Opening the door with technology

Matthew’s Hub came to Umber Creative to look for a creative digital solution to their problems. They knew they needed a system to manage the sensitive data relating to their service users but also that they needed to generate meaningful statistics about the centres day-to-day activity without creating a large administration job for their busy staff.

After discussions and a couple of site visits to understand the unique nature of the charity and it's facilities, Umber Creative identified a number of opportunities that could be addressed with a new system, this added value helped to ensure that the solution would be cost-effective for the charity.

Umber Creative proposed and constructed a bespoke CRM to allow the staff to manage data about their members with a suite of tools to allow them to add updates of different types to each user’s record - this included allowing them to upload images and files; as well as tagging their updates as relating to ‘Anxiety’ or ‘Employment’ etc. This CRM was combined with a bespoke door access system we designed and fitted which uses a Raspberry Pi computer installed in their building reception to interface through our online system with a web app the members can run on their mobile phones. This allows them to unlock the door to the centre - by entering a one-off pin code on their mobile device. This allows them to let themselves in without having to wait on the doorstep for a member of staff to buzz them in and also allows our system to record when members access the centre. Upon signing out of the centre the users are asked what activities they took part in whilst at the centre. Between the CRM and logging of members activity a powerful set of reports can be generated within the system that is of great use to Matthews Hub as they approach potential funders. The system has also organised their information and made the day to day running of the centre smoother for both staff and members.