We offered our software development services for free to deliver a booking system that enables Salvation Army staff to schedule and manage appointments with members of the public who are in urgent need of assistance.
With no central appointment booking and management system for their office at the Doorways Centre's in Balga and Beaufort Street, the Salvos had no way of managing and tracking their work with the public. Not only did this make it hard to organise support services, it also made it hard to track turn-aways.
The system we developed for the Salvos works primarily as a calendar, with functionality to view multiple and single calendars for each day, week and month of the year. In addition to booking rooms and leave, appointments can be categorised by type – such as ‘Soup Kitchen’ or ‘financial counselling’ – and the system can generate reports on a variety of key statistics.
What’s more, the system can be used by multiple users across multiple locations, including hostels and other Salvos offices. Salvos staff can now also select other appointment requirements when making bookings, such as a wheelchair or interpreter.
The new system makes the whole appointment booking process more efficient and provides the organisation with the reporting capabilities to generate future funding too. The reporting functionality increases visibility to senior management, government departments and funding bodies by making it quick and easy to produce real-time data on client interviews.
The online booking system will deliver a number of practical benefits, as well as cost and time savings. It’s now much quicker and easier to check availability and book appointments, which reduces admin and frees up Salvos staff to focus on more important priorities. In this way, the system will ultimately improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Salvos’ services, enabling staff to spend more time helping more people.
"We are really excited about using this system. We’re hoping to implement it in the next few weeks and start booking and tracking appointments straight away."
Kris Halliday – Asst Corps Office, The Salvation Army