Convenient gym reservations
In Finnish Lapland, distances can be long between its smaller communities. This often requires creative solutions for serving residents. For example, Enontekiö municipality provides gym facilities to its residents, employees and visiting tourists. Since its gyms lack permanent personnel, users can now make their reservations and payments remotely. It’s a simpler way for Enontekiö’s gym users to pay for access at the times they want to reserve.
Before, reservations and payments for gym times demanded the resources of six employees. Additionally, both gyms, 180 kilometers apart, used different reservation and payment methods. At Kilpisjärvi’s gym, a wellness adviser would sent a payment link whenever a customer applied for gym access. After payment was received, a door code would be sent to that customer. By contrast, Hetta’s gym customers submitted applications at the local library where librarians maintained access records in excel. A property maintainer and municipality office assistant helped the wellness coach and library personnel; the former maintaining system access records, the latter sending customer invoices.
Recognizing a more efficient solution was needed to save time and resources, Enontekiö municipality researched Seniortek E-Tilat. This space reservation system was combined with the access control system, Security Expert, which uses Asio space reserving system in tandem with mobile-compatible Idesco access control readers and Idesco ID mobile app. Using this combined solution, customers are sent a mobile ID registration invitation for their phones from Seniortek’s E-Tilat system. That system, integrating Idesco ID service and Asio’s reservation system, gives customers an ability to access facilities by showing their phone to an Idesco reader at the gym’s entrance.
The convenience of online purchases of gym access privileges also freed municipal employees from complicated, time-consuming registrations, payments and record management. Furthermore, mobile access’s rapidly growing prevalence has dramatically reduced privilege fraud risk, since phones are rarely, if ever, shared with someone else. Before, gym access codes were often shared with people who had not paid for them. Despite the new system, anyone lacking a phone can still purchase gym access cards online if needed.
The best thing about the new solution is customers are now free to purchase gym access at any time of the day, even at the gym entrance. It has also made gyms more accessible to tourists who are equally free to purchase gym access online.
”The previous system really ate a lot of my work time”, concedes wellness adviser, Virpi Töyrylä. “The new one has been a huge improvement, releasing us from a lot of wasteful work. Since we didn’t have cashiers or gym personnel, all six of us had to do this in addition to our own work responsibilities. Now we have a new, customer-friendly system, working independently, regardless of time and place. We also had great support while deploying it, so we all look forward to seeing the system evolve up to the next level”, Virpi Töyrylä confirms.