Audio Visual equipment is available to hire for all rooms, and recently WiFi has been installed. Savoy Place is also licensed to hold civil wedding ceremonies. There are similar linked IEE conference venues located at Austin Court in Birmingham and the Teacher Building in Glasgow.
Last year, with the business continually expanding, it was clear that the existing system could no longer cope with the increased level of business. What was needed was a central view of all three venues as well as increased speed, better reporting capability and, above all, reliability.
After some careful research into available systems, Richard Best, Project Manager, and his colleague Jennifer Last, Acting Head of Conference & Banqueting, chose Rendezvous, the browser-based solution from NFS Hospitality.
According to Richard, the system met their specifications as it is specifically designed to handle multi-site operations. He and Jennifer also like the marketing module. “Our business kept growing and we used to have problems like computer
crashes and a lot of downtime,” she says. “We definitely needed a system that would streamline bookings and invoicing, and give reliable support during business hours.”
Rendezvous went live in January as part of a phased approach to implementation. “The first phase is back office implementation here in London,” Richard explains. “Next, in the second or third quarter of this year, we’ll bring Birmingham and Glasgow on board, including a virtual private network. Next, we’ll get an interface with our web based Agresso accounting system – and that will save us re-keying thousands of invoices each year.” The last phase will be online booking, he says.
The phased approach was agreed with NFS and structured training sessions were set up. Once key Savoy Place sales people were trained, they in turn trained the support people.
According to Luis DeSouza, MD of NFS, Savoy Place’s structured approach to implementation should bring many benefits. “They’ve really thought it through,” he says. “Taking it in stages means that the benefits can be measured as they go forward. They will be able to quantify the time and money saved.”
Richard and Jennifer are pleased with Rendezvous’ reporting and billing functionality to date. Until the interface with the accounting system is created, invoices are generated in Rendezvous and sent on.
“Invoicing is much faster, even though we have a complicated system,” Richard says. Billing divides into internal use (IEE members), external, and the business centre, which has an additional six rooms hired out mainly to IEE members.
“Despite this challenge, Rendezvous is coping very well,” Jennifer, says. “We have about 16 users and they appreciate how very robust this systems.”
With the back office up and running, Richard and Jennifer are now preparing for Phase 2 – and will also begin to use the system’s marketing module to attract more external business. By providing access to availability at all sites via the central server, Rendezvous makes it easier to cross-sell. A central database also facilitates analysis of buying patterns across the customer base and helps target new customers more effectively. “I see a lot of opportunity to market our three venues to support the growth in our business” Jennifer says.
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