Contact point applications

A typical contact point application involves a number of contact points, for example:

• branches of a retail chain
• rooms in a hotel
• stops on a transport network
• exhibits in a museum
• items of street furniture

The information to be available at each contact point is generally similar but has variation in detail:

• retail store
  • address
  • opening hours
  • contact number ...
• hotel room:
  • single/double/suite
  • wi-fi details
  • instructions for room features
  • room service menu ...
• bus stop:
  • identity
  • local route maps
  • local area map ...
• exhibit:
  • details of exhibit
  • related exhibits
  • position on gallery map
  • gallery facilities ...
• lamp-post:
  • inventory number
  • location
  • local facilities map
  • report fault feedback form ...

Maybe you have this information about each contact point online and web-accessible already. By deploying contact points you will provide instant-access web bookmarks as a convenience to your users, and, crucially, you are opening a channel of communication to the users at their moments of use.

A contact-point is a virtual notice-board - sited where a physical notice-board could be or already is, but with content that is always up to date and managed centrally.

The task of a contact point management system like InABl.ink is to make it straightforward and inexpensive to wrap your information infrastructure with relevant contact points, whatever combination of technology - QR code, NFC tag or iBeacon you choose to deploy. This can often be done without requiring any changes to your web site itself.

InABl.ink may also be used if you have no existing web site, creating an informational site for you as a by-product of providing your contact points.

Specifying your application

To prepare an application we need to identify the core of common information you wish to offer at contact points, and the specific things that will vary at each contact point.

Example: London bus stops

This example shows how contact points can overlay and enhance existing online systems without requiring them to be changed. inabl.ink do not have any association with Transport for London.

Transport For London or TfL provide live departure information for each of their thousands of London bus stops on their web site TfL, and this is also accessible using mobile applications.

Each bus stop carries a five-digit identifying code number and if you start your app or visit their web site you can enter one of these numbers and get the live departures for that stop.

For instance, one of the stops around Waterloo station has the code 76884. Anyone can access live departures from there with the bookmark (or URL) Waterloo Station.

Simple case

In the very simplest case, we could produce a label for TfL carrying a QRcode and NFC tag, programmed with that departures URL, in a suitably robust format for them to display on the bus stop (and similar labels for every other bus stop). This is what it might look like, and (scaled down) what you might see on your mobile after scanning or tapping it were you there at this moment:

Scanning the QR-code on your mobile right now should deliver the same effect. The NFC tap requires, of course, a physical NFC tag embodied in a physical label!

Departures and feedback

Suppose we would like to get some feedback from TfL customers about the bus service. InABl.ink provides a simple way to do this, by putting a small questionnaire just below the regular information.

Now each contact point instead of linking directly to the TfL page links to a page hosted on InABl.ink.

The user gets the information they need and an opportunity to provide some feedback.

You get instant access to reports of the usage of your contact points and all the feedback your users have given.

This is the very simplest feedback. Using our scripting system you can construct a much more sophisticated questionnaire if you wish. Alternatively you can use another survey system such as Google Forms or Survey Monkey ^®.

InABl.ink has no association with TfL. This illustrates how it is possible to enhance customer experience of your existing online presence using InABl.ink without requiring any changes to your web site.

Here are some more contact points for famous London locations: