Mobile Phone Barcode Name Badge an Aussie first

In an Australian-developed world first, visitors to trade exhibitions will simply present an SMS delivered barcode on their mobile phones to gain entry.

Developed by Sydney registration specialists Info Salons Australia in co-operation with LegionONE a Sydney telecommunications company, the system is set in motion when intending visitors pre-register online.

“When they submit their registration details, we send them a confirming email and then a barcode by SMS to their mobile phones. When they arrive at the show, they simply need to retrieve the barcode from their Message Inbox and have it scanned at the door,” said Jo-Anne Kelleway, Managing Director of Info Salons Australia.

“Their name badges are instantly printed, including a barcode that exhibitors can scan for all their registration details. This has huge implications for trade shows and conferences which are highly labour intensive when it comes to printing and mailing name badges and other information.”

Ms Kelleway said organisers were always looking for ways to reduce the running costs of exhibitions and the delivery of registration information to mobile phones would significantly cut postage and handling costs in the pre-registration process.

“Pre-registration is an essential element in the organisation and management of trade expos these days. It gives the organisers a clear indication of who will be attending and a range of other demographics that are integral to the overall marketing of the event. The SMS barcode message acts as a reminder to the pre-registered visitor of the impending event. Also, the barcode becomes the fastest vehicle to allow visitors to gain express entry into events.”

In addition, there is a saving on resources in that name badges are only printed when the visitor arrives at the show.

Jo-Anne Kelleway: “Info Salons Australia is always looking at ways to enhance the trade show experience for the visitor and provide cost effective methods of marketing events for the organiser. “

General Manager Products and Services for LegionONE, Andrew Grill, said the SMS barcode delivery presented an important leap forward for business-to-business communications.

“Australia has 15 million mobile phones, so the possibilities for Info Salons and their clients are enormous.”

LegionONE’s interactive telecommunications systems have handled the SMS voting requirements for major Australian shows such as Australian Idol, Big Brother and My Restaurant Rules.

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Innovation drives our IT

Underpinning all the services of Info Salons is our IT department, dedicated to the smooth management of our events and ensuring we remain a cutting edge registration and event services organisation.

Heading the department is George Hirst, for whom no two days are the same.

“Our role is fundamentally to simplify systems and ensure clean data is being used in every facet of our operations – in production and onsite during events. IT is critical with regard to lowering the cost of our services, which would be hugely labour intensive without it.”

The integration of information from web pages into the Info Salons main database continues to evolve, providing event organisers and intending visitors with relevant and timely information.

Integral to this is Info Online which provides clients with statistical pre-registration reports in real time on the status of their trade shows in terms of exhibitors and pre-registered visitors. This is invaluable as the information, which is password protected, can be accessed anywhere. This is of immense benefit to exhibition organisers, many of whom travel the country, and the world, promoting their events.

Recent refinements to Info Online has resulted in reports being generated in seconds rather than minutes. In addition, exhibition organisers can now directly make their own amendments to their event databases developed and managed by Info Salons.

These reports are available in tables and graphically in bar or pie charts, allowing full comprehension of the data at a glance. For example, the chart might show a shortage of intending visitors from a particular state, prompting the development of a fresh marketing plan for that region.

Info Salons also has an online password protected calendar for event organisers which they can access anywhere to give them a complete schedule of their business activities for the next 12-18 months.

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