Main Aims and Functions of Buckingham Bingo

The organisation that I have chosen for this report is the Buckingham Bingo. The reason that I have chosen this organisation is because I work there and it also has many ICT provisions. The ICT provisions vary from huge databases to computerised tills to huge spreadsheets.

The main function of this organisation is basically a gambling organisation. The aim of the organisation is to make as much money as it possibly can. The bingo hall it’s self allows member’s of the bingo to basically come in and play bingo, the organisation then allows the customer’s to gamble, eat, drink and most of all socialise with all the other bingo members. The aim of the organisation is to make money, so the hall has many features to make money and achieve the main aim of the organisation.

These features include: –

* Before the customer enters the hall they have to pay an entrance fee of 80 pence.

* If the member wants to park their car in the bingo’s secure car park they have to pay a fee of 5.

* Fruit Machines, which allow the customer’s to gamble.

* A bingo hall which allows the customer’s to play traditional bingo (played in a bingo book.) and cash bingo (which is played on electronic boards, this is also all controlled by computer.).

* A buffet, which allows customer’s to purchase food.

* A bar which allows customers to consume alcohol and soft drinks.

The features shown above is just a short list of how the organisation meet’s its aim and make’s money.

Function of each Department (E1)

There are many departments in this organisation that keep it running and meeting its main aim. Here is a table to show the name of the Department and its functions :-

Name of Department

Function

Office

* The office is the so called brain of the organisation, this is were all the decisions happen and new ideas of how the organisation can reach its aim.

* The office has a team of seven members of staff, each member of staff in that team has there own role in making sure that everything runs nice and smooth.

* A main function of the office is to make sure the money keeps on coming in, in order for this to happen they have to keep the customers happy. So in the office they come up with new ideas for stamp cards, free gifts, and parties, promotions or new prize money that will make the customers happy.

* Another big function of the office is to keep on top of their staff. They do this by keeping upto date with their records and make sure that they are doing their job to the highest possible standard.

* A major function is again to deal with the staff. The office has to make sure that a set rota is complete so the staff knows what hours they are working. They must also make sure that their wages are paid correctly and at the right time.

* Also one of the jobs of the office is to deal with complaints. The complaints may come from customers or employees, but no matter what they have to deal with them.

* In the bingo a big LINK game is played and a big NATIONAL is played. If one of the customers are luckily to win it they have to come to the office to claim there money. The prize money for these two games is very big so the office has to take all of the winners personal details and bank details in order to grant the customer with there winnings.

Cash Office

* This is another section of the main office, but this is where all the money is dealt with. The same team of seven staff work here but the only thing that is dealt with in this office is money.

* The main function of this office is to collect all the money that the bingo has made in that day. They then count the money and work out wether the bingo has made money or lost money. The profits/loses are then logged into a record book which can then be used for statistics etc. This information is then passed onto the main office and they then try and figure out how the company is losing money or how it is gaining it.

* Another function of this office is to complete the staff’s wages. They receive the wage slips from head office, then the wages are completed. The office then issue the staff with their wages and must have each wage packet signed for.

* This office deals with problems too, but only problems that concern money. For example if money was reported lost, found or stolen the customer would come to this office and report it. The member of staff that is the office has to then deal with that problem and make sure that the customer is happy.

* At the beginning of each bingo session this office has to issue every department with a float. This is basically a small amount of money given to each department, which will get them going. Then at the end of the night each department has to bring that float back with their earnings.

Booksales

* The main function of this department is to basically supply the customers with bingo equipment. It sells bingo books and flyers to customer’s, that will supply them with everything that they need to play a full session of bingo. It also sells bingo markers which you need in order to play your bingo.

* Once this department has finished selling their bingo books etc. it works out how much money has been made and what prize money should be used for each page in the bingo book. They then pass this money on to the cash office and then deal with any problems that the office has with the money.

* They then make the prize money, envelopes are filled with the correct amount of money and it is then double checked before it is passed on to the customer. This process is done incase the customer says that their money is incorrect. But the staff knows it is because it has been double-checked.

* If a customer has a problem with something that they have purchased from this department a member of staff has to deal with it.

Buffet

* The main function of this department is to prepare and cook fresh food for customers to purchase. There are several sections to this department, the hot plate sells freshly cooked hot meals, the salad bar sells sandwich’s, salad’s etc, Snack bar sells small snacks like crisps, tea and coffee, cold drinks etc.

* The other function of this department is to collect plates, cups and cutlery. After everything has been collected they then wash and clean them in the kitchen.

* The supervisor of this department has to keep on top of the stock levels, if they running out of stock the supervisor has to then put a new order of stock in which has to be approved by the office.

* At the end of each session the money is totalled up and is then handed in to the cash office.

* If a customer has a problem an item of food etc. a member has to deal with it until the customer is satisfied.

Bar

* The main function of this department is to supply the customers with alcohol, snacks and cold drinks.

* The bar staff also have to collect the empty glasses and bottles, then take them back to the bar and make sure they are clean.

* This department has to always have high stock levels for party’s etc. So if the stock levels begin to drop the supervisor has to do a stock check and then re-order if he has too.

* The money is then totalled up and handed in to the cash office.

Floor

* This is where most of the money is made. This department is split into four sections which are; the cash desk; the floor its self; main stage and the main stage caller’s post.

* The cash desk has a caller who calls the numbers for the cash bingo, the cashier then issues the winnings to the winner.

* The floor is used for the customers to play the bingo on, tables and seats are supplied for the customers comfort. Staff then walk around the floor supplying the customer’s with change.

* The main stage is rarely used, it is basically used for live acts like cabaret for parties etc.

* The main stage callers post is used for the caller to basically call the numbers from.

* At the end of the night all the money is collected and taken into the counting room by the cashier, because there is too much money to count by hand the cashier use’s a jet sort, which counts the money for them. When this process is completed the money is then passed on to the cash office.

Reception

* This is a very small department of the bingo. Its main function is to allow members into the bingo and keeps updating the member’s database system.

* Went a customer completes there application form to become a member this department has to create a members pack a long with the membership card and post it out to that customer.

Fruit Machines

* This is also a small department too. The main function of this department is to maintain the fruit machines and make sure that they are working so the customers are able to play them.

* There is only one member of staff that works on this department and all he does is clean the machines and issue customers with change.

Maintenance

* Is the department has one major function that is to make sure that the bingo hall is clean and running safely. The members of staff from this department open the bingo hall at 7.00am and then close it at 11.30pm.

* If there are any problems with the hall its self it is left for this department to fix it and if they cannot fix it they have to call some one out to fix it.

The Organisations customers (E1)

The type of customers that use the bingo vary from the younger generation to the older generation, in order for a customer to become a member they have to be 18 or over and it costs them absolutely nothing to subscribe and become a member. The majority of the customers that use the bingo are from the older age group.

A member of staff from the reception department keep’s the database of all the member’s of the bingo constantly up-to date. The reason for this is because the database is so big details on it are always changing e.g. moving house.

Recently this organisation completed a survey on what type of customer’s use their organisation. The outcome of this survey left the type of customer’s into three categories: –

* Gamblers – This type of customer comes to the bingo to purposely gamble and nothing else. They play the bingo usually on their own and if they are not playing bingo they are on the fruit machines trying to win some money back that they have lost.

* Socialise – The other type of people that use the bingo use it to socialise and have a good time. They come with friends, play their bingo, have a few drinks and then just basically spend the rest of the night as a night out and socialise.

* Elderly – The elderly use it to socialise too but they mainly come to the bingo to get out of their home and have a bit of fun.

The majority of the customer’s that use the bingo are classed as ‘regular’s’ this means that they come on the same day’s each week and regularly come to the bingo.

So basically the custom of the bingo has a wide range of age group, and people with different reasons for being there.

The Organisations suppliers (E1)

The Buckingham Bingo has many suppliers, which supply the goods in order for the company to keep going and making money. The suppliers vary from supplying huge amounts food to a couple of bingo markers. Here is a recommend list supplied by the main office: –

When I had an interview with the manager of this organisation I spoke to him and mentioned suppliers, he had no list of suppliers but kept a note of each supplier, there service and the rating out of 5 in his diary.

Here is a list of how each department use’s their service: –

* Buffet – This department needs a supplier which can supply them with everything they need. The reason for this is because it saves time shopping round, now they can just place an order to one supplier and get everything they need. So they chose Dales this supplies this department with fresh food, tea bags, coffee, biscuits, crisps etc. This supplier also supplies in huge amounts so re – ordering does not happen often. The buffet also sells soft drinks, so they need a company to supply that, so they use BARR soft drinks inc. this company supplies them with soft drinks at a cheap rate.

* Bar – This department needs a company that can supply them with alcoholic drinks such as ; larger; bitter; wine; spirits; soft drinks and fruit flavoured alcohol drinks e.g. WKD. On this department it is not so easy to place on order because they have to use several different companies for their supplies. The supplier’s that they use are Carlsberg Brewery, Tetley Brewery and Booze 4 you. These companies supply in bulk to and also at a very cheap rate.

* Booksales – The type of supplier this department needs is a company that supplies bingo books and bingo equipment. This department use’s up huge amounts of bingo books each week, so they need a company that can supply this and at a quick speed. The supplier they use is Edward Thompson and co.

* The bingo itself needs things like cutlery, plates, cups, glasses, trays, moneybags, money trays etc. Vital things like this are essential to the bingo in order to keep it going so they are supplied by head office, which is in Manchester. The office just contacts head office and explains what is needed and they arrive at the bingo with in two days.

* Also cleaning and storage equipment is needed e.g. fridge’s, freezers, dish washers, hovers etc. Now instead of the company shopping around for this equipment separately they found a supplier which can supply all of this, the supplier they chose was Whirlpool.

How each department communicates (E1)

Inside the organisation it is vital that all departments are able to communicate with each other. Therefore a local area network was set up, so basically each department was given a telephone, and each telephone was then linked up to the local area network. Now each department can communicate with each other by simply picking up the phone and dialling that certain department’s number. But the local area network only allows the departments to communicate with each other and no one from the outside. So if a certain department needs to communicate with an outsider they need to use the office.

All departments in this organisation are related to each other one way or another. The main relationship is between the bar, buffet and the floor. This is because they help each other all the time and they use this local area network to communicate when they need help on their department. Booksales and the main office are related to, this is basically for the same reason, which is help. Also booksales need the network to communicate with the office so they can decide what prize money to have on that night.

Description of ICT provision for each department (E2)

Department

ICT

Provision

How the provision is used

Office

Computer

This computer is used for basic jobs:-

* It is used for communication to outsider’s via e-mail.

* It is used for the office staff to keep a record of their staff.

* Also it is used for any formal work e.g. a letter from the bingo to a supplier.

* To be used to create flyers, stamp cards or poster’s for customer’s. This is done on a basic software (serif plus).

Fax machine

* This machine is used to send information to supplier’s in order to make sure that the supplier gets the order in the quickest way possible.

Internet

* The office staff rarely uses the internet. When it is used, it is only used for communication or to look for new ideas on stamp cards.

* The internet is also used when the organisation is looking for a certain supplier or even a new one.

Telecommunications

* This provision is used by the office staff to contact people outside of the bingo. If they need to contact another bingo hall or a supplier they will use this provision.

* It is also used to contact staff if they do not attend work and ask for a reason of their absence.

CCTV

* This organisation is dealing with a lot of money everyday of the week, so it is important that every action that is taken in the hall is clearly monitored.

* This equipment is also used to make sure that the staff are working to their full potential.

* This piece of equipment is also used as evidence. The footage that the camera films is always recorded. So if a customer complains that something has been stolen, the office staff can rewind the tape to that moment and show the customer what happened.

* It is also used when the bingo is closed of a night time, this is because the money is left securely in the safe. So if there is robbery they can use the tapes as evidence.

Cash Office

Computer

* This computer has only one use and that use is a huge spreadsheet. The spreadsheet is used to log all the money that the bingo has taken in each day by each department. At the end of each week it log’s how much the bingo has made and weather it is profiting or losing money. The spreadsheet are then sent via e-mail to the owner to inform him on what is happening.

* Each department has it’s own part of the spreadsheet, then at the end of each month it show’s which department has made the most money and bonuses are issued

Jet sort

* This machine is basically used to count money. When money is poured into the sort it separates it and puts it into individual bags i.e. 1 coins in the 1 coin bag. When the bag reaches the 500 mark it stops counting until there is a new bag in place.

* A computer controls this machine. The computer is a touch screen and the member of staff basically tell’s the machine what to do and it does it. For example, if you just wanted to separate the 50p’s from the 1 coins and put them in two separate bags, you would just type in this command and press enter.

* This machine also has a printer. The printer is used every time the jet sort has finished counting money. All it prints is what it has counted and how much money is in each bag.

Booksales

Computer

* This computer only has one use and that is a huge spreadsheet. This spreadsheet is used to log how many books have been sold in each interval. When the spreadsheets knows how many books have been sold it then works out the advised prize money for each page.

* The spreadsheet also works out at the end of each week how much money has been made and how many books have been sold. Therefore the member of staff knows whether they need to re-order books and if they need to increase the price because they are not making a lot of money.

Point of sale Terminal

* This is basically used to store all of the money until it is cashed up and handed in to the office.

* It is like a smaller version of a PC, it has a screen, a keyboard and a draw. The member of staff selects the items, which have been chosen by the customer on the keyboard. The CPU then calculates how much the total cost is and then produce’s the cost on the screen. The draw then open’s and the member of staff place’s the money in the draw and then issue’s the customer with change if needed.

* With this point of sale terminal being on booksales there will not be that many item’s on the keyboard.

Buffet & Bar

Dish-washer

* This may not look like an ICT provision but it is. It is used to clean dishes and cups on the buffet and glasses on the bar.

* The member of staff place’s the cutlery, plate’s etc. in the loading bay they then close the dishwasher so it is sealed tight. At the side of the dishwasher is a small plasma touch screen, the member of staff then selects how he/she want’s the dishes to be cleaned. The CPU then take’s out the command and the dishwasher then cleans the dishes.

Point of sale terminal’s

* These points of sale terminals are used for exactly the same reason as they are used on booksales.

* But on these two departments there is a larger variety of goods to buy. Therefore on the keyboard there will be a lot more items to choose from.

Floor

Computer

* This computer is individual and has only one purpose. That purpose is to play bingo.

* Basically the caller has a computer, a monitor and a keypad. The caller turn’s the computer on and the BCS software automatically boots up. When the computer has finished loading the software, the caller then selects which type of bingo game he is going to play (1 Line, 2 Lines or Full House.). Once the caller is ready to play the game he presses a red button that is found at the bottom of the keypad, this button tells the software to produce a number. The number chosen appears on the monitor in front of the caller, he/she then call out the number. The caller then continues to press the button and calling out the numbers until there is a valid claim.

Printer

* This printer is connected to the caller’s computer and has two jobs: –

* When a claim has been validated the printer prints of a receipt (appendix A) to go with the prize money. This receipt shows the customer how much they have won, the time the game was played at, what bingo board it was played on and how many number’s they won the game in.

* Secondly, at the end of session the printer prints of a large sheet showing how much money should be collected from each zone and at the bottom it shows a grand total of how much money was made (appendix B). This sheet is then handed into the cash office a long with the money.

Reception

Computer

* The computer that is in reception has only one use. It contains a software called ClubTRACK which is dispatched by ECM systems. This software is basically a huge database, which contains the details of all the members in the organisation. I will go into more detail in section E4.

Hardware used within The Buckingham Bingo (E2)

Improvements that could be made to the current ICT provisions (E2)

Overall ICT provision improvement.

In this organisation I think that there are many applications that need improving. Firstly I think that the computers within in the facility all need to be updated. Lately the computers are slowing down, so the hard drive needs to be de-fragmented. This will then leave the hard drive with more space and applications that are not used any more will be deleted from the computer. I also think that each computer should be issued with a CD Re-writer. This is because floppy disks are only capable of storing small documents, but if large document or application needs to be taken of the computer it can be placed onto a disk, which are capable of storing up to 700MB of space.

From a security point of view I think each member of staff should be issued with a swipe card, this swipe card will contain the member of staff’s details and what area’s of the organisation they are allowed in. To enter each area of the building the member of staff will have to swipe their card to gain access to that area. The manager will choose areas that staff are allowed access to and area’s that they aren’t. For example the manager will allow each member of staff to enter the building with their swipe card, but will not allow them to enter his office.

Improvement on the use of ICT in the office department’s.

I think that the biggest improvement that could be made to the use of ICT in the office is CCTV. I noticed that the CCTV footage doesn’t cover every part of the building. So I think more camera’s should be introduced, the advantages and disadvantages of this are: –

Advantages: –

* It will cover every single part of the bingo, so if anything goes wrong the staff in the office will be able to spot it no matter where it happened.

* If the bingo were to be robbed the cameras would have every move the thieves made on tape.

Disadvantages: –

* It would cost The Buckingham Bingo a lot of money to buy more cameras and fit them. Then pay more money to have them linked up to the computers in the office.

* Also if the bingo where to put camera’s everywhere it would violate people’s privacy. Therefore customers would feel uncomfortable while playing their bingo.

Improvement on the use of ICT in the floor department’s ( Bar, Buffet, booksales and the floor).

If all the computers on each department are going to be improved the staff’s training and computer Knowledge will need improvement too. This would cost a lot of money and certain staff are already computer literate, so a method of voicing equipment could be introduced. The advantages and disadvantages of this improvement are: –

Advantages: –

* The staff that are not very computer literate will not need to know how to use a computer because all they need to do is speak into the mouth piece and the computer will take out that command.

* This will make the job easier and it will be done twice as quick.

* It can be used in all areas of the ICT provisions. For example it can be used to take out an order on the bar and it can be used to fill in a spreadsheet.

Disadvantages: –

* This application would still cost a lot of money for the company to buy the software and all the headsets.

* It would take a lot of hard work and time, to get the computer to recognise every member of staffs voice and the computer to take out the correct command.

An improvement of how ICT can be used to improve the way bingo is played.

When a member wins in the bingo they have to shout ‘bingo’ in order for the caller to stop the game and validate the customer’s claim. But sometimes the caller does not hear the shout and carries on with the game. So a button can be placed on the edge of every table, this button will then be linked to a computer. When the customer win’s they have to press this button, it will then show up on the caller’s screen that somebody has won so he can stop the game. The advantages and disadvantages of this are: –

Advantages: –

* No claim would be missed, therefore the customer’s will be happy because the caller will always hear their claim and they can then claim the prize money.

* It would also save a lot of time, therefore more games of bingo can be played. So the company will make a lit bit more money when this application is introduced.

Disadvantages: –

* Again this process would cost the organisation a lot of money and the whole point of the organisation is to make as much money as possible.

* Customer’s who are not playing bingo could accidentally press the button and interrupt the game. This would then annoy customer’s who are playing bingo.

* The button would be constantly in the customer’s way and it would get frustrating from the customer’s point of view.

How the organisation might benefit from more extensive use of new communications technology (A3)

An improvement that could be made is a system that can be used when a customer or a member of staff have a problem/complaint and need to speak with the manager when he is not on site.

This problem could easily be solved with a system called video conferencing. If this system were to be introduced into the organisation it would have many benefits because the manager would be able to communicate with staff face to face even when he is at home. This system works through two computers which both contain digital cameras. A videoconference room would then be set up on the Internet and then the organisation can have a videoconference. For example if the manager was at home sick and was needed to take a meeting in work, he could simply enter the video conference room and take the meeting while he sits at home in bed. He would be able to see, speak and hear everyone who was at the meeting in work and everybody in work would be able to see, speak and hear his or her manager who is at home.

There are several advantages and disadvantages to this system and they

are: –

Advantages: –

* Managers and supervisors will be able to work from instead of sitting in an office all day, if there is any problems in the organisation the certain member of staff with the problem can enter the conference room and speak with the manager.

* If the manager is away on holiday and there is an important message that he needs to see, the member of staff can record the message in the videoconference room and post it in the manager’s pigeonhole. Then when the manager next enters the conference room he will see his important message.

* If the manager carries a videophone with him he can record his video message and then e-mail it to the videoconference room.

Disadvantages: –

* When the manager is on his day off or on holiday he will be constantly, harassed by members of staff trying to get in touch with him.

* The software will not get used as much because there will always be a member of management on site at all times, so if anyone has a problem they will see that member of management instead of logging onto the videoconference room.

How information moves within the organisation and to from outsiders (E3)

(1) The customer collects a membership application form from the reception of the organisation. The customer then takes the form home and completes it.

(2) Once the customer has completed the application form he/she then sends the form back to the organisation. It will then arrive in the main office within two days.

(3) When the manager receives the application form he has to make sure that the customer has not been a member before. He does this by cheeking the computer for past members.

(4) Once the manager has confirmed the customer to become a member he then passes the form to reception.

(5) Now the receptionist has the manager’s approval, he/she can now create the customer’s membership. The details are entered onto the ECM system, once all of the details are entered a membership number is applied to the customer. This membership number is then printed onto a membership card, the card is then placed into a membership pack which contains details about the organisation and how to find it etc. The membership is now completed is ready to be dispatched to the customer.

(6) The membership pack is then collected by the postal service and is delivered to the customer.

(7) Once the member has received their membership card they are now able to play bingo. On arrival to the bingo hall the member is required to swipe their membership card through the ClubTRACK swipe. The member is now allowed to proceed into the bingo hall.

(8) The member is now allowed to sit anywhere in the bingo hall to play there bingo. Once the member is ready to play bingo the game begins. The member then wins the game of bingo on the National bingo ticket.

(9) The winning ticket is then collected by a member of staff and passed onto the booksales department.

(10) Once the booksales department receive the winning ticket they then have to fill out a National Gaming form. The details that are needed for this form are as follows; Name; Address; Postcode; Telephone number; Bank details; amount of numbers the game was won in and whether it was a single winner. All the member’s personal details can be found on the ClubTRACK database. Once the form is completed it is then ready to be sent of to the National Gaming Board.

(11) As soon as the form is completed it is then sent of to the National Gaming Board along with the winning ticket.

(12) Once the Gaming Board have received the details and the winning ticket they can then allow the prize money to be exchanged into the member’s bank account.

Data capture techniques, processing or calculations and the specification and the style of data output (C2).

When a client wishes to become a member of the Buckingham bingo they have to complete an application form ,once they have completed the form they send it back to the organisation. Once the organisation has received the application form they have to enter all the client’s details on the computer.

When collecting the data this organisation uses a number of methods in order to make sure that the information that is inputted into the system is correct. The reason this is done is because if an incorrect address is entered into a certain member’s record file, when information is being sent out to that certain member they will not receive the information because an incorrect address is in there record file.

The organisation’s way of doing this is data validation, this technique is used to ensure that the data entered is reasonable and complete. This organisation is creating new members every day of the week so they have to make sure the data they enter into each member’s folder is correct.

The main validation check that is in place is the address check, this is a data validation check that is used on postcodes and peoples addresses. This check makes sure that the postcode is present and that the postcode contains an area code and a code, which contains one letter and two numbers e.g. L6 4BQ. This is a great advantage because postcodes can easily be left out or entered incorrectly. Another data validation check that is used is on people’s addresses. The check works when the member of staff enters the address of a member that is already on the system an error message will appear on the screen letting the member of staff know that the address already exists on the system.

The data capture technique that is used in this organisation is shown in appendix C. This is just a simple application form that is used to collect all of the necessary information that is needed to become a member of this organisation. Once the client has filled in the form it is then sent back to the organisation and placed in the ‘member’s application’ rack.

A member of staff from the reception then processes the member’s application form. This is easily done, the member of staff simply logs onto the ClubTRACK software and enters all of the clients information into the database. After the information has been processed the member is issued a membership number and a membership card. The membership card is then sent of to the customer with an information pack, which includes what days the bingo is open etc.

A form of calculation that is used is the attendance record. This calculates when the customer has attended the bingo it calculates the date, the time and whether it was in the day or the night. The attendance record is constantly being updated so this calculation can be very accurate. The record is updated every time the member makes a visit to the bingo. When the customer enters the building he/she swipes their card through the ClubTRACK swipe, this then automatically updates the record to show that they attended on that date. It is vital that the members card is swiped on every visit incase of an accident i.e. Fire. The attendance record can then be used as evidence to show that the member was in the bingo at the time of the accident.

Purpose and operation of an important ICT application used within the organisation (E4)

An important ICT application that is used within the Buckingham Bingo is software called ClubTRACK that is created by ECM systems. The main use of the software is a huge database, this database is used to store every single member of the bingo and their details. The screenshot below shows the opening page of the software. The part of the software that my organisation focuses on is the Member options. We then choose the link ‘Member Admin’, this then takes you to the database.

The ClubTRACK software is used within the Buckingham Bingo in the following ways: –

* The system is used to keep an up to date database of the organisations members.

* The details that are kept on the database are the members name, address, telephone number and date of birth. These details are compulsory, without these details the customer will not be able to become a member.

* Optional details that are kept on the database are mobile telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, and method of transport.

* The software can be used by the bar department, it would be used by this department to see if a certain customer consumes alcohol from the bar and how much they spent at the bar, at there last appearance to the bingo.

* It can be used by the buffet department, it can be used by this department to see how much money certain members spend on food at the buffet.

* The floor department can use the software to calculate how much prize money a certain member was won.

* The reception department mainly uses this software. This is mainly because the computer is situated in the reception area, also it is the reception staff who enter the members onto the database.

The screenshot below shows another feature that is used within the database, this is an attendance record. Every member has an attendance record in his or her membership folder. The ClubTRACK swipe is linked to the database, so each time the member swipes there card the attendance record is automatically updated. If the card is swiped before 3.30 a green marker is shown, but if it is swiped after 3.30 it is shown as a red marker. The green marker represents an afternoon appearance and a red marker shows an evening appearance. The marker is then placed in the date that the member attended.

This information is just a set of statistics, which are calculated by the attendance record. It shows how many times the member has visited the bingo and when their last visit was.

Examples of input and output data

Here is an example screenshot of how data can be entered onto the database. This is a process that is used to create a new member, it is very straightforward. All you have to do is copy the information from the application form onto the form on-screen. This part of the input section is used for the member’s personal details, these details are essential if the customer wishes to become a member.

This section of the input data is for extra details, therefore the member does not have to complete this section if they do not want to. This section is just basically used for statistics i.e. they can calculate what percentage of members smoke or travel to the bingo by bus.

The outcome of this process is the customer becoming a member. Once the member has been entered onto the database he/she is issued with a membership number, this number is printed onto a membership card (appendix C). This membership card is then sent to the customer with a membership pack (appendix E). This membership pack welcomes the customer to the Buckingham bingo organisation and contains information on how to play bingo, how to find the organisation and all the bingo catchphrases they need to know.