Outside Pool Memberships

My estimate is to just outsource the ID part of it.. get a bucket of generic ones pre-made.. then enable them in the software. No need to print customized ones (think your gym card or giant card, etc).

The Point of Contact stuff is expensive because.. guess what.. its going to be a recurring cost (stuff breaks.. its basically outdoors.. stolen.. etc). So you have to build a short lifetime into those items.

The rest of it really varies on the type of solution you employ (stand-alone, networked, source of software, etc) so its hard to generalize.. but I think in terms of orders of magnitude you are in the ball park.

 

In the scenario I described.. no, no pictures on the ID.

I'm not the authority in the decision, but I'm going to voice my input

Pictures in my idea of the solution will be stored digitially on the server and recalled as the member scans in.. this way the attendant can easily see a large image to do a quick comparison as the person checks in. This skips the need for an expensive printer (and consumables) and makes giving out IDs much simplier. No waiting for printing, laminating, etc. It also makes the task of creating the id much simplier and skips any additional software needed to do it.

The ID tags are generic, so they can be ordered in bulk (one of the problems with current stickers, cards, etc is the volume required to reduce the cost). Then, IDs are distributed, when a card is assigned to a member, its added to their profile in the database along with them taking a picture via a simple web-cam framed still capture. This also prevents any concern over loss of personal information if the card itself is lost. It doesn't include any information on its own.

I don't want to speak on behalf of the board, but there are lots of motivations for such a project

- reduced ongoing costs for membership cards and updates (no need to order stickers, do mailings, stuff, etc)
- ensure home owner privledges are not being abused by giving passes to others, ensuring valid home owners are not being squeezed by unauthorized users
- enable up-to-date enforcement of pool privleldges (passes can be suspended, re-enabled, etc)
- enable a better system for handling guest privledges and open possibilities for other programs that can be implemented when you have actual usage tracking
- enable live counting of pool capacities
- enable auditing of pool usage and member usage

Plus having member profiles available offers better information to the guards to handle emergency situations. Plus as I believe staci has mentioned, better auditing can have significant positive benefits on our required insurance, etc.

Overall such a system has direct fiscal motivations and will help ensure homeowners are getting the most from our pool facilities.

 

Personally, I like the key fobs, like the ones from Giant/Safeway, etc. They're small, people are used to them, and they are sturdy. Also, a big plus is the fact that all they would contain is a barcode and number. If lost, there is no identifiable information on it, so it aleviates some privacy issues. Also, folks can stick them on their keychains, or attach them to something else. For example, when I was in Florida, I noticed some folks had fobs clipped to their 'beach bags'; just grab the bag, throw some towels in, and you're all set...

Best of all, in bulk, they are rather affordable, and easily replaceable.

Honestly, it's not the 'cards' we're really worried about, as much as the 'backend', both logistically, and in regards to equipment needed, networking, and especially security. It's not as simple as having a barcode reader at each pool; there needs to be a computer that can display the digital image of the card holder, process the 'in/out and location' status of each scan, with other relevant info, such as time, etc. We want to avoid having each pool 'system' be stand-alone for security reasons. We need to make sure we control the data and keep it safe. We need to also make sure the equipment will be safe and that it can withstand the unique environment it will be used in. And believe me, that's just the tip of the iceberg...

Now, the good part about all this is some of the cool things we can do using the data from such a system. The Tech Committee met tonight and one cool idea thrown around was that we could use the 'live pool data' to setup a section on the website letting people know at that very moment, how full each pool was. Imagine getting ready to go to a pool, checking our website and seeing that your closest pool is almost full, but the one, say at the Community Center, is barely being used. You can head to the CC pool and enjoy yourself, without going to the one which could possible be full upon your arrival. To me, that feature alone adds a great deal of value when implementing a system like the one we are suggesting.

We have lots of great ideas like this which we could implement (No promises! We're all volunteers! ), but features like this would entail using a centralized database, which we believe is the better way to go for a variety of reasons...

And now, as I look down at the time, I realize that I should be in bed right now. Good night!