TouchTeeSQL Technical Info

The following comments, specifications and environmental requirements apply to the Touchable Reservations System.

• The TouchTeeSQL system is a touch-screen Tee-Time Reservation and Electronic Tee-Sheet  system, running stand-alone on Win2k professional or as a network mixing Win9x and Win2k platforms.
• It can be configured to work in conjunction with the Touch-POS system or without it.    When working with Touch-POS, it enforces the Day of Play Functions in which Green-Fees cannot be sold at the point of sale, unless a justifying reservation or walk-on entry has been provided to the Tee-Times system.  This greatly enhances the club management's ability to justify course usage and to guarantee that fair compensation has been collected by the club, for every round played.

• It uses the item lists and data files maintained by the Administrative Tee-Times System.
  

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• Central to the screen, a scrolling Tee-Sheet displays all  reservations for the selected day.  Surrounding the tee-sheet on all sides, rows of buttons allow the user to scroll through the available tee-sheets and modify them as needed.  To the extreme right, the day-at-a-glance column  displays a summary of the entire day's course usage as a grid of colored squares.
• The day-at-a-glance column is also useful for scrolling the tee-sheet.  On crowded days, the few available open tee-times appear as bright green squares.  Tapping the desired square jumps the tee-sheet to the appropriate time.
• At the top of the screen a button labeled View, leads to a powerful screen which contains seven day-at-a-glance columns, one for each day of the coming week.   These can be scrolled forward and backwards to display more distant dates.  Like the day-at-a-glance column  on the main window, these are color coded to show course availability and can be touched to jump back to the tee-sheet for the appropriate date and time.  In this "week-at-a-glance" mode, all of the columns report on the currently selected course.  For clubs which have more than one course, tapping the view button again, changes view  so that all courses are displayed for as many days as screen space allows.
• Back on the main screen, the process of adding a new reservation is simple and highly streamlined.  Selecting an available tee-time and tapping the Add button,  brings up a screen where the number of golfers and the name of the "Captain" can be entered using either the computer's physical keyboard, or via a keyboard which is drawn on the touch-screen.  If the caller is already on file, their name can be selected from a scrolling list.  Optionally, the caller's credit card information can be recorded.  After that, one more button click, confirms the information and  completes the reservation.
• If the day of play features are active, the Check-Out  button allows the user to record the fact that selected golfer(s) have arrived at the course.  The Ring-Out button summons the TouchPOS system and sends it the appropriate green fee items and rates information.  Once the Point of Sale prints a receipt, TouchTeeSQL returns and updates the tee-sheet to show that the golfer has paid.  Finally, as the golfer begins their game, the Teed-Off  button can be pressed to record the event.   As a result of these actions, TouchTeeSQL screens around the club can see the current state of play.  
• Alternatively, if the golfer does not show up to play, the No-Show button makes note of the fact in the reservation history.  This in turn can be picked up by the Pet Lottery portion of the Tee-Times Administrative System so that future reservation requests will be penalized.  It can also be picked up and reported (along with any collected credit card information) so that financial penalties can be pursued.
• When golfers occasionally call to confirm or delete their reservations (but don't remember the details of that reservation), the Find button can be used to locate all reservations for a partial or complete  golfer name.  It can even search multiple days in case the golfer's memory is really bad.
• At many clubs, the rules governing the price of a reservation can get very complex.  Reciprocal agreements with local hotels, membership discounts and seasonal/time of day factors can all play a role in determining how much should be charged.  TouchTeeSQL incorporates a powerful Rates engine which assists the user in this complex task.  When the course, date and time of play are all known, the Rates engine provides a scrolling list of only those prices which are valid for the known information.  From there, the user can select an appropriate rate using the descriptions which are attached to each price. 
• Another powerful feature of the TouchTeeSQL system is its ability to handle multiple reservation requests, from a single caller, in an extremely streamlined way.   Pressing the Block button informs the system that a block of tee-times is about to be reserved.  From that point, each tee-time selected, adds to the block.  It is possible to scroll around the current tee sheet, switch courses and even switch days during this process.  All selected tee-times, regardless of time, day or course will be collected into a single block.  When the selection process is complete, a second press of the Block button begins calls up the Block Reservation Window, where the list of selected tee-times can be reviewed and modified.  Once the list is approved, a single visit to the Add Reservation window, collects the golfers name and (optionally) credit card information.  When this is approved, all selected tee-times become reserved in the golfers name.  After that, they remained linked as a block, such that selecting any one of the blocked tee-times and pressing the Block button, will bring up the Block Reservation Window with the complete list.  From there, modifications and deletions can be handled for individual reservations or for the block as a whole.
• Once configured, TouchTeeSQL's greatest feature is its ease of use, which practically eliminates the need for employee training while making its wide range of capabilities obvious to even new users.

HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

NOTES

Note #1
On network installations involving more than one TouchTeeSQL terminal, Microsoft Terminal Server is strongly recommended.   For a more complete details, see the Installation Recommendation page.

Note #2
Microsoft Terminal Server claims to support clients with processors as small as the original Pentium.
CGS has not yet tried it on less than the hardware recommended above.

Note #3
Although each TouchTeeSQL terminal should be equipped with a 15" or larger Touch Screen Monitor, the software can be operated with a mouse instead.