Ask a football club in Albany how they get the lights on for training and the answer takes a few seconds. They open an app on their phone and switch them on.
The City of Albany manages lighting across its sporting ovals, including Railways and the C and D ovals. Until recently, Club Development Coordinator Judith Want would receive a call whenever clubs needed lights, because the City’s previous system could only be run from a computer..
“The previous system was quite dated and didn’t allow users to make bookings from their phones.”
That meant every lighting request went through Judith, at any hour. “I’d get phone calls on the weekend, all hours of the night asking to turn the oval lights on.” Clubs also waited five minutes before the lights came on, and a dawn and dusk setting stopped anyone switching them on during the day when contractors needed to test them.
Lights on the moment clubs arrive
Albany moved its four football clubs onto Easylite first, with soccer and the remaining clubs set to join before the next winter season. Easylite connected the City’s booking calendar to the lights on each oval, and Judith set up and trained users at each club. Club users can only book the ovals, which keeps the app easy to pick up. One club booked 5am instead of 5pm early on, and that was a simple fix. “The app’s easy. It’s on your phone. And the sporting clubs are loving it.”
Clubs now switch the lights on as soon as they arrive, and charges start from the booked time. Switch on at 6:05pm for a 6pm booking and you pay from 6pm. “One of the key improvements is that users can access the service immediately, without waiting for activation.”
Judith says.
For Judith, the live map has made the biggest difference to day-to-day checks. When a club rings to say its lights are out, she opens the map first. ” The system updates in real time, so active sites appear immediately” Manual control lets her switch lights on mid-morning for contractors or check everything works after a power outage. Clubs can see when another user group has their field, as they did when Railways was booked on a Wednesday. When someone leaves a club, Judith removes them and their access goes with them.
What Albany gained
Accountability: Every booking is recorded against the club user who made it.
Control: Lights can be switched on or off manually at any time of day.
Simplicity: Clubs book and switch lights from their phones.
Activation: Lights come on immediately, replacing the five-minute wait.
From August, the usage report matched the invoice total, and Judith now attaches it to each City invoice. The late-night calls from the football clubs have stopped too. “With all the football clubs, I didn’t have to worry about it once we got them onto the system.”
Albany’s game plan for next winter
With the football clubs up and running, Albany is getting ready to bring soccer and its remaining clubs onto Easylite before the next winter season. By then, every club will book and switch its own lights through the same app. Payments will stay on a credit system while clubs settle in, and card payments are likely to follow. Railways is already set up for half-field lighting, for clubs that only need part of the ground.