Getting to know your customers while you sleep

New Gladstone Plus2™ V9.3 Upgrade

The update has been designed to ensure that Gladstone's core Health & Leisure industry customers including Local Authority Leisure Centers, Gyms and Private Health Clubs and Universities can further increase their competitive advantage. Gladstone has invested a considerable amount of resources over the last year in a number of key areas:

•SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS)
•Reservation Management
•Direct Debit overnight reporting
•Integrated new Chip & PIN payment solution

SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS)

Customers who upgrade to Gladstone Plus2™ V9.3 will now benefit from a very powerful but simple-to-use, intuitive and dynamic customer reporting capability.

•Flexible Report delivery - including the ability to run numerous management reports overnight, or during quieter business periods without affecting the daytime system capability; and have them delivered to the Centre Manager's Inbox for viewing first thing in the morning. The reports can also be published in a number of ways including onto a web page for Intranet and Internet viewing, via Microsoft® Internet Explorer™

•A mobile solution - for those senior managers who have responsibility for multiple sites, this solution provides the ability to view these reports on a hand-held PDA before or during a meeting affording them additional flexibility, mobility and more importantly information at your finger-tips.

•Increased security - customers are able to apply more complex security criteria internally, ensuring that the right staff have access to only those reports which are relevant to their particular needs; this ensures that a Centre or Club Manager has complete control over report viewing, running and creation.

•Full solution customisation - of the reporting criteria and output look and feel can be customised to suit an organisation's band and visual requirements.

•Data mining - the ability to use Dynamic Data Cubes to really drill-down into the business records and customer accounts further than existing solutions will permit; and have the ability to make better business decisions.

Reservation Management

One of the key management developments with the Gladstone Plus2™ V9.3 upgrade is the ability for the Leisure Centre or Private Club course administrator to simply create a new course register from the previous term or session and pre-register the enrolled students. This will save staff considerable time in transferring large numbers of students on swimming classes or gym courses for example. It's a simple "copy and paste" function - and will take a lot of the "enrollment day" pain away from course administrators.

With the recent launch of Gladstone self-service Connect2 and Kiosk2 solutions, these advanced tools when integrated with Plus2 V9.3, will allow the course records fees to be presented to the students or parents to pay when due at their convenience on-line.

Direct Debit overnight reporting

Relieve the headache of running long Direct Debit reports by scheduling the routines to run and output the required reports overnight without any staff interaction; and with little or no impact on the daytime business operations. The reports will be ready for managers to review in their Inbox when they arrive into their centre the next morning.

Integrated New Chip & PIN payment solution

Gladstone is delighted to be able to offer its clients - through a joint development with the market leading Chip and PIN technology supplier Commidea - a fast, secure, and user-friendly payment solution which has been fully integrated and accredited with Gladstone Plus2™ V9.3.

It really couldn't be easier - instead of a Leisure Centre or Private Gym customer being asked to use their signature to verify payments, they can simply insert their debit or credit card and enter their four-digit Personal Identification Number (PIN) only known only to themselves; just like they would a cash machine or indeed in a restaurant.
Commenting on the launch of Version 9.3, Arthur Morris, Head of Business Development for Gladstone Health & Leisure:

"Plus2 V9.3 represents a real break-through for Leisure Management Systems - delivering to our current and future customers - a number of key developments which will offer real and sustainable business benefits to their changing needs. These benefits are felt in both how our customers operate internally and how their customers interact with them before and after they have visited a centre or club.

These solutions range from dynamic and relevant management reporting tools using advanced SQL technology and Data Cubes, to scheduling significant processes in operating downtime and enhancing customer's experience inside and more importantly outside the Leisure Centre or Private Club via self-service bookings, payments and ticket collections.

When you think about it - it's what we're expect today from our service providers in the modern consumer world - if you were taking your kids to your local cinema; or simply taking a short weekend break away to Paris or Amsterdam - its all on-line these days.
We are delighted to be able to add this significant new power to our customers and thereby assist them to developing their business to the next level."

For more information about Plus2 v9.3 contact sales on;

Click here to email us
call: 01491 20 10 10

To download the full press release in word format click here

1 April 2008