- Is there a garage
- Is there a garden
- Are there any conversions or extensions
- Leasehold or Freehold
- Gas or electric heating
- In your current system, are there any problems with collecting data?
Not really, but sometimes it is hard to find the required fields.
- In your current system, how do you store your data?
We use a filing system to store all our data.
- Do you have any problems with updating your information?
Yes, because we have to write out the data again manually, there is no easy way of updating data.
- What problems are you facing with having to collect data manually?
It takes a long time to collect the data from potential users.
- Do you think using a computer would help?
I thing using a computer would make our system a lot faster.
- Do you have trouble locating information?
Yes, because the process of looking through the files is very time confusing.
- What are your current methods of advertising? Would using the Internet help you to advertise houses?
Yes, we would use the Internet for advertising if we had the resources.
10.Does the information sometimes get passed to the wrong people?
Most of the time, information is given to the appropriate customers but occasionally the names are confused with each other.
Thank you for your time. We will be using your answers to help set up a new database system using the computer for Blue Water Estates Agents.
85 Woodgrange Avenue,
North Finchley,
London.
N12 0PT.
15t February 2002
To the Customer,
Please answer this questionnaire and return to the address above.
- What are the ten most important things you need to know about the property on sale?
- Whether it is freehold or leasehold
- Whether it is terraced, semi-detached or detached
- Whether there is a garage
- How many rooms in the house
- How many receptions
- How big the garden is
- Whether the windows are double glazed or not
- Whether the house has gas central heating or electric
- Whether there is a separate bathroom, shower and toilets
10. Whether the house is near shops and public transport
- What do you feel about the current systems the Estate Agents are using?
I think the current systems are good but they are expensive.
- Do you think using the Internet will help you look for houses or Estate Agents?
Yes, I think the Internet would help me look for houses because there would be a wider range of property.
- Do you think the current system is efficient for customers?
Yes, the current system is quite efficient for customers.
- How would you prefer the Estate Agents to contact you?
I would prefer the Estate Agents to contact me by telephone.
- What type of advertising are you attracted to?
I am attracted to advertisements that show colour pictures of the houses with detailed description.
Thank you for your time.
To find out information I used a questionnaire. I was aiming to find out what customers and Estate Agents think of the current system. They would send a reply back by the post. The type of information required are:
For the Customer
- The things customers need to know about the house
- How efficient is the current system for the customer
- What type of advertising does the customer look at
- How do the Estate Agents contact the customer
For the Estate Agents
- Details about the house
- Details about the customer
- The current system at the estate agents
- The type of advertising currently used
- The ways of contacting the customer
- Ways of collecting information
- Updating information in the Estate Agents
We found out the above.
Other alternatives we could have used to collect information are:
I could have written letters to customers as an alternative asking them about the current system of the Estate Agents. They would have replied with a letter through the post.
I could have also interviewed the users for answers I could have met with them and collected the information directly.
The advantages of the questionnaire are that all the answers required are very clear. All the questions are usually answered in a questionnaire.
The disadvantage of using a questionnaire may be classed as junk mail. The user may not bother to post the answers back.
The advantages of using letters are that you can explain fully in writing why you are asking for information about the Estate Agents. It is personalised for the user, unlike junk mail. It can also be very polite to the user.
The disadvantage of using letters is that some people might not have time to reply. Not all of the questions might be answered which are required.
The advantage of using an interview is that you can collect the information instantly. You can ask all the questions required and all the questions will be answered.
The disadvantages of an interview are that a lot of time is needed for the interview. People might be unwilling to go for an interview.
List the Inputs, Outputs and Processing Required
- Have you any detached houses in Finchley near a tube station?
Location of house, type of house
Search in file containing houses in Finchley. Look for the location of the house and type.
List of detached houses in Finchley near a tube station.
Contact seller of property and customer to fix a viewing.
- Have you any houses in Muswell Hill near a school?
Location of house
Search file containing houses in Muswell Hill. Search location of house.
List of houses in Muswell Hill near a school.
Contact seller of house and customer for a viewing of the property.
- Have you any flats to rent in the East Finchley area?
Type of building, Location of flat, Leasehold or Freehold
Search file containing houses in East Finchley. Look at the flats to rent.
A list of leasehold flats in East Finchley area.
Check and contact seller for an appointment.
- Are there any bungalows available to buy in North Finchley?
Type of house, location of house
Search in file containing houses in North Finchley. Search for bungalows.
A list of bungalows in North Finchley
Contact customer and arrange a viewing with seller
- Are there any flats to rent in Muswell Hill for under £300 a month?
Type of house, Location of flat, Price of flat, Leasehold or Freehold
Search file containing houses in Muswell Hill. Search leasehold property to rent for under £300 a month.
A list of leasehold houses to rent in Muswell Hill, Price range- under £300.
Contact seller and customer to arrange a meeting
- Are there any freehold semi detached houses in Finchley Central within 20mins drive of a secondary school?
Freehold or Leasehold, Location of house
Search file containing houses in Finchley. Look in the semi detached section, freehold.
A list of freehold semi- detached houses near a secondary school.
Inform customer of available property and fix a viewing with customer and seller.
- Are there any terraced houses available to let in Mill Hill?
Type of house, Location of house
Search file containing houses in Mill Hill. Look in the terraced house section, to let.
A list of terraced houses to rent in Mill Hill.
Contact landlord/landlady for a viewing with the customer
- Are there any four-bedroom houses in Finchley for less than £320,000?
Type of house, Location of house, Price of house
Search houses in Finchley file. Search how many bedrooms each house has and the price range.
A list of four-bedroom houses in Finchley, price range-under £320,000.
Arrange a viewing of the property for and customer and inform seller
- Look up customers phone number in file.
Surname, First Name, Membership number
A phone number for the appropriate name.
- Find the customer’s requirements for a house.
Look though customer files and requirements.
A list of requirements for the right customer.
- To look up a sellers phone number in file.
Surname, First Name, Membership Number
A contact telephone number for correct seller
- Look up a date for a viewing
Search appointment file for the correct customer/seller/property numbers
A date and time of the property viewing.
Suggest a System Specification for the Solution
The Resource requirements needed are-
Hardware-
- Monitor (17 inches)
- Keyboard
- Mouse (handset)
- Tower or Desktop (hard drive) 120GB
- Colour Laser Jet Printer
- Scanner
- A Hard Disc (drive C) 120GB
- A Floppy Disc (drive A)
- DVD/CD Rewriter Combo Drive
- RAM (Random Access Memory) 64K
- ROM (Read Only Memory)
- CPU chip (Central Processing Unit)
- Pentium 3 processor 2.0 GHz
Software-
- Office Pack (containing- Microsoft, access, excel, publisher, PowerPoint, Outlook Express)
- Software for printer
- Microsoft Windows 2000
Two possible computers which contain the necessary hardware and software are:
DELL DIMENSION MODEL costing £950.00 inc. VAT and free delivery
DELL INSPIRON MODEL costing £1150.00 inc. VAT and free delivery
The difference between the two which makes the cost vary is that the DELL INSPIRON MODEL is faster and can hold more memory on the hard drive. This added memory is not always essential but for future use it may be a wise purchase.
We are using Access instead of Excel for the basic reasons-
- Access allows you to mail-merge into other documents
- You can create relational databases for easier use
- You can create fields using access
- DBMS (database management system) controls who can enter each file
- Barriers can be set up to limit what is written
A database is used to store information and details about customers and properties. It is needed for the Estate Agents to make storing information easier and more accessible.
A mail merge device is useful as it enables the Estate Agent to send personalised letters to the customer using the information, which is stored on the database. Any information needed is already there so no time is wasted copying down the details.
Relational databases are far more effective than a flat database because tables can be linked instead of all the information entered in the same table.
We must use a scanner instead of a photocopier because we need coloured pictures of the property.
What is a Relational Database?
A relational database enables you to link tables together so everything is joined. It still keeps separate files and tables depending on how you link them. They are linked together through key fields. When a name or house changes in one file, they will be changed in the other linked files automatically. This will make databases more efficient to change and use. For example, if there are two files with the same names in it can be linked via key fields.
These are some benefits to relational databases. People do not have to be trained properly to handle the database and to prevent glitches. There is a barrier, which enables you to limit what is written. When fields are created, you can choose what type of text is written. Customer and seller access can be limited and when a worker has made a mistake, the possible texts are shown on screen. This will prevent Estate Agents making mistakes on the database.
Design
Produce an Appropriate Design for the Data Structure
The fields needed for the database are-
Customer Details-
- First name
- Surname
- Address line 1
- Address line 2
- Address line 3
- Address line 4
- Postcode
- Phone Number
House Details-
- Number of Receptions
- Number of Bedrooms
- Number of Bathrooms
- Size of house
- Price of House
- Leasehold or Freehold
- Extensions
- Furnished or Unfurnished
- Garden
- Garden size
- Garage
- Picture of House
Validation
Validation checks that the data is the right type. When the data is entered, the computer will automatically check.
A range check will make sure the text makes sense e.g.
Someone’s birthday must be in the range of months, 1- 12.
A Presence check makes sure important fields are entered in e.g.
The computer will not allow the postcode field left empty.
A Check Digit makes sure the numbers in the data have been entered properly.
A Data Type Check makes sure that text hasn’t been put in any number fields.
Verification
Verification checks the data is the same as the original data. There are two main data techniques.
Proof- Reading is to make sure words are spelt write and no mistakes have been made.
Double Entry is when two people have entered the same data. The computer checks if they are both the same. Any errors are corrected.
Tasks which need to be carried out are the following-
- First, we will interview the customers and discuss the requirements.
- We will tell them what the program will achieve and what documentation will be needed.
Design
- We will create two designs showing how they are linked.
- We will decide which fields to use and explain why they have been chosen and ask them if the fields meet their needs.
- We will produce a questionnaire for customers to fill in, to collect data.
- We will produce a flowchart to show how the system will work and explain it.
- Any limitations that have affected the design will be explained.
- We will produce screen prints for the tools available for the database and say why we are using them.
- We will describe to the customer what hardware we are using.
- We will design two forms, use the most appropriate design and explain why we chose it.
- We will discuss advantages and disadvantages of the key features.
- A form for a mail merge letter will be designed.
- We will write a test plan about the test and expected results.
Implementation
- The data will be entered into the database. If modification is needed, a note will be made.
- The test plan will be carried out and filled in.
- We will make screen prints to provide evidence of results and explain it.
- Records will be found by doing several queries.
- We will do the mail merge.
- The report will be produced.
- We will write a user guide including how to use the system and all the hardware/ software, which is needed.
- The user guide will be provided for someone to test the system. A questionnaire will be sent out for them to complete.
- We will explain the field design and the changes made.
- The software, which produced the inputs and outputs, will be described. We will justify the changes as a result of testing.
Evaluation
- We will copy and paste the design brief, then will be monitored to see whether the system meets all the requirements.
- We will describe the testing strategies and results. The comments of the user will be discussed.
- We will explain the changes and improvements as the result of testing.
- Any limitations will be described. Possible improvements will be suggested.
- The software will be discussed and how we used it.
The two different users of the system are
- The customers who have access to the information about the houses.
- The receptionist who have access to customer details and the houses.
