Hobsons booking application

The OS team have worked with Hobsons, a voice-over agency based in London, since 2008; initially on the establishment of a new brand and more recently on the redesign and development of their online presence.

Hobsons approached Online Solutions with the challenge of streamlining one of their business critical processes by replacing an old fashioned paper based booking system with a new fully integrated online booking system. The new web application needed to be easy to understand, simple to manage, reliable and secure whilst also integrating with their existing client management system to streamline what was a rather time consuming billing process.

Following a series of workshops with various stake holders at Hobsons, the OS team began an in-depth system planning exercise to create an initial user experience (UX) prototype to stress test a proposed day/week/year based calendar interface along with predominant back-end administration processes. Visual designs were then created and layered onto the structure prior to development focusing on clear and concise signposting, explicit calls to action and coloured iconography to provide easily recognisable information categorisation.

The booking web app also integrates dynamically with Hobsons current Highrise CRM system, securely synchronising data between systems to create a 360 degree view of their clients and their associated activities. The application also includes notifications via email and SMS which are delivered to voice-over actors to provide them with full details of their studio appointment which can be seamlessly synced with the artists own calendars to keep them up-to-date with any changes that may occur.

The application also includes a suite of reporting capabilities to ensure that Hobson's account department and management are fully informed and provided with the necessary data and tools to quickly track and cross reference business activity.

The OS team continue to work with Hobsons and provide design and development services to support their continuous improvements programme with regular system updates and new supplementary functionality.