Time for Automated Site Check In?
COVID 19 has turned our world upside down. Only a few months ago we would all have been happy to closely associated with each other sharing a welcome or a chat over the washing up but that has all changed and many are wondering if we will ever get back to the way we were before. It seems for the immediate future and possibly longer we will all have to get used far greater social distancing. With that in mind is it time the Club started to think about an automated check in. Whilst this would be new in the Club environment there are many examples out there of it already in operation, Eurotunnel being one such example, there are many others. Putting aside the cost implications for a moment how would people feel about this idea?
Somewhere in the back of my mind I seem to remember the Club exploring this idea with members some years ago but clearly it went not further, does anyone else recall this?
David
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It might be a good idea, David, and one deserving of a long term evaluation BUT only if it is out-sourced to a Hi-tech company of proven ability. After last nights debacle I no longer even trust the Date Line and Time-line on here to be correct, sad to say.
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If it means we can roll in after 8pm, I am all for it.
Quite how Club would check just who is in visiting party, length of stay, etc.... I don’t know, but it can’t be beyond today’s technology surely.
Buying an ice cream on way in might prove a challenge though😂
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Separate pitching area for dinosaurs, Jurassic Park😂
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The user and all related content has been Deleted User0
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If i remember Euro tunnel is for vehicles not the amount of occupants?
The barriers could be timed for hours of site opening ,(as our cc storage)
A smart card for entry with booking details on?
There would still need to be staff on duty to double check booking details at some time?
And as any site staff will advise ,members at this time, rarely listen to/ or read site information, and normally want to speak to the site staff,in respect of everything that has been advised or is in the site information,
And who will check the arrival has pitched on the correct type of pitch
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nobody would get in regardless of time if some one as described pulled up to the check in gate and then could not operate the barrier, imagine the aggro if you now have several outfits trying to reverse to let said person move away from barrier so others could enter.
Joking aside, think this would be a way forward but suspect you would always have to have a warden available to assist in certain circumstances.
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How would you pay with all those club site vouchers people have bought?
What about screen touching etc, would the warden have to come out to disinfect it after every use?
I would prefer it personally, no faffing about with wardens, just drive up, ANPR checks vehicle reg number, confirm booking on screen, put in card to pay, drive to pitch. Could have a fast lane for automatic check in and a slow lane for those who want to spend their first hour on site chatting to wardens
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been on a couple of sites in Spain where this is exactly what happens, although they always had someone in the office to help if necessary, ANPR also allowed you back into site should you go out for day, no messing about with key pads, drive up to barrier and away you go. Its not rocket science.
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I would think the problem has to be considered in two parts. What we might like to see and what could be rolled out quickly when the sites reopen.
For me the first would involve a smart card sent to every member. It could be a new form of membership card. Payment would have to be made prior to arrival. This could be done on line or over the phone 24 hours before. Your account would then be updated so the card would let you in and out of the barrier for the duration of your stay. It could if the CC wished be programmed not to let you in before 12 / 1. Requests for a slightly later departure could be made by phoning the warden. Specific instructions regarding the site, including pitch type / peg colour, could be communicated at the time of payment.
The quick fix. Payment by a phone call prior to arrival, with the option of an e receipt. Collection of a barrier card and your receipt if required from reception, on a one in one out basis. Membership card would be held up for examination. Screens in place to protect wardens. Instructions either verbal, or a printed sheet to limit contact time. Barrier card returned to a box ( as is often the case ) on leaving.
The only issue with any of this is those wishing to pay using cash or vouchers. Cash would just not be accepted. It's going to happen sometime anyway. Hopefully vouchers have a unique bar code that could be entered when paying online, or verbally over the phone. If not, the CC haven't thought through there implications with regard to social distancing.
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We’ve used a few sites in mainland Europe that have used an electronic booking and entry system. The instructions were clear and concise and we had no problem (even when they were in a language that we weren’t fluent in). There were staff on site that tended the grounds and emptied the bins etc and presumably would be on hand to sort out problems but there was no need to have close contact with them.
I’m sure such systems will be used in the UK, probably sooner than originally expected, and its a matter of getting used to them. There will always be a few deserters but most things are possible given that in this instance necessity will dictate the rate of change. ‘There’s nothing more certain than change!’ (I can’t remember who’s quote that was).
If we can design and build robots to assemble complex vehicles then a a workable and reliable entry and exit system to a campsite should be easy.
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Pay in full on the phone the day before arrival and state your Reg No for the barrier to use NPR. There should be easily enough time before the sites reopen to get NPR installed for the barriers. many sites all over Europe have NPR for the barrier these days. The site wardens would continue to operate similarly to how they do now, but without contact. Possibly an intercomm at reception for the ocasional complication.
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certainly agree the technology is (mostly) there and has been around (on car parks, aires etc) for a good while...
however a typical French town aire (for example) doesnt have booked spots nor is there any variation in the pitch type....you check in and either pay in advance for your stay....a flat rate with no checking of number of occupants etc.
a huge part of the club's system/ethos is to book, often well in advance. this may be fine with a smart membership card either holding bookings or, more likely, providing a link back to the clubs booking systems for verification.
so, the barrier readers need to be 'connected' to the net rather than dumb money taking (credit card reading) machines.
with an 'aire' the ticket is displayed and easily checked by the French 'warden' for validity...
with the club, a warden could easily make a regular physical vehicle check against each days 'list'....so doable.
it may be that this might also be the trigger for a simpler approach to entry.....a simple charge for 'an outfit per day' to eliminate complications, with all pitches valid on a first come basis....you may get lucky and get a service pitch if that's your thing..
if making things simpler in order to be able to return to van ing when able then perhaps these are the sort of things that might allow that with a cut down 'menu' and less warden contact if social distancing and customer/warden safety is still to be maintained.
time to think a bit laterally perhaps?
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depends where you set the price.
i realise how difficult it is but, as above....time to think a bit laterally perhaps?
things wil have to change a bit..trying to to do exactly the same may prove a complication too far in the 'new normal'.
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what access to office?....isnt this thread about how to minimise contact with a form of automatic entry...and just find a spare pitch and set up.
no point in putting kit in place and then going in to have a chat with the warden
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yes, they certainly will. but just trying to do 'the same old' might be much harder to manage...it may be that (far) simpler is (much) better.
..and from the clubs perspective, a slice of something will be better than all of nothing...?
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BTW, I wasn't suggesting that we get rid of wardens just to depersonalise the majority of the booking in system. What I envisage might happen would be that when you book the confirmation email (hopefully condensed to one page) would have a barcode/ QR code printed on it. You scan the bar code in the machine (could equally work from a Smart Phone) and pay relevant amount and on the payment ticket the access code for the barrier could be printed to allow access to the site as could the access code for the toilet block if that was required. That code might not work unless you were entering the site at the correct time. There might be a small number of arrivals that would need warden assistance.
David
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If they were really clever they would use a scanner to allow access but in the other hand you could always use a gloved hand.
David
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All for technology, but i bet the club just simply put the wardens behind perspec screens, put a line on the floor that you should not cross, allow only 1 person in the office at any time wearing a mask, give out printed sheets with info on if needed, and insist on payment by card, that is what most of my local village shops have done and it works, not that i use club sites much, but it might get things up and running much more quickly than waiting for the club to come into the 21st century, but personally i wont be going anywhere this year, dont think it is right that LV's should be touring the country possibly carrying this virus with them, especially if we still have hundreds of people dying daily.
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