News

London Canal Museum News

The Till

We have a new till. It is very similar to the old one, but there are differences:

  1. The power button is quite well hidden. See Till Power On/Off (log-in required) for details.
  2. The till no longer automatically powers on at the beginning of the day. Please manually power on at the start and power off at the end of the day.
  3. The till may display a sign-in screen. If so, just click the sign-in button; no password is required.
  4. The operator and customer screens are connected to the same stand, thus saving some desk space.

Xerox C320 Colour Printer

We have replaced the old Samsung colour printer in the second floor office with a Xerox C320 colour printer. As always, please use this only when you need colour output, as it is not cheap to run.

Coffee Machine (Sigma Cafe)

Manuals for the coffee machine (error codes and technical information) are now available here.

Xerox Printer in the Ground Floor Office (5 April)

This printer has now been fixed.

Tempo Time Credits

Tempo Time Credit users can now use their credits and visit the museum for free (can’t be used on boat trips). Entry to the museum costs 2 credits per person, and recording their visit is really easy to do on the till.

  1. Press the ‘Start’ button on the keyboard which will open the task bar. Press the Tempo Time Credits button which is one over from the London Pass button
  2. This will open the Tempo Time Credit webpage. The Email and password should autofill, press Log in
  3. On Choose your Venue select the top London Canal Museum on the drop down menu
  4. Type out their Tempo ID
  5. Choose ‘Entry to The London Canal Museum’
  6. Type out how many visitors are coming (each one costs 2 tempo points) and accept Tempo Time Credits.
  7. Go back to the till screen, and press the Tempo button on admissions, go to tender and press cash. Like the London Pass button on the till this is free, but records the visitor figures our side.

Visitor Feedback Hub Operational Instructions

We have added a control to the visitor feedback hub to prevent visitor misuse/abuse of the tablet. The operational instructions here have been updated.

Ground Floor Office PC

This has not been stolen! It has been replaced by a much smaller PC that is affixed to the rear of the monitor in the office, on the right hand side when looking at the screen. To power it on, look at the back of the monitor and press the power button at the top right of the PC. A white dot in the centre of the button is illuminated when it is powered on.

Receipts from the Till and Payment Card Reader

We have made the following changes to the till and payment card reader:

  • Details that previously were only available on the customer payment card receipt will now be added to the standard till receipt.
  • The customer payment card receipt will no longer be printed. If the customer requests one, please point out that the information is now available on the till receipt.
  • The merchant payment card receipt will no longer be printed.

The intention of these changes is that we will eliminate printing of payment card receipts (a “green” benefit) and that payment card processing will be noticeably faster.

Network Instability

We believe this is now fixed!

Media Player installed for archive film

The media player for the archive film unit has been replaced. Instructions for the morning routine have been updated.

Tap and Rate

Three stand-up small signs are now on the reception desk. Please ensure they stay at the front. They display Google Trip Advisor and Instagram logos and if a smartphone is held next to them they take the user direct to giving us a review – hopefully with five stars. Online reviews  really important to us.

Gift Vouchers for online bookings

We are now offering gift vouchers on the museum website for online bookings. These are only sold online and can only be used online. There are several different values available. The important thing to remember is that these are not tickets, they are “money off” vouchers and have to be exchanged online for tickets. They can be used online for all our bookable events including all boat trips, music hall, ice Sunday, Carols and Ices, Family Fun Days, and even overnight mooring.They cannot be used in person in the museum. The voucher includes a code that is used in the “promotional code” box when booking. If the person does not use all the value of the voucher, the remainder can be used again. There are no refunds on vouchers although if someone makes a genuine mistake when buying a voucher an exception might be made. As with tickets customers should email with any problems.

T-shirt Collections

 

There are now stocks of three types of t-shirt in the office on the second floor:

  1. Pale blue t-shirts for LCM volunteers attending outside events. They have the LCM logo on the front.
  2. Dark blue t-shirts with the LCM logo on the front and Long Tom on the front and a Long Tom design on the rear with “crew”. These are for LCM volunteers who are guides or assistant crew on the long trips, or for the handful of LCM team members who are qualified skippers.
  3. Dark blue t-shirts with the Angel Boat logo on the front. These are for Angel Community Canal Boat volunteer skippers or crew only. These also have the same design on the back as the LCM variant.
  4. Also, there are baseball caps for ACCT team members only. LCM does not have baseball caps.

Please facilitate collection of these t-shirts by those eligible. There are various sizes available and it is first-come, first-served. Those who are eligible for both ACCT and LCM shirts please only take one for the time being.

T-shirt care guidance is below

Discount for volunteers on Long Tom boat trips

  • 25% discount using a discount code LCMVOLS online
  • Active volunteers only are eligible (i.e. people who regularly volunteer currently)
  • Maximum 6 in the group including the active volunteer
  • The active volunteer must be part of the group and go on the boat. You cannot use this for your family or friends to go on the boat without you.
  • Applies to all LCM Long Tom trips but not to historic boat trips, Family Fun Days, special events e.g. Carols and Ices, or one-off cruises
  • The active volunteer makes one booking on behalf of the whole group, they do not book and pay individually.
  • Normal “no refunds” policy applies as for the public.

Follow this link: Families to find out how to set up the Ice Cream parlour at the start of each day. Please do try and keep this area as tidy and neat as possible.

Guest Wi-Fi Passwords Changed

Please note that we have changed the Wi-Fi passwords for our guest network and the meeting room network. The new passwords are displayed on the signs on the ground floor (LCM-GUEST) and the meeting room (LCM-MEETRM).

Zettle When the Museum Network is Down

It is now possible to use the Zettle payment terminal even when the museum’s network is not working. There is a short set of instructions on the wall near the window in the ground floor office.

Full instructions are on InfoSource. First log on to InfoSource from the Other user on the ground floor office PC. This works even when the Internet is not working in the museum. Then navigate to the Payment Cards page for the procedure.

Energy Prices

Please help save electricity by these simple measures:

  • Turn off all lights and exhibits that are not needed at 1600 or when the last visitor leaves, whichever is latest. Do not leave things on whilst cashing up etc. unless you need them.
  • Turn on lights and exhibits no earlier than 1000.
  • Use the fan heater if you really need to but turn it off if you don’t
  • Make sure that nothing is left on at night that isn’t needed. Common omissions are the back stairs, the tractor video, the horse artefacts case, the ice well lights – check these are off once the last visitor has left.
  • When meeting room clients leave, check lights and heating are off in the meeting room and kitchen

Museum Diary

The diary is now an Outlook calendar. Do not give the following information to anyone other than museum staff:

Web address www outlook.com

User name is diary@lcmemail.co.uk and password is available by emailing Nigel

Do not attempt to access Outlook on the museum till or the shop back office – use the office computer or the tablet at the desk – with the Outlook App.

Make sure to check the diary regularly for information about room bookings, mooring during the day (does not include overnight moorings, which are booked on the booking system), and other reminders.

Welcome to the “New” InfoSource

InfoSource has moved to the WordPress content management system. This is because the previous one, Mambo, is now woefully out of date and no longer supported by its authors. This “new” InfoSource hosts very similar content to the previous one and uses a very similar menu structure, too.

The major differences you will see are:

  1. The site’s URL has changed. It is now: https://infosource.lcm.me.uk.
  2. To open any of the expanding menus on the left you need to click on the small, downward pointing arrow to its right.
  3. The site’s presentation, especially the use of colours and fonts, has changed.
  4. Some content has been adjusted slightly.

If you notice anything wrong please let Nigel know (nigel@lcmemail.co.uk).

Museum Security

Please be careful not to turn off the CCTV cameras. In particular there is a camera on top of the “best dress” case on the ground floor – this has sometimes been turned off incorrectly.

Switching the Till Off & on

The new process is now permanent.

To power off at the end of the day:

  1. Shutdown as normal using the Windows menu
  2. Do not switch off at the socket. Make sure the till is left powered on at the wall.
  3. Note: Leave the till switched on if there is a private function in the evening.

In the morning:

  1. The till should come on automatically every day at 0930.

If the till does not come on automatically in the morning, or if it needs to be turned on before 0930, or if it has been turned off in error:

  1. Turn OFF at Socket (note: this is the lowest and left-most one in the open cupboard underneath the credit card machine, with orange sticker on the plug.
  2. Wait one minute
  3. Turn the power back on
  4. Till should automatically start

This last procedure should not be necessary in normal circumstances.

Cashing-up & Change in Till

Please can all front of house volunteers working on the till ensure that a few simple processes are followed to ensure that we have enough change in the till and that the cashing up is conducted smoothly and correctly:

  1. Please ensure that the highest denomination notes are cashed-up each night leaving lower value notes in the till
  2. If the till is looking low on change, please top up from petty cash
  3. If the petty cash is running low on change please inform Craig (or Sam or Martin) so it can be replenished
  4. If there is an obvious and urgent need for change, please try and get some from a local bank/shop if you can
  5. Please ensure your names are clearly written on the cashing-up sheets. This helps Craig know who speak to should he need to trace back any issues
  6. When filling in the cashing up sheets, columns 4-7 are simply filled in using the figures that appear on the Z read
  7. Remember that the best way to obtain more change during the day is to use your tongue – ask people if they have the right money.

If you have any queries then please email Craig. Many thanks all, as always!

Free Reciprocal Entry for Volunteers to the Foundling Museum

We’re pleased to announced that Canal Museum Volunteers now gain FREE ENTRY to the Foundling Museum in a new reciprocal agreement. To gain free entry please download the voucher located under Forms.

When Foundling Museum volunteers arrive here, please let them in for free. A new button on the till has been added so please log all Foundling volunteers using this.

There are simple terms and conditions attached to this offer: free admission for volunteers only, no plus ones and tickets cannot be used in advance or for special events

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