Higher Education

Victoria University automates AV equipment booking

With an increase in audiovisual aids across universities, the task of effectively managing bookings for equipment and rooms is a necessary part of a university's administrative role. Due to high student and staff demand for this expensive equipment, it is crucial for bookings to be organised and tracked in an effective and streamlined manner, ensuring a quick turnaround of the loan equipment. Australia 's Victoria University has implemented a database software system to erase the tedious aspect of manual bookings and gain control of its assets.

Victoria University 's Media Arts Department loans out equipment, such as video cameras, photography and computer equipment, to students and staff. Previously, the department manually tracked the bookings of equipment and rooms on a daily basis, which was time consuming and disrupted the staff from their core duties. The new FileMaker Pro based application allows students and staff to make online bookings. Staff can now track equipment more efficiently which has resulted in significantly reduced late returns.

The solution, named BookingPOINT, was developed by Tony Tanevski of Hi-Voltage. When students or staff pick up their booked equipment, their ID cards are scanned and the equipment is logged against their account. The FileMaker Pro database means that various regular bookings and reports can then be run automatically. Borrowers with overdue equipment are automatically emailed; demerit points are issued, and accounts are suspended when a certain number of demerit points are reached.

"BookingPOINT has made a tremendous impact and saved Victoria University immeasurable time and money," Tanevski said. "Everyone wins - staff are more productive, borrowers have the convenience of 24 hour online bookings and the university has control of its valuable assets."

Victoria University 's Art Faculty Senior Media Officer, Greg Nelson, shares Tony's enthusiasm for FileMaker Pro, "Prior to FileMaker we relied heavily on physical diaries which always seemed to go missing at inappropriate times. BookingPOINT has become indespensable. It allows borrowers to manage bookings remotely in a fair, orderly and controlled manner."

Benefits and return on investment (ROI):

• Late returns reduced by 45 per cent.
• Eliminated face-to-face bookings, reducing admin time by up to two hours per day.
• Bulk bookings are up to 15 times faster, saving staff up to 30 minutes per booking.
• Barcode scanners reduce check in/out times from two minutes per item to five seconds.
• Barcode scanners eliminate additional errors, saving up to 25 per cent of administrative time.
• Heavily used equipment can be serviced more often, reducing downtime by 35 per cent.
• BookingPOINT also works as an asset register, reducing audit times from two hours to 25 minutes.

Find out more about BookingPOINT or download a free trial version of the software.