Reebok Sports Club ‘La Finca’ opts for LEGIC® technology at its sports facilitiesThe club provides a wide variety of facilities to delight members attending the ‘‘La Finca'' Reebok Sports Club in Madrid, Spain. To meet clients' needs to the full and to optimise all the equipment to the maximum, the club relies on efficient applications supplied by LEGIC based Gantner applications. Reebok Sports Club ‘La Finca' is located at Pozuelo de Alarcón and is considered to be one of the most prestigious sports clubs in Spain. Its sports facilities cover an area of 125,000 square meters and the club has a capacity for 6,000 members, who are able to make use of the tennis and paddle tennis courts, the basket ball court, beach volley ball pitch, football pitch, outdoor and children's swimming pools, hydrotherapy pool, fitness studio and many other facilities. Reebok Sports Club is distinctive for providing services for a selected and exclusive clientele, and all its facilities need to be cared for down to the smallest detail. The club relies on an efficient access control system, developed and installed by LEGIC partner Gantner Technologies in Austria. LEGIC's innovative contactless technology has been installed at the Calle Serrano Reebok Club in Madrid. Carlos Inocencio, the Club's IT director, states that its acquisition of the LEGIC based applications has turned out to be the "most versatile and most interesting option in Spain." When Carlos Inocencio joined the Reebok Sports Club team, his chief objective was to deal with a series of challenges in order to increase the Club's efficiency and to guarantee maximum comfort for all members. That is why Inocencio got in touch with Gantner. Current figures are proving that the decision to opt for LEGIC was worthwhile. The cost-effectiveness has resulted in annual savings of almost 70,000 euros. Apart from gaining constant assurance of comfort and well-being, members can use their all-in-one card to obtain various services.  At the moment numerous applications are in use at Reebok Sports Club ‘La Finca', mostly concerning access control. The Club has over 6000 contactless credentials in use. These allow members and employees to access the facilities easily and secure. The main forms of credential are a fabric and plastic bracelet, a watch, and a card.
There are four access turnstiles at the club (the main one to the tennis courts, underground parking, access to the male and female locker rooms) each containing two readers (one for entry and one for exit). LEGIC contactless technology is proving to be very profitable and this is amply illustrated at Reebok Sports Club ‘La Finca'. "The company is able to acquire information about the members who attend the club, we know which part of the club they visit, so we can target advertising more specifically, or carry out certain services for them," commented Inocencio. On the other hand, the applications are also remarkable for the fact that they check and assess the use that members are making of the facilities. "At the beginning, access was fairly free and easy. Now, members have to carry their pass on them, so we can control their membership," said Mr. Inocencio. The day the turnstiles to access the tennis courts were installed marked a "before" and "after" in management and control of how the club's facilities are used. "Before the turnstiles were installed, the courts were always occupied, and the court managers used to go crazy because they could not fit everyone in, due to the considerable lack of control at the entrance. Now that the turnstiles prevent free access, our staff can use the pass to check that the member wanting to get onto the courts really is a member, or whether their club dues are outstanding. This makes it everything much more smoothly.  The system ensures that, throughout the club, members are allowed to access areas depending on the type of their membership. We have created zones, and subdivided them according to users. For example, children are not allowed to enter the male and female changing rooms. Every turnstile allows access to a specific zone, with all the privileges that this confers. Children are allowed to run around and play in certain areas of the club. However, to ensure their safety, they are not allowed into adult areas such as the saunas or the spa.
But the services provided by the LEGIC all-in-one card go well beyond mere access control. Members can use their contactless smartcard to reserve the locker they want, and they can purchase minutes in the sun cabin by using their LEGIC smart card. Lastly, the Club is about to install a new LEGIC based application on the all-in-one card so that members do not need to worry about having small change and notes on them if they want to purchase food and drink in the Club's cafeteria, because they will be able to pay for it using their card or bracelet with integrated LEGIC chip. Reebok Sports Club ‘‘La Finca'' is currently undergoing an expansion phase, because this year it is opening a large restaurant area located on the top floor of the Raqueta building. |
