Whole Stadium to be a Cash free zone. (UPDATED)

[Tinrib]

Interestring article , it would appear that you'll soon be able to buy your Balti Pie and Pint of fizz(sorry Fosters) with your season ticket...

- Another insight of where the club are spending cash to improve infrastructure.

Reading FC secures cashless, VoIP plans
Posted by Miya Knights at 5:49PM, Wednesday 5th March 2008

The Premiership football club recently installed new security appliances, which support the security requirements of the roll out of VoIP and cashless system trials.

Reading FC has installed new security appliances it is using as the basis for a number of ongoing IT-based projects.

It is currently deploying voice over internet protocol (VoIP) functionality and a contactless and cashless ticketing and hospitality system that will be trialled by 2,000 of its fans at its next home game against Birmingham on 22 March.

The Premiership club needed to replace an existing appliance from the Cisco PIX range that was coming to the end of its life. But its needs had also grown, where it also now had two new sites, a new training ground and fulfilment warehouse for its branded merchandise sales.

Garry Hanson, Reading FC IT manager, told IT PRO: "I had to make the business case for new investment. But then we would have had to maintain the old system, as well as buy two new ones, which would've meant two interfaces to manage and two lots of reports too."

So just before the beginning of this current football season, Reading installed three separate appliances from provider, SonicWALL at each of the sites, using virtual private network (VPN) tunnels to connect them together.

The SonicWALL TZ 180, TZ 190 and PRO 2040 appliances also have an expanded level of functionality, in addition to their standard VPN and firewall features. The club also relies on them for anti-virus, intrusion detection and prevention and email security scanning capabilities. And IPSec VPNs between each location, remote workers and outside suppliers ensure that all traffic remains secure.

"When I was choosing SonicWALL, I wanted to make sure the appliances would be future-proof because we were looking at VoIP at the time," added Hanson. "It allows us to devote our time to other IT projects that generate more value for the Club on a business level."

Of the contactless system, Hanson added: "One of the club's biggest security considerations is data protection. The SonicWALL investment gave me the piece of mind I needed to go ahead with such a project."

In working with its contactless technology partner Fortress GB, Hanson said the stadium has had to make minimal hardware and software changes to accommodate the new wireless systems, having installed first-generation technology four years ago.

"I want to see fans come to the club without having to actually ever use money, so we have [radio frequency identification] chips in tickets and season ticket cards that allow access through the turnstiles and that can be topped up in the stadium or online to buy their drinks and pies at half-time. But we had to make sure all of the data would secure," Hanson

http://www.itpro.co.uk/networking/news/ ... plans.html

[Row Z Royal]

Unbridled disaster waiting to happen, though I suppose at least you can't be short-changed by the idiots behind the counter.

[The Surgeon of Crowthorne]

They can still over-charge you though - which they frequently try to.


Cisco PIXies are firewalls so not sure what their relevance is to the cashless system is. Didn't know they were going out of date - I've bought some for work & I thought they were still supported.

I've just noticed that this week's Computing also has the story about the cashless purchasing system trial. From the numbers quoted, I'd guess that it's the South Stand that's going to trial this. As that stand is for non-season ticket (& probably also a fair number of non-member card) holders, just what are they going to use?

[Dirk Gently]

Unbridled disaster waiting to happen, though I suppose at least you can't be short-changed by the idiots behind the counter.

That's a very open-minded and positive attitude.

As I understand it, this will be trialled in the Upper West stand - ISTR at the Blackburn match.

You'll load up your member card like an oyster card, and then use that to pay at the kiosks. I'm assured there'll be plenty of ways to load the card up (machines or even over t'internet) so why shouldn't it work ok? This type of system is used in thousands of schools, colleges and work canteens.

[RoyalBlue]

Unbridled disaster waiting to happen, though I suppose at least you can't be short-changed by the idiots behind the counter.

That's a very open-minded and positive attitude.

As I understand it, this will be trialled in the Upper West stand - ISTR at the Blackburn match.

You'll load up your member card like an oyster card, and then use that to pay at the kiosks. I'm assured there'll be plenty of ways to load the card up (machines or even over t'internet) so why shouldn't it work ok? This type of system is used in thousands of schools, colleges and work canteens.

I have plenty of experience of operating such a system (as a client of one of the big suppliers of cashless vending) and believe you me when it's working OK it can be quite good but when it goes wrong it's a bloody nightmare! For starters if they are going to use note loaders to load money onto cards they are quite easily jammed and frequently spit back what are perfectly good notes. Cards can also corrupt and money disappears. When that happens we tend to give people the benefit of the doubt. Will RFC be happy to do the same?

As for being used in many schools, colleges and canteens, just how many of those sort of places try to send thousands of customers through the system in such a very short space of time?

Finally, supporters who put credit onto their cards will, of course, be providing RFC with an interest free loan. Not a very big one, you might argue, but multiply by a good few thousand cards and it starts to add up. Then, of course, if you lose your card and it has a tenner on it, not only do RFC charge you for a replacement card but they're also likely to profit from your tenner (they will of course block your missing card so that the credit on it can't be redeemed.

[The Surgeon of Crowthorne]

I can only foresee chaos here (sorry to be negative Dirk):
Instead of queuing once at half-time, you'll now have to queue twice - I know you can load your card in advance but plenty of time you'll either forget or not realise.
Loads of people will get to the front of the counter queue, order & only when they come to pay find they don't have enough on their card.
As RB says, the money loading machines will break down.

Similar systems I've used before have "loaded" the money onto the card itself. Is that the plan at RFC, or is to be stored on a database, keyed by your member number? If it is the latter, then this should circumvent problems with corrupted or lost cards.

[Silver Fox]

Seems pretty good to me, although I doubt I'd use it as I don't really buy anything at the ground.

Delighted to see the experts have decided it's a disaster already though!

[Dirk Gently]

I just give up! Perhaps the club may just have thought of the potential problems and found ways around them. Who knows? But they have been working at this for a long time and so they're trying to make it a success. That's why they're doing things like piloting it in just one stand (Upper West) so they can see how it works and maybe make changes before they roll it out. Unlike previous implementations, which I do think they've learnt from.

But hey, why bother? - it's going to be a disaster!

[Row Z Royal]

I just give up! Perhaps the club may just have thought of the potential problems and found ways around them. Who knows? But they have been working at this for a long time and so they're trying to make it a success. That's why they're doing things like piloting it in just one stand (Upper West) so they can see how it works and maybe make changes before they roll it out. Unlike previous implementations, which I do think they've learnt from.

But hey, why bother? - it's going to be a disaster!

Trialling it in the UW is the way forward, but when it goes wrong in the East and away concourses, all hell will, no doubt, ensue.

All I'm doing is stating my position so I can either be pleasantly surprised or say "I told you so".

[Dirk Gently]

I just give up! Perhaps the club may just have thought of the potential problems and found ways around them. Who knows? But they have been working at this for a long time and so they're trying to make it a success. That's why they're doing things like piloting it in just one stand (Upper West) so they can see how it works and maybe make changes before they roll it out. Unlike previous implementations, which I do think they've learnt from.

But hey, why bother? - it's going to be a disaster!

Trialling it in the UW is the way forward, but when it goes wrong in the East and away concourses, all hell will, no doubt, ensue.

All I'm doing is stating my position so I can either be pleasantly surprised or say "I told you so".

But the aim of the trial is to iron out problems and so make it less likely that it will go wrong somewhere else - and also to develop contingency plans so that they know what to do if it does go wrong.

And the worry from the number of projects that I've done is that when users approach an implementation expecting it to go wrong then it most likely will - these things are often self-fulfilling prophesies.

[RG1 Export]

Would the cashless system not operate in conjunction with hard cash at all then?

[Row Z Royal]

I just give up! Perhaps the club may just have thought of the potential problems and found ways around them. Who knows? But they have been working at this for a long time and so they're trying to make it a success. That's why they're doing things like piloting it in just one stand (Upper West) so they can see how it works and maybe make changes before they roll it out. Unlike previous implementations, which I do think they've learnt from.

But hey, why bother? - it's going to be a disaster!

Trialling it in the UW is the way forward, but when it goes wrong in the East and away concourses, all hell will, no doubt, ensue.

All I'm doing is stating my position so I can either be pleasantly surprised or say "I told you so".

But the aim of the trial is to iron out problems and so make it less likely that it will go wrong somewhere else - and also to develop contingency plans so that they know what to do if it does go wrong.

And the worry from the number of projects that I've done is that when users approach an implementation expecting it to go wrong then it most likely will - these things are often self-fulfilling prophesies.

People expect them to go wrong is because they usually do...

Anyway, best of luck to those who fork out for crap food and drink at the Mad.

[The 17 Bus]

what is wrong with cash??? seems to have worked for a long time now, though the banks did not take a % of all ones money like now.

[TFF]

The card readers were on the upper west counters for the Villa match but I couldn't get excited enough to bother posting about it.

They have this technology at a colleague's golf club. I believe it works without any problems at all. You can 'spend' in the bar, the restaurant and the club shop. I look forward to trying it out.

It's a condition of membership that he puts £50 per year on the card.

RFC would never do that though.

[RG1 Export]

RFC would never do that though.

...Please don't tempt fate.

[Rhys The Royal]

Can that be converted into English from Computer Jargon by anyone?

[FLTLR]

I dunno what a VPL Firewall is, or an ISDN VOIP or whatever.?.?

I just don't understand what is wrong with using Cash? Get the right calibre of staff in the Kiosks (i.e One's that actually serve you rather than nattering with mates on their Mobile Phones - or obviously don't have English as a first language - honestly how many times have I had to repeat, amplify and jesticulate what I actually want, as opposed to what they plonk on the counter infront of me)...

Anyway, Catering Rant over - how much is one of this Catering Cards gonna cost me to buy please???

[Pat Butchers Ring]

VOIP = Making telephone calls over an IP network or t'internet

VPN Firewall = Firewall that creates an encrypted connection to another site

Cisco Pix's have been replaced by Cisco's ASA firewalls.

HTH

[Dirk Gently]

Anyway, Catering Rant over - how much is one of this Catering Cards gonna cost me to buy please???

Nothing, I think. It'll be your member card/Season Ticket.

[RG30]

This is a system that is used on the continent a fair bit (eg Allianz Arena, Munich and Amsterdam Arena) but from my experiences of them, you won't be able to upload change, so in other words it will either be £5 or £10 at a time. My concern would be for those that don't attend games regularly and it may put them off buying anything.