AusLeisure

A change of management software at Melbourne’s La Trobe University has resulted in savings of staff time as a result of it being easier to manage memberships, bookings and operations across the University’s growing network of recreation facilities.

The University has deployed Envibe - a software solution from leading industry software provider Jonas Leisure - which La Trobe Senior Manager of Sport Infrastructure and Operations Andrew Tomlinson sees as being an ideal fit for the university, which is known for its sporting achievements, offering more sport related courses than any other Australian institution.

More than 3,000 members and 200,000 visitors pass through the central La Trobe Indoor Sports Centre each year to make use of its 25 metre indoor swimming pool, squash courts, tennis courts, group exercise studios, rock climbing wall and 450 metre² gymnasium.

The university deployed Envibe last year to manage its customer database and run its swim school, group fitness and social sport competitions, with Tomlinson saying that the system La Trobe used previously having been cumbersome and only allowed staff to do one task at a time.

He advised “one of the real benefits for us is Envibe’s ease of use and efficiency. Our reception staff can be booking someone into a class on the phone while selling a drink to someone or scanning someone in at the same time.”

Envibe’s built-in messaging functionality allows La Trobe to send new members introductory membership packs as soon as they sign up. Staff and managers use the system’s reporting functionality to quickly gauge the success of new sports competitions and exercise classes.

As Tomlinson explains “if we bring in a new group exercise class we can use Envibe to quickly see attendance levels and decide whether it is viable.”

Another benefit of the new system is its simplicity, with Tomlinson adding “we do have a lot of staff turnover because we employ students while they study, so being able to train people quickly and have an intuitive system is great.”

He also advises that selecting modern facility software that would simplify management of all of the university’s sport and recreation facilities was critical given some of the major development projects the university has in the works.

The most significant of these projects is a separate $150 million facility - to be known as the La Trobe Sport Park - will support sport and recreation participation in Melbourne’s North while supporting sport-based teaching and driving research and innovation in sport.  With stage 2 due for completion in 2019, it will include an AFL oval and two-tier pavilion, two high level football turfs, a cricket pitch, baseball diamond, synthetic football pitch and a six-court indoor stadium for sports such as basketball, netball, volleyball and futsal. The sport park will also include a research lab for strength and conditioning, biomechanics, exercise physiology and sports analytics.

Tomlinson advises “this facility will really put us on the map and support our remit of driving La Trobe to be the university of choice for sport in Australia.

“It’s a major project and we are planning to run it all with Envibe. We are already managing bookings for the sports fields at the new recreation park using a feature in Envibe that allows us to set up different zones and configurations depending on what sports or competitions are happening on any given day.”

Tomlinson says there’s more functionality within Envibe that La Trobe is hoping to use in future, too, concluding “Envibe will be the backbone of everything we do."

Click here to contact Envibe/Jonas Leisure via their Australasian Leisure Management Supplier Directory entry.

Images: La Trobe University sport (top), kayaking lessons (middle) and the planeed La Trobe Sport Park (below).

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