Case Study- Theatre Booking System

Joy OberoiGrade 12

IntroductionTHEATRE BOOKING SYSTEM (TBS) A system used to perform tasks that one would manually execute

at a theatre It is online Seat bookings can be made online- secure transactions take place Performance schedules can be checked or revised Ability to control booking payments whilst inquiring customers as

to how/where they heard about the ongoing/forecasted performances

COMMON CHALLENGES FACED: Member/ Customer Management Vast seating areas Performances- Venues, Timings etc.

Characteristics of a TBS Tickets for any performance can be booked through the system Venues remotely located can be controlled through the website- in

terms of seating, prices etc. On-the-spot confirmation of booking made to the customer and the

theatre Can easily communicate with customers with the aid of in-built

online marketing features Running costs are relatively lower than manual systems

IT Concepts Involved in a TBS

FLAT FILE DATABASE: Are Data Files that have no structured relationship File format and other properties of these files need to be

interpreted by the user Presently, DBMS’s have a structured approach towards file

management

IN CONTEXT TO TBS: When booking is made, it is written to a text file System checks for a file that contains a seat number,

corresponding to booking file. Afterwards, booking is confirmed It prevents double booking

MAIL MERGE: Taking data from any structured form of data such as databases or

spreadsheets and inserting them into documents (name tags, letters etc.)

Two files are used- 1) In which data is stored and 2) In which instructions to carry out mail merge are present

IN CONTEXT TO TBS: Adding names and addresses of all customers/ members to the

letters Helps in advertisements- especially a large community

SPREADSHEET: An accounting software Digits are arranged in rows and columns Mainly used for complex mathematical calculations and

conditional calculations Also used for data entries Ample entries can be made in order to store large amounts of data

in one file

IN CONTEXT TO TBS: Data about customers/ members is stored in an organized manner Can be used to calculate total number of sales per day Data can be retrieved from spreadsheets to create reports/

generate labels etc.

Problems Faced by FirmsCOEUR THEATRAL: Membership details are manually processed Entries of ticket sales at the door are also processed manually Double-booking of tickets due to manual processes Payment transactions are interrupted Various methods of recording and processing data lack integration No detailed analysis of ticket sales and incomes

MALZEREI THEATERGRUPPE: No IT Department- therefore, chances of IT work being

outsourced Hardware and Software need to be upgraded and integrated into

the system Very basic website- requires incorporation of multimedia features Reports- 1) Quality needs to improve and 2) Need to take less time

to generate Relations with customers need to become stronger

Challenges Faced by FirmsPROJECT MANAGEMENT ISSUES: Development Strategies need to be considered Solution should be provided to users within the given timescale,

preferably under the budget and should meet as many requirement specifications as possible

There is a need for theatre companies to investigate suppliers who can- 1) provide systems that can be customized according to the needs of the company and 2) build completely new systems for the companies

Ticketing system purchased should meet the requirements of all the theatres

Choice of supplier = Key factor of success

DATA MANAGEMENT ISSUES: Considerable Options- 1) A Distributed Database System and 2) A

Centralized Database System, in association with a Virtual Private Network (VPN)

It is essential for the above choices to meet requirements of modern database systems such as ACID rules

Should be able to prevent multiple bookings

Data should be transferred from the old to the new system Includes files saved in any format Important as it contains customer/ member details and records of

previous performances- these are essential for companies to make comparisons

New system should be able to produce detailed reports of each performance in both, textual and graphical format.

Reports should include statistical analysis May require business skills

WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT ISSUES: Costly to develop and maintain website in five languages Videos and animations would be difficult to translate Difference in quality of content in various languages- message

might be lost in translation

Website should function in a variety of browsers without the need to install any kind of plug-ins

Should transmit the data entered by the user, irrespective of what security settings the user has selected

Bibliography Flat File Database-

http://www.purplechilli.net/blog/2008/09/php-ajax-simple-booking-system/

Mail Merge- http://kb.iu.edu/data/agiy.html

THANK YOU