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Rides Control Essay To establish a firm background for all these systems an efficient network had to be installed in order to ensure a fast and comprehensive method of linking all those users. The FDDI network on a token ring topology is used as our backbone (FDDI stands for Fibre-Distributed Data Interface) and this gives us the requirements we need for speed, distance and capacity. The nature of our business and the way the Park is spread over a large area, necessitates our using several methods of communication. E-mail is used increasingly: our current software is Microsoft exchange server 5. 5 and Outlook 98. It should help to cut down considerably on memos, forms, notice board information and bulky reports. This has the dual effect of saving paper, ink and printing costs and conserves environmental resources. E-mail address and website: www. thorpepark. co. uk. E-mail goes directly to The Tussauds Group Head Office, and via networks from there, to the other attractions in The Tussauds Group using an ISDN link (Integrated Services Digital Network). The main telephone switchboard is also ISDN. Voicemail is used to prevent unanswered calls, and an automated attendant kicks in on the rare occasion when our receptionists are unable to answer all the lines, and it automatically operates after office hours. Through a desktop interface we can monitor calls. This is an invaluable tool for analysis of calls, determining our busiest times of day and helping us to plan our casting resources accordingly. Some cast use mobile phones, particularly those whose work takes them away from the office. Nearly all our cast rely on radios to keep in touch with each other when they are spread about the Park which enables cast to be diverted to specific areas wherever and whenever necessary. Cast can relay information about queue lines on rides and alert security cast to any emergency situation. There are 8 channels all of which can contact, and be contacted by, the Control Room. If a Park-wide emergency situation should arise, cast in the control room can broadcast simultaneously to every radio holder in the Park. The main security system is CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) which uses infra red cameras throughout the Park, linked to 24 hour video recorders. Black and white and colour monitors in the Control Room can pan and zoom to any area. In this way cast response to a particular incident can be co-ordinated cast response to a particular problem. Our own security cast are on site 24 hours a day. In merchandising, sophisticated till systems are in use in all the shops and food outlets. EPOS (Electronic Point of Sale) is used for our products with barcode scanning facilities for the whole range of goods on sale. This is linked to the central stock control to monitor the movement of all our merchandise and food items from both our warehouses. This is essential for maintaining sell-by dates and to forecast sales accurately. EFTOS (Electronic Fund Transfer Point of Sale) is the system through which credit and switch cards are debited immediately and automatically through the national banking system. Any credit or switch cards used in the shops are attached to a polling machine. This is essentially a communications technique which determines when a terminal is ready to send data the banks own computer will check all its attached terminals on a regular basis. All of the ride attractions have computer control systems that are fed by mechanical levers and optical sensors. The rides, that are all mechanical, fall into three categories water, motor and track. The computer, through the use of optical sensors, detects the locking of safety bars and the speed and number of carriages passing. This information enables the operator to dictate how fast and how often the ride runs. Each ride has a very comprehensive range of fail-safe devices that are mechanical or electrical. There is video surveillance on each ride cameras are trained on the tracks and on the carriages. This helps us to detect any faults or potential problems. Software programmes are applications that are bought in from major manufacturers such as Microsoft, Oracle (database), Computer Associate (backup) and Network Associate (anti-virus). These can be specifically suited to a particular business function, such as Finance packages, which include wages and payroll systems, spreadsheets, etc. Other more sophisticated software, such as AutoCAD, may be necessary for our Engineers and the production team for our Entertainments Department. We primarily use Microsoft Office 97, which contains a comprehensive range of applications such as Word, Excel, Outlook, Access, PowerPoint. It is possible to customise our own databases for instance, we have one specifically written for our Guest Services Department, Charter 2000. This logs comments made by guests, produces a personalised reply, and collates information so that it can be reproduced in report form using a programme called Business Systems. It is currently used at Thorpe Park and Chessington with a planned introduction to the other Tussauds Group attractions in 2001. This information is confidential between the guest and the company. We are registered under the Data Protection Act to declare any information we may hold. The Tussauds Group Marketing Database on the other hand is common information shared by every attraction in the company. It helps us gather marketing information in order to improve our service. There is an electronic booking service for groups so that they can arrange their visit and tickets by phone, with a credit card. Individuals can make advanced bookings. This helps us to build up a profile of our guests and their requirements. The sales and admission system is called Omni Ticket Network. OTN have supplied all the hardware apart from the hard drives, VDU screens and key boards, which are standard hardware made by Compaq. The software used is called Overview. The Attractions General Database (AGD) has been designed by Syntegra, the Systems Integration Business of BT and is a component of the Sales and Admissions system. Its primary purpose is to provide a data repository for Sales, guests and admissions data and to provide tools to allow analysis of this imported data. A secondary function is to facilitate the exchange systems, and General Marketing Database (GMD), the external guest contact system. AGD configures all the information taken from Overview (information collected through Admissions on the tills each day) and turns it into reports for Finance and Marketing.