01 Dec 09 iPhone app & Mobile app released! Screenshots are here!

Well it has finally come.  An official (albeit beta) release for the mobile app that has been in the works for quite some time now.

It is accessible for FREE to all current myguestlist users and venues. You can access it from your mobile device at http://m.myguestlist.com.au

There is a lot of stuff that you can do from it (both already available and in the works) and we will continue to update it reflecting the changes that all of you request over the next few months.

But enough diddley-daddlying, let’s take a look at what’s under the hood:

View your dashboard

This is the first screen you see and will give you access to the main functionality of the app. Everything you need is just a tap away and can be accessed quite quickly once you are on a wireless network. 3G is also fine, but if your venue does have a wireless network, try jump on it as it will give you a quicker and smoother experience.

The Dashboard panel will give you a quick summary of your guestlists/bookings as well as your database size. As you can see here on the right, our test account has 0 guestlists and we filled it with some dummy data for the purpose of this rundown.

Just below that, you will see the 3 main features of the app, currently of which only 2 are available. My Database and My Guestlists. Tapping on each one of those will take you to their own respective menus. Bulk SMS will be available soon and the “coming soon” label will appropriately be removed.

Underneath that, you have a separate panel labelled Tonight’s Guestlists which is a quick shortcut to only display the guestlists/bookings/reservations for tonight. This is a quick way of checking on the status of your night as soon as  you have logged  in.

Manage your Database

On this screen, you can select whether you want to Add a member to your database or Browse the database.

This is the place you go to when you want to add someone to your database on the go or if you have somebody on a clipboard or at the cloakroom. You can completely replace the need of a paper based system in favour of the app so that it can be synced to your database immediately and not have to double up on work.

In some cases, adding to your database can be used as a VIP Membership function. For example if you are a nightclub, and it is say $20 entry fee at the door, you may propose that it can be $10 entry (and maybe a free drink?) should they become a member.  The staff member can at that point, enter the patron’s details into the app in a VIP Members category and know that they have accurately done so at the start of a night and not at some point in the middle where information gained amongst loud music and/or drunkenness often leads to inaccurate database entries.

Add Patrons to your Database on the go

Here is the screen that allows you to add a patron into your database. All these fields are highly customisable based on what fields you choose to capture. For example, if you capture “favourite drink” or “favourite meal” in your MyGuestlist account, those fields will also be reflected here so that the information can be neat, accurate and as detailed as you possibly like.

You can select your desired category (e.g Saturday nights) and use it as a way of adding information on the go even on that particular night. It is a great way of adding business card information or even just information laying around in the office on scrap paper and post-it notes.

There is complete syncronisation with your web MyGuestlist account so what you add in here will reflect in your database on the web also and will not require any doubling up of data entry. Remember that any information that you override for a patron here will be updated and seen as the newest and most relevant. So for example if you have a patron in your “Friday Night” category, but you use the mobile app to add them in the “Saturday Night” category and you also change their mobile number, this mobile number will then be changed for the patron and they will exist in both categories (but still only receive a campaign e-newsletter or SMS once when sending out)

Browse & change the details of patrons in your database

Here you can take a look at all the patrons in your database and have them displayed based on only the info that you like. Females, 21 year olds, only those which like a particular genre of music, your corporates etc.

You have the ability of opting somebody out from your marketing campaigns. This comes in handy when you may be dealing with somebody face to face and they politely ask you to do this.  Now you don’t need to do it from your computer or write a note to yourself to do it at some point in the future, you can do it right there and then.

Communicate with your patrons

If you have forgotten the contact details of one of your patrons, you can now call, email or send an SMS to them by clicking on the Advanced Features part of this screen.

This is particularly helpful if you do not have this patron as a personal contact in your phone but know that there is some connection with the venue so you can do a search in the app and contact them via this screen.

You can also take a look at how long they have been a member with your venue for, as well as any other personal information that you have acquired from them.

If you want to update their details (e.g new email address, new mobile number, add their date of birth) you can also do this from this screen. Think of it as a way to keep the information on your patrons up to date, as well as the ability to contact them should you find the need to do so.

Manage all your guestlists

As the title suggests, from this screen, you can view all upcoming guestlists, search for a particular one that you may known about or have in your head as well as create one for somebody you might be chatting to on the go, or someone that is simply enquiring about booking or reserving their function with you.

Just like in your web MyGuestlist account, in the “Search All Guestlists” section you can search by any criteria that you like effectively giving you the opportunity to use it as a tracking tool as well.

You can search by a given name from one of your promoters, to determine how many guestlists they have put through or how many birthdays you have had come through in the past 6 months etc.

Use the “Upcoming” option to see every guestlist from today onwards, or just do a search if you can’t remember the timing of one but can remember other details such as the creator’s name or the company name for a corporate function.

Create guestlists on the go or whilst you are chatting to one of your patrons

This is a nifty little feature that allows you to put a guestlist in for somebody that you are just chatting to or is even semi-interested in coming on a given night or day. They will immediately be sent an email from your venue informing them they are now on the guestlist for this weekend or that their function enquiry has been received and that you will get back to them shorty. This is great because the patron is added directly to your database, and your engagement with them is increased by being able to cut out the time needed to give them that special incentive to come to your night, event or restaurant.

View and update the details of your guestlists

If you now have some updated details on your bookings or guestlists, you can change them from your phone at any time.

Want to check on the attendees?

Left the venue and can’t remember some special requirements associated to the function?

Need to remind yourself on something about this particular booking?

You can now do so at any time and from anywhere.

View all your lists and mark patrons attendance

This is completely optional, however is a great feature of the mobile app which allows you to see the patrons on a private guestlist and mark off who has arrived and who hasn’t.

This information is then synced to your web MyGuestlist account and is added to your patron statistics to determine the amount of patrons you have had arriving on a guestlist on any given night.

It’s a neat little metric to have and is even right now used at the door of some clubs and bars. But it can effectively be used in any hospitality venue.

So as you can see, there are some awesome time saving and revenue generating features in the mobile app and we hope that you will enjoy using the benefits it provides.

Stay tuned for future posts outlining new features and additions.

Cheerio!