Prevent missing Podcatchers

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Introduction

There are several ways to minimize the risk of losing Podcatchers. In this specsheet you’ll find a number of tips and best practices.

Other ways

When a visitor uses a Podcatcher, you can expect them to return it after use. However, some visitors may neglect, or simply forget to do so. To lower the amount of Podcatchers ‘disappearing’ over time, there are several ways to activate a warning signal built into the Podcatcher to alert visitors they should return the device.

Warning IDentifier

The Podcatcher can sound its warning signal when it receives a Warning IDentifier code. This is a special IDentifier that is typically placed near the building exit so visitors should be notified at the right time.


Warning signal after idle time

The Podcatcher can also sound an warning signal when it is engaged in a Tour but has not played audio for a while. By default this functionality is turned off, but you can set it up in the Site Podcatcher settings, under “Podcatcher idle time before alarm starts”.

The advantage of this method is that the warning signal will always sound after a while, unless properly handed in. The disadvantages are that if you set it to sound the warning signal too quickly, visitors may become annoyed; if you set it to sound the warning signal too late, the visitor may already be on the bus back home by the time it goes off. Further, if your site doesn’t collect Podcatchers in docks after visitors finish the tour (such as a drop-off box), they may start to produce a very annoying chorus over time.


Post-Alarm trigger

The Podcatcher can be made to play audio after sounding the warning signal using the Post-Alarm trigger in a stop. This will make the stop play its audio after the warning signal has stopped playing (either due to it playing for its full duration or a button being pressed). This is – as all content is – localized to the language of the tour.