One of the projects supported by the Friends, has been installing internet access into the Abbey, and into the Church Rooms. This is still very much work in progress, but the objectives are:
1. To enhance the visitor experience to the Abbey by offering more detailed information about aspects of the Abbey, either via smart phones, or in the future perhaps on tablets.
2. To provide internet access in the Church Rooms for groups. This has already been used during the Diocesan internet course run by Diane Kingston.
3. To allow access to the parish diaries in the vestry, which is very important as more and more of the parish work is done online.
4. To support video streaming of services from the Abbey. This has been done experimentally for a funeral service to allow far flung relatives to participate. We have done both audio and video recordings of services for families, and the recorded sermons on the website already have a worldwide audience. This clearly has great potential for outreach into the community, and especially for people who are unable to come to the Abbey for one reason or another.
Most of the equipment is now in place but research continues regarding the possible use of “Bar Code Readers” , this will enable visitors to use their Smart phones or Tablets to gain immediate access to information on the many interesting treasures in our Abbey. . . . .
Further up dates will be made available as work is completed.
Mike Hallett
February 2015