The events industry relies heavily on streamlined logistics and enhanced security to ensure a safe and efficient experience for all involved. Many event venues have recognised the importance of adopting advanced solutions like Voyage Control to manage the flow of vehicles and improve overall operations.
Increased Safety Through Optimized Traffic Flow
In the events industry, efficient management of vehicle logistics is crucial. Many event centres have turned to solutions like Voyage Control to handle the influx of vehicles throughout various events and their phases. This technology offers a robust delivery scheduling and management system that not only enhances security but also boosts site-wide efficiency.
Efficiency and clarity are at the core of successful events and event centres. Voyage Control's system provides event organizers with valuable tools to plan and manage resources effectively. Allowing venues to view deliveries in advance and exhibitors to schedule their goods accordingly, ensures that the right event setups are available when needed. This planning capability minimizes confusion and maximizes the efficiency of the events’ build, restock, and breakdown processes, resulting in increased speed that exhibitors can set up their stalls, remove bottlenecks at site and hall entrances and increase the overall success of events and the centres they’re held in.
Managing traffic flow during events is a critical challenge. Voyage Control addresses this by dynamically adjusting unload and reload times for different vehicle types based on their size and unique characteristics. This feature helps prevent congestion and ensures a smooth flow of vehicles, contributing to a more organized and efficient event setup. More often than not, exhibitors can either have large amounts of goods to move into the event halls or those goods may be oversized. By employing a delivery management system, event centres and planners can help mitigate the risk of injury that can take place through over-congestion either in the delivery bays or in the event halls themselves. By limiting how many people can enter the venue based on internal parking availability for various vehicle types by time slots, event venues don’t become overcrowded and availability is constantly cycling through.
Enhanced Security
The primary concern for event venues is the safety of everyone on-site. Voyage Control's vehicle tracking features play a pivotal role in enhancing security measures. By ensuring that only authorized vehicles enter and exit the venue at the appropriate times, we help minimize illegal entry, delays, and accidents. This approach also prevents overcrowding in loading bays and exhibition halls, creating a safer environment for all attendees. Vehicle tracking on Voyage Control holds two main components, one being the mandatory registration of driver details and the other being the mandatory registration of vehicle details. On average, this is in the form of the driver’s full name, email, phone number, licence number, and originating area code. Vehicle details are also tracked in terms of its vehicle registration number (VRN)/ licence plate number, and the make and model of the vehicle. For event venues and facilities that utilize Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems, the venues can choose to integrate Voyage Control with their ANPR systems to gain a higher level of vehicle tracking reliability and security.
Adaptation to Changing Regulations
On the evening of May 22, 2017, more than 14,000 individuals gathered to attend a performance by American singer Ariana Grande. Tragically, towards the conclusion of the event, an assailant detonated an explosive device he had concealed, resulting in the loss of 22 lives during the terrorist attack at the Manchester Arena (Manchester Arena Inquiry, 2019).
The United Kingdom has faced a series of recent “low-sophistication terror attacks” in public places in recent years, including the aforementioned incident at the Manchester Arena in 2017. Despite the “infrequency of such attacks, the threat of terrorism remains genuine and increasingly unpredictable. Public spaces and crowded areas are now considered attractive targets” (Enfield Council, 2023).
Given the elevated level of the terrorist threat in the UK, event venues are among the numerous public gathering points required to adhere to Martyn's Law. This legislation aims to enhance preparedness for and protection against terrorist attacks. One crucial aspect of compliance involves the monitoring and documentation of vehicle movements within and around event venues. According to the UK Government's National Protective Security Authority, “Hostile Vehicle Mitigation (HVM) is a protective security discipline focusing on reducing risks associated with vehicle-borne threats posed by terrorists and criminals” (2023).
Voyage Control is dedicated to providing venues with additional security and peace of mind. Every vehicle entering a venue is tracked, and the driver's contact information is recorded in case of an emergency or incident. By furnishing this information to venue and security teams, Voyage Control's system ensures readiness and prevention of potential terrorist actions. Moreover, the system is designed to be adaptable, allowing event venues to comply with evolving regulations from government authorities and councils. Event teams can seamlessly integrate new requirements into their booking process, ensuring that all necessary documents and data are provided well in advance. This proactive approach not only saves time on-site but also prevents exhibitors from encountering last-minute compliance issues.
In conclusion, Voyage Control offers substantial benefits to the events industry as a whole. It provides a dependable and efficient system for managing vehicle logistics, enhancing venue security, and meeting compliance requirements. By leveraging such technology, event organizers can streamline their operations, allowing them to focus on delivering a secure and exceptional experience for exhibitors, staff, and attendees.