serendipity INTERACTIVE releases two new products to ensure your online identity remains under your control.

Mobile Data Users don't have to be a headache

Most organisations are reasonably comfortable about locking down data inside their firewall, but there's considerable discomfort around allowing data and application access from outside or data traffic across the firewall, despite the plethora of Virtual Private Network access solutions on offer.

Add-in the requirement for controlling data - often company critical or customer confidential - that's carried or created by mobile device users and real fear takes over for many Business I.T. Managers.

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It's the worlds first plug'n'play Smart Card

It's generally agreed in I.T. Security that Smart Card & Digital Certificate Technology is the route for the future however until now there hasn't been any simple and user-friendly solution to ensure highly secure communication between a PC and the Smart Card world. To-date, Smart Card solutions required installation of a whole range of software & hardware on user computers to deliver and that was typically to operate within the confines of organisations' firewalls.

Now with MYsmartwebID, our plug'n'play USB key, this technology is truly free to deliver its and your business potential accessing secure websites and internet services, accessing company networks or backing up important data is just simply FAST, EASY & TOTALLY SECURE.

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Northern Racing Consolidates Race Day Management Using serendipity INTERACTIVE £1.2m CRM, Billing and Ticketing System. Secure ticketing and CRM-based reporting set to build property management and marketing capability across nine UK sites.

HEMEL HEMPSTEAD, England, 24 February - serendipity INTERACTIVE are providing a £1.2 million customer relationship management (CRM)-based billing, ticketing and marketing system for racecourse operator Northern Racing plc. The new CRM platform is expected to transform the group's ability to manage its UK racecourses - which together host over 200 race meetings annually.

Bull is prime contractor for the implementation of wired and wireless sales point infrastructures at Northern Racing's nine courses. The new infrastructures will be integrated with serendipity INTERACTIVE's Eventmaster dedicated ticketing software system.

Using Eventmaster, each attendee is issued with an encrypted ticket which staff, equipped with wireless handheld scanners, can check before allowing entry into the racecourse or area. Ticket security no longer depends on existing card format ticket printing or visual checks by stewards. Phase one of the implementation took place in the autumn of 2006 with roll-out at three of the group's locations with the remaining six courses due for installation in spring this year.

Northern Racing introduced the latest in secure ticketing systems to address the difficulties of crowd control on race days and stop criminal gangs producing forged tickets and membership cards. The racing operator also took the opportunity to develop a wider CRM platform at each site and for group management to ensure web-centric sales, marketing and membership administration for all operations.

The new CRM system enables Northern Racing's central and local management to control the business more dynamically while retaining autonomous day-to-day racecourse operations. The platform allows local racecourse managers to operate targeted marketing campaigns for meetings based on analysis of previous event's attendance, sales and profitability. Through the CRM system's reporting facility, general customer trends and peak visitor numbers can be identified and managed more effectively. The system's real time information delivery will ultimately support group racecourses' wider e-marketing campaigns and development of enhanced membership packages.

In addition, Northern Racing management will be able carry out consolidated real time business reporting which is connected to the group's central financial management function. This will help to identify key profitability indicators more quickly than before.

Northern Racing's Group Director, Tony Kelly said: "The new software system is enabling our racecourses to administer ticketing and badges more effectively and provide a secure perimeter. We have also been able to deal with forging of tickets by criminals. While it is early days, we know that the CRM elements will in time provide us with more efficient and flexible marketing activities."

Each course's ticketing system is hosted on Bull's Express 5800 resilient servers with wired and wireless Cisco infrastructure connected to touch screen till points, wireless card scanners, and membership and general card printers. Each racecourse's billing system is supported by central business continuity servers. Implementation was handled by our systems integration team in conjunction with Bull hardware infrastructure. The partner companies worked under the direction of Northern Racing's Project Manager Audrey Traynor, who reports to Tony Kelly at Northern Racing.

Tony Kelly added: "The commitment Bull and Serendipity have shown is tremendous. They've delivered over and above what we expected. While there is development work still to be completed, this is an enhanced property management system which will give us competitive advantage in the future."

Jenny Newton, Managing Director, Bull UK & Ireland said: "Bull and its partner serendipity INTERACTIVE have shown that effective ticketing and operations management systems can be delivered for demanding, multi-entry point locations such as racecourses. "Our consultancy and systems integration expertise will provide an enhanced race day experience for Northern Racing customers as well as a consolidated management and marketing platform for the group's current and future business development needs."

 

£10 million digital network boost for Scottish schools. Pupils Benefit From Instant Access to Online Learning Tools

EDINBURGH, Scotland, 29 June - The Scottish Executive is investing £10 million in a country-wide digital network to boost delivery of the school curriculum. Pupils in almost 3,000 schools will benefit from this groundbreaking initiative, aimed to put Scotland's schools at the forefront of modern education in Europe.

The Scottish Executive selected Bull, Cisco Systems, ntl: Business and serendipity INTERACTIVE to design and build the digital network, which will provide both students and teachers with the most up-to-date learning materials to enhance lessons - such as DVD-quality video programmes, which can be delivered country wide using the Internet and streamed for local viewing over the schools local area network (LAN), and interactive websites. Teachers will benefit by being able to use technology more effectively in the classroom environment.

All schools throughout Scotland's 32 local authorities, including those with limited connection in remote areas, will benefit through faster, more reliable and userfriendly access to online resources as part of this visionary initiative.

The Scottish Executive worked closely with the 32 local authorities to select the four technology companies to design and build the digital network, which was implemented in just under three months. The rapid installation of the network means local authorities have an early opportunity to play a role in refining the user interface with teachers over the next few months and to work with the Executive and Learning and Teaching Scotland to develop the service over time.

With Bull serving as G-CAT prime contractor through its G-CAT status, the project includes 100 Bull Express5800 servers; a serendipity INTERACTIVE content directory service, MYcontentDIRECTORY, residing on the servers, that will help enable teachers to easily locate curriculum mapped resources for pre-positioning; a Cisco Application and Content Networking System (ACNS), comprising 3100 content engines, to distribute high-bandwidth web materials to each end-user without creating Internet traffic 'bottlenecks'; ntl: Business has designed and configured the complete solution while being responsible for the integration, implementation and roll out of the network. ntl: Business will also maintain the network as part of a contract lasting for the next three years.

"The decision by the Scottish Executive to implement what will be one of the largest content delivery infrastructures in the world puts Scottish schools right at the forefront of online learning - bringing benefits to teachers and pupils alike," said Mike Dunk, CEO, Bull UK & Ireland. "Undertaking a project of this scale, under a deadline of three months, is a testament to the strength of the relationship between the Scottish Executive and the technology partners."

"The Scottish Executive and local authorities have displayed huge foresight by interconnecting all Scottish schools to the same content delivery network, rather than developing individual networks in each local authority area," said Gordon Thomson, General Manager for Cisco Systems Scotland. "Not only will it cost less to maintain a central system, it will also be easier for content publishers to distribute materials to a broad audience and it will deliver learning benefits to the next generation."

Tony Harris, Managing Director, ntl: Business, said: "This project ensures that real benefits are delivered to all school children across Scotland by ensuring that curriculum content is updated, managed and delivered consistently in an effective and timely manner by exploiting technology. This initiative has placed Scottish education ahead of most other public sector and commercial organisations."

"serendipity INTERACTIVE has worked closely with Learning and Teaching Scotland to deliver MYcontentDIRECTORY, a customised Scottish curriculum version of our established MYiNTERNET software, to allow teachers to quickly locate relevant online Scottish curriculum content shared between their peers across the country. Our 'teacher friendly' interface maximises the Scottish Executive's investment in Cisco 's excellent content delivery technology and delivers a powerful opportunity for shaping and sharing leading digital content in every classroom and for every child.", said Brian Dickson, Director of Client Sales & Services for serendipity INTERACTIVE.