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| SOFTWARE, INTERNET AND MULTIMEDIA DEVELOPERS • EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS TO HARD PROBLEMS SINCE 1987 |
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Strange Software is based in North Norfolk, UK but has clients across the United Kingdom, Europe and further
afield; we'll come to you if appropriate. We're always happy to talk about potential new projects
without obligation...
Improvements to Alert ID database...
Work has continued, since its launch last year, on the Alert ID database and web front-end. An enhanced version of the software
provides an easier and more structured framework for storing personal and medical information relating to family members, including photographs, pick lists of common allergies and conditions
and 'hotlinked' contact data (for example, if mum changes her mobile phone, her new number is reflected automatically on the profiles for dad and the kids). The system is now able to track ID
tags and related information for personal property, pets and vehicles as well as people. Customers can also enter holiday and travel itineraries so that response centre operators can more
easily reunite lost items (or, for that matter, stray dogs and children) with their families while they are travelling.
The database has established an excellent availability and reliability record, and has coped comfortably with thousands of accounts related to a variety of products and
services now being offered by Alert ID and its partner companies.
Not our usual sort of website...
While we are not normally fans of fixed-sized box filled with fancy design-style web pages that leave little room for text and information, it
seemed much the most appropriate look for local outdoor and fashion clothing retailer Beachcomber.
Working with them on a simple starter site for this local firm was also an unexpected opportunity to dig our cameras out for interior and product shots as well as
rummage through our extensive collection of local pics for some suitably moody and outdoorsy beach pics...
Reebook CramAlert ID database with customer web front-end
A major new database and web application developed by Strange Software for Alert ID Services has gone live on time, to coincide with the launch in press,
radio and TV of a new emergency personal ID service, promoted in conjunction with Reebok and Steve Cram. Initially intended for runners but with a much wider appeal,
customers buy and wear durable personal wristbands giving both an emergency hotline number and a unique personal identification number. Customers details, linked to the
tag number, are stored in the database accessible to staff at a 24-hour response centre... in the event of a person being found injured or unwell, the response centre can both
contact relatives or next-of-kin as well, in appropriate cases, pass important medical information to the emergency services. One or more people from the same family or group
can be registered on each account on the system, each with their own personal id bands, and a customer log-in allows the account owner to amend and update the information for
all family or group members at any time over the web, ensuring that contact and medical information is kept up-to-date.
Underlying the system is a multi-user SQL database with custom applications written in C. These firstly provide Alert ID staff with rapid access to customer records
in the event of an incident. The system creates a flexible record of each incident, allowing staff to record details of the situation and their responses. Automatic reminder lists of
'open' incidents ensure that staff keep trying where relatives or other persons cannot be contacted first time. A browser-based front-end with appropriate security and firewalling
allows the system to be used from different sites so that, for example, night-time calls can be handled by a different staff to day-time.
A separate web application provides a customer portal to the database, providing access via username and password to that customer's specific account only, through
a friendly and easy to use web-interface. The system also interfaces to company's sales website, pre-loading customer details taken at the time of purchase so that they are available
when the customer receives the product and first logs onto the system.
Real-time web booking system for Fairy Fair
The Fairyland Trust contacted us about a difficult problem... thousands of
visitors arriving each morning of its popular Summer Fairy Fair event and trying, en-masse, to
get the best remaining tickets to whichever workshops their children most wanted. The solution was to develop an advance ticket booking system, similar to that used to sell concert or
airline tickets, but adapted specifically to let visitors pre-book their choice of 11 different workshops repeated in five different sessions during each day. Strange's
web application used a MySQL database to enable users to first book admission for their party and then choose whatever combination of workshop sessions they wanted from those still
available. By providing a live availability display up-front, parents and children could pick which day to attend and get the best choice of their preferred activities. The system
enforced a maximum number of workshops per child to ensure fair-play and provided automatic warnings if the choices didn't make sense (for example, booking three workshops at the same
start time with only two children attending).
Having made their choices, users' bookings were paid and confirmed there-and-then using a secure on-line payment service and an e-mail sent giving the booking details
and a link to collect an entrance ticket. Users could then collect and print their own entrance ticket in the form of a colour PDF including their booking details as well as a
map and guide to the event.
The evening before the first day, the system produced reports for fair staff operating the workshops and gate, allowing workshop tokens to be arranged and issued quickly
to visitors as they arrived, removing the mad scramble and long queues of previous fairs...
The Good Plant Guide was just one database on an interactive CD-ROM produced by Strange Software and marketed by Dorling Kindersley and The Royal Horticultural Society.
Featuring over 1000 colour photographs and descriptions of award-winning garden plants, the program let users browse and search the collection, make and save lists of chosen plants
and even play them back as a slideshow. The CD, developed for Windows PCs in C, also contained interactive versions the RHS Plant Finder and fifteen other horticultural databases.
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