General note: Clients can never use their real names, only their nicknames. Even in treatment slips.

Regarding the Public frontend website (booking system)

• This is possible under certain conditions: clients must either fully pay (hard reservation) to reserve their slots, OR do a soft reservation, which serves to only inform Lasema that a customer is set to attend on a certain date, without claiming the slot (see walk-in problem). * * * “The walk-in problem: what if a client is late or does not attend their appointment? Solution: The client should be present at least 10 to 20 minutes prior to the appointment time and date. Failure to do so will deprive the client of the appointment and be given to new walk-ins. Another solution: Partial payment, down payment/security deposit for services. (Note: This should factor in the 15-minute period of cleaning in between massage services, i.e., if a massage is scheduled at 10:00 AM, it will, in actuality, start at 10:15 AM).”
• Clients will be identified based on their nicknames. If a common nickname is used (meaning that it is already taken in the system), another nickname shall be used, and the client shall also be given the option to enter their Facebook accounts for extra identification. [Include data privacy clause and consent form when client enters the website]. This can be implemented through account creation (email) or simple guest user creation. Emails can also be another source of unique identification.
• Data privacy clause and consent form should popup and include accept or decline choices. The client should be made explicit that their data may be used for recommendation and application purposes.
• System must track the most frequent clients and their patterns, that is, what time of the day they usually avail of Lasema services, what day of the week, what months are most frequent, which massage services are most availed, which therapist, etc (Must explicitly ask permission to use data upon account creation).
• If clients are late for the appointment (hard reservation), then, say, a client enters 30 minutes late to a massage that’s supposed to last one hour, then the client will only be entitled to the remaining thirty minutes (unless the client wishes to extend), but the payment will be for the full hour.
• There is a 15-minute period to clean and prepare the room. So an appointment will always begin at 15 minutes after the designated time, so, say, an 8:00 AM appointment begins at 8:15 AM, and ends at 9:15 AM.

Regarding the Personalized Recommendation System

• Possible, but for one major caveat: the suggestions offered by the system should not be medical, but merely recreational or for the purposes of relaxation (there should be a clause/disclaimer for this). La Sema will never claim to solve a medical ailment, only to induce relaxation or relief.
• The system will suggest a massage or package based on client input/profile; whether they want dry or oil, which part of the body they would like to focus on, etc., etc.
• Recommendation may contain AI.
• The recommendation system will be placed on the frontend public website and will be known to the receptionist/backend user.
• Four types of massage categories: dry, oil, hard, and soft/medium
• [Question for the future: What if the client is new to Lasema? We can’t really expect them to know anything about massage categories in advance, right?]

Regarding the POS integration

• NOT POSSIBLE. WHY? FOR VARIOUS REASONS
  • POS is standalone and separate from SumiCare
  • Complicated. POS is already registered with BIR.
  • POS has a separate system and software from the POS provider.
  • Different inventory/database. Established flow and technicalities. Difficult to alter or replace.
  • Has a broader purview besides massage. Snacks and other inventories and operations also apply.
  • Customized and catered to the needs of La Sema.
• WHAT’S POSSIBLE?
  • POS and Sumicare can talk to each other. SumiCare can also read data from POS [ask IT professionals in Lasema if that is possible and how].
  • SumiCare can use POS data for its system, such as identifying client patterns, generating reports/analytics, etc.
  • Integration is not possible, but communication is.
  • It can be used for the creation of treatment slips.

Regarding Therapist attendance

• There’s already a biometrics system (fingerprint) in place that tracks attendance. However, this general system is for ALL employees, not just therapists. La Sema intends to set up another biometrics system in the barracks of the therapists, which is specifically tied to SumiCare (i.e., therapists will only show up on the lineup/decking if a). It’s their shifts, and b) they have clocked in via biometrics.

What to tell Ma’am Samonte?

For the following, please take notes of everything she says. Or, if tinatamad kayo, secretly voice record it HAHAHAHHA

1. Give her a brief summary/account of what our system does on a basic level (digitize manual paper-based processes and handle therapist-client assignment, as well as therapist queue) [please see the booking subsystem post on the blog]
2. Tell her about the public website frontend booking system.
3. Tell her about the personalized recommendation system.
4. Tell her last about why we can’t implement the POS integration (i.e., End-to-End Transaction Management).
5. Tell her the new title.
6. Recapitulate and confirm if everything discussed is final/agreed, and if it is now possible to move on to paper revision. VERY IMPORTANT!

Now, this sequence may not be exactly followed, since it will be a back-and-forth. You may concede certain things, but we also have to bite the bullet/commit to other decisions. Emphasize that it is what our “partner company” has agreed to do. Explain to her in depth, but in an accommodating tone.

Extra questions for ma’am Samonte

1. When po the actual deadline of TPPO-Signed? Is it tomorrow po talaga (Friday), since Week 6 po ngayon? (Iba nakaset sa BB and nakalagay sa BB instructions na deadline date)
2. Iba po TPPO from proposal paper, right? That is, yung idedefend po namen is yung chapter 1 to 3 po, not its outline (i.e., yung TPPO)?
3. Ok na po ba title namen?
4. Need po ba mag-integrate/implement ng AI sa thesis po namen? Or di naman po siya required?

**New title: SumiCare: A Web-Based Spa Operations Management Platform for New Lasema Spa Jjimjilbang