The S-Bahn Berlin GmbH transports over 436 million passengers per year. The 327-kilometre route network with 166 stations is served by 16 lines. Around 600 lost property items are recorded in the central lost property office every month.
Highlights
- Around 8,000 lost property items per year
- > 50% return rate
- Mobile app
- Automatic matching of lost and found reports
- Predefined communication
- Efficient stock management
The S-Bahn Berlin GmbH relies on Europe’s leading lost property solution Nova Find by RUBICON. Around 8,000 lost and found items are managed annually with the help of the software.
In September 2018, the entire lost property system at S-Bahn Berlin was redefined. Not only was the new lost property office opened together with the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), but the entire software was also renewed at the same time. An organisational challenge in many aspects. All valuables lost by the approximately 436 million passengers per year on the 16 S-Bahn lines and 166 stations are now managed with RUBICON’s web-based lost property solution Nova Find. This is available to S-Bahn Berlin on request in the form of a SaaS (Software as a Service) solution.
Public search mask
You can create your own loss reports for forgotten or lost items. Thanks to the modern design, a loss can be easily registered on all common devices (smartphone, tablet, desktop). Categories optimised for rapid transit operations are available in an assistant form for guided recording. The lost property is automatically compared with the existing lost property on the basis of defined characteristics. The person reporting the loss immediately receives a hit list weighted by match. In this way, a possible match can already be offered in the course of the loss report in the sense of efficient customer service.
Mobile app for employees
“Many work steps have been simplified. We can now help our customers even faster in the event of a loss.”
Jens Gerasch, Project Leader at S-Bahn Berlin
The smartphone app is used for the rapid registration of lost property by train drivers, mobile staff and mobile emergency services directly on the train or at the station. The found object is provided with a barcode and is fully traceable in the further course. Nova Find thus also supports the staff on the track to quickly and easily record lost property.
This considerably reduces the time between finding the item and physically handing it over to the lost property office, and the owner gets his or her property back more quickly. For personal valuables such as mobile phones, keys or wallets, every minute counts.
Internal system
In the main system, the staff of the central lost property office of the S-Bahn Berlin manages all lost property. As in the public search mask, individually adapted categories are also available here to describe the item. There is also an immediate automatic comparison with the existing lost property. If a match is found, the owner is automatically notified by means of a prepared letter. In this way, many previously manual steps can be carried out more efficiently. Automatic notifications provide an information service for the person reporting the loss, which can be used to actively provide customer service.
Support during the introduction and beyond
Introducing new software is a big step, that’s not always easy. Especially when it is accompanied by an organisational challenge, such as the opening of a new lost property office. The lost property office staff were therefore also accompanied during the introduction of Nova Find. There was comprehensive training for users and administrators, and RUBICON staff provided on-site and remote support during the pilot operation. Nova Find is operated in RUBICON’s IS027001-certified data centre.
“Thanks to the good cooperation with RUBICON, the new lost property software could be implemented within only 2 months.”
Jens Gerasch, station management and project leader at S-Bahn Berlin GmbH.