Wimbledon Finds Wavelink Studio Efficient Way to Increase Charity Monies
"Wavelink Studio has made our ticket resale process much more efficient, and our charities realize the benefits from the proceeds from more resold tickets. We are very happy to have achieved both of these things together." Jeff Lucas, director of Information Technology at Wimbledon´
CHALLENGE
The famous Centre Court and No. 1 Court at Wimbledon are venues for watching the most prominent tennis players in the world. So it´s no wonder that many people wanted access to these famous courts. Yet Wimbledon´s ticket processing system needed to be faster and more convenient in order to admit more patrons. Wimbledon turned to Wavelink technology to solve the problem, and it was a perfect match.
The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, which is responsible for staging the world's leading tennis tournament, wanted to make the ticket reselling process more efficient. With the old system, spectators who left these two courts early would place their tickets in used ticket boxes. The used tickets were then reprinted and sold at the ticket resale kiosk. Proceeds from the resold tickets are earmarked for designated charities on an annual basis.
There were a number of problems with this system. First, patrons often wanted to keep their Wimbledon tickets as souvenirs, and the resell system didn´t allow it. Also, the process was time-consuming for Wimbledon operators, and too slow to accommodate rapid ticket re-sales. In short, the system didn´t maximize seat availability to let more people in.
SOLUTION
By using Wavelink software, Wimbledon has streamlined its ticket processing system and brought greater convenience to Wimbledon visitors. Wavelink Studio links the handheld bar code scanning terminals at the gates to Wimbledon´s central computer system, which processes ticket data and prints new tickets for resale. The spectator who is leaving early allows the bar code on his ticket to be scanned, and the seating data from the ticket is transmitted right to the central computer. A new ticket is printed in the resale kiosk and offered for public sale.
"This all just takes seconds instead of taking up to a half hour with the old system," said Jeff Lucas, director of information technology at Wimbledon. "We used to have to collect them from the red boxes and sort them into pairs. It was very time- consuming.´
CASE STUDY
Since Wavelink Studio was implemented three years ago, Wimbledon operators have been able to dramatically increase the speed with which duplicate tickets are processed. As a result, scores more spectators are gaining access to the coveted Centre Court or No. 1 Court - also known as the Main Courts - that are typically on display in television coverage.
Instead of manually collecting and processing tickets from spectators departing early from these courts, Wimbledon operators scan their tickets at the gates. In this manner, spectators can hold onto their Wimbledon tickets as keepsake items. The information from the bar codes is relayed back to the printers in the resale booth, avoiding inconvenient delays for people heading to the Main Courts later in the day.
Because these resold tickets are processed much faster, spectators coming in from the Outside Courts are able to make their way to the more prestigious courts much quicker and see more tennis matches.
"The biggest benefit is the speed at which duplicate tickets are printed and made available to the public," said Lucas. "More people are getting to the Center Court faster."
Charities affiliated with Wimbledon are greatly benefiting from Wavelink´s wireless software as well. Wimbledon selects various charities every year to donate the proceeds from resold tickets. The new system´s greater efficiency has resulted in an increase of more than $20,000 a year in charity donations.
In 1997, before Wavelink Studio was deployed, Wimbledon raised $27,000 from resold tickets, compared to this year, when more than $42,000 was generated. Wimbledon officials expect that number to increase in the next few years as Wavelink Studio is put into operation at more gates.
In the meantime, Wimbledon executives are very pleased with the positive results of Wavelink Studio.
"We are happy on two fronts," Lucas said. "Wavelink Studio has made our ticket resale process much more efficient, and our charities are reaping the benefits. We are very happy to have achieved both of these things together."
BENEFITS
More people at Wimbledon experience the premier tennis matches held on Centre Court and No. 1 Court.
More money is generated from the sale of resold tickets, all of which is earmarked for charities.
ABOUT WAVELINK
Wavelink Corporation is a leading provider of wireless communications software and the developer of a wireless platform that enables enterprises to develop, manage and deploy wireless applications. Since 1992, Wavelink´s innovative software has powered a growing number of Fortune 1,000 companies and is rapidly becoming a standard in wireless network development, deployment and management, with more than 40,000 installations in over 50 countries. Wavelink supports the world´s most popular programming languages and device operating systems, and has extended its expertise from wireless local area networks (WLAN) to the wireless wide area networks (WWAN) space. For more information, please visit www.wavelink.com or call +1-425-823-0111.
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