Blog: new zoo management software and app - a game changer for the industry.

Maxine Bradley, Zoo Curator at Northumberland Zoo, guides us through a revolutionary new zoo app... 

When the concept of creating a digital companion for the Zoo was presented to me, I wasn’t overly keen, simply because my mission at Northumberland Zoo is for visitors to connect with the natural world, encouraging them to switch off from devices.

However, this app is a game-changer. Once I’d learned more about this powerful software and how it could benefit our collection, mission and the end user, then my opinion changed quite quickly.

In a nutshell, this highly customisable platform and app provides us with useful data and is an excellent educational and engagement tool for the end user. We’ll be able to increase our awareness, use it for collection planning and also generate income. Let me explain how.

The platform and app is accessible and affordable, not only to smaller collections like us, but it’s also so simple to use for anyone not technically minded. I’m able to completely manage all of the content/exhibits/offers easily from a back office interface. The app is educational, providing additional information to our existing interpretation, with interactive quizzes and engaging functionality. It also works as a navigational tool and day-planner for keeper talks.

However, the most exciting part of the app is the data it collects via beacons. We have placed 40 palm-sized beacons around our Zoo which trigger different ‘actions’ within the app. For example, when a visitor is within 5m of the Snow Leopard exhibit, the beacon triggers a snow leopard video to pop up on the app. Or when they’re at the furthest end of the Zoo, that beacon will trigger a voucher to pop-up to advertise a lovely hot drink on a chilly day - the possibilities are endless and depend on what we want to promote. Every beacon can have different actions and be switched on/off, providing visitors with a different experience every time they visit.

Meanwhile, in the background, the beacons are always collecting valuable data insights. This data captures how long people have been standing within range of the beacons, i.e dwell time, and maps it on real-time heatmaps. An insights module in the platform allows us to interpret this data in many different formats. This way, we can use it for collection planning and interpretation enhancement and most importantly, are able to map an entire visitors’ day. We can see when they entered the Zoo, how long they stayed in the cafe, time spent at specific exhibits and finally, see when they left the Zoo. This data is not something we’ve had access to previously, and isn’t something that’s easily obtained without a great deal of time spent getting to know a handheld timer and a clipboard. As a bonus, we can even track where visitors have travelled from, helping to calculate the visitors contribution of our carbon footprint.

Other aspects of the app include the ability for mass communications. Every user who is on the app is able to be contacted via app push notifications or the email address they registered with. Users can be filtered to contact members, adopters, visitors on-site, visitors off-site and even people who visited last Tuesday at 2pm who triggered a specific beacon during their visit, it is that specific. The app can also contact everyone who attended the otter talk and request feedback in real-time.

The software has our digital-ticketing provider, Digitickets, integrated into the system so users can purchase tickets and present their tickets in the app digitally upon entry. Members also have a digitally generated dynamic membership card that can’t be duplicated/screen-shot to use on admittance, meaning we can manage memberships through the platform, no longer requiring additional membership management software.

This app was built specifically with Zoos in mind and I’m excited to see how well people engage with it, what data is collected, and the next stages of the software’s development with some exciting updates in the pipeline.

The software’s been developed by n-gage.io, an innovative technology solutions business based locally to us in the Northeast. Bryan and his team approached us last year with the concept of a new type of attraction management software and app for our industry using Northumberland Zoo as the pilot study. We’ve worked alongside the developers to refine the software that is easily replicated for any collection, big or small. The Northumberland Zoo app will be live on the App Store this month.

I presented this software at the BIAZA conference in Dublin Zoo this year and the presentation can be found on BIAZA’s Youtube channel for anyone who missed it.

If anyone would like any more information about the app, then please get in touch.

Thanks for reading!

Maxine Bradley, Zoo Curator at Northumberland Zoo

[email protected]
 

Read more about Maxine and Northumberland Country Zoo's story here.

All blogs reflect the views of their author and are not a reflection of BIAZA's positions.