The 1988 article listed information on 21 different software and/or hardware combination offerings from 16 different companies. This article details 27 offerings from 23 companies, 13 of which are new since 1988; six companies have gone out of business. Which leads to a cautionary note: be sure when you decide on a software or hardware system purchase that the support required to keep you on-line will be there, or make sure that you can acquire the program source code if the company should fold. This would enable you to hire an independent computer programmer to trouble-shoot and fix any future system bugs.
Following the name of each description in the listing, there is a code word that identifies the offering as software only (Software), hardware/software system (System), or computerized services (Service).
Because of the complexity and variable nature of the products offered in the computer hardware/software arena, the prices of the products are not indicated. For price information or further product information, contact the appropriate vendors.
Accounting
Delta Information Systems (Service)
Delta Information Services “Revenue Control System” with an operations report module will handle basic accounting procedures for up to 99 revenue and 899 expense accounts. Also incorporated is the ability to add spreadsheet generated budget data into the operations report module database. This allows comparison of actual spending to budgeted amounts and can aid in forcasting, and budget creation and revision. This system is designed to operate on an IBM AT in the Xenix multi-user/multi-tasking operating system.
Area Planning
Alpentech and Ecosign (Services)
Both of these programs use digital terrain modeling programs as the basis of their ski area design consulting projects. Once the basic topographic information is loaded, these programs allow a user to add overlays of a variety of pertinent information, including terrain steepness pods, solar aspect and wind aspect. Coupled with the wind aspect module, a user can add-in precipitation amounts and the computer will model the probable snow deposition areas, which can help to identify potential avalanche hazards or wind scour within a proposed area. This would aid in the planning for location of trails, lifts and structures in an area’s master plan. These programs can also assist in estimating actual yards of earthwork projects and the visualization of those projects for the equipment operator.
Maintenance Management
Jenlynn International (Software)
LMARS was the first automated record keeping system specifically designed for lift maintenance applications. It is a data base management system that assists with scheduling preventative maintenance, keeping track of failures and maintenance activities, and allows managers to query the data base in their own terms to get information and reports. The system is work-order based and can include such things as parts catalogs, inventory, trend analysis, downtime tracking, and cost accounting. LMARS is designed to operate on an IBM PC AT with a hard drive.
Mountain Management Services (Software)
“Ski Lift Management Records Program” is an automated version of Chris Stoddard’s well known lift maintenance record keeping system. This software allows a user to store and retrieve information on daily maintenance activities on all lifts. The system is coded to the current ANSI B.77 numbering system so users can group maintenance activities in a logical and familiar way. Besides routine maintenance, information can be gathered regarding inspections, training, evacuations, and incidents/accidents. The accumulated records can be sorted and printed by time periods, reason for activity or component group. Parts usage also can be tracked. One very nice feature is that this program is available in either an IBM PC with Windows or a Macintosh version.
“Fleetmax” is a new offering from MMS that is designed for fleet maintenance management. Current vehicle maintenance programs can be enhanced through capturing information from work orders, fuel usage reports, tracking of parts inventory, and a preventative-maintenance program. “Fleetmax” will let a user know of any current or past-due scheduled maintenance by keeping track of vehicle hours from the daily fuel usage logs. It will also collect information into comprehensive vehicle histories that include up to date operation/maintenance costs. This program is designed to run on an IBM AT PS/2 or compatible with 640K minimum, DOS 3.2 and a hard drive.
MTAP (Software)
“Ski-MIS/R” is designed to incorporate all mechanical systems including lifts, snowmaking, grooming equipment, buildings and other operations. It is a sophisticated work-order-based system that includes preventative maintenance, repair maintenance, capital improvements and parts inventory control. The preventative maintenance function can include extra details on each job such as task description, procedures, parts, labor and tools required. “Ski-MIS/R” is IBM PS/2, MS-DOS and Novell compatible.
Rental Shop Management
Sport Select (Software)
“SkiProfit” is a comprehensive rental shop management tool. The program is split into eight pods that include cashier, checkout, return, reports, letters and mailings, customer and equipment files and administrative utilities. Each pod can be directly accessed by using a function key or a window selection. Single keystrokes easily move a user through the various options in each pod. The equipment pod allows assigning of ID’s for all rental stock and keeping track of both usage and maintenance. The documentation from this program could be extremely helpful when addressing potential lawsuits.
Reservations Management
Geoghegan Associates (System)
“IRIS” is a customized multi-user AT&T UNIX environment central reservations package that allows for multiple property reservations. By using the built-in relational database, the operator is able to search for a unit based on any six requested features such as price, closeness to the lifts, availability, length of stay, etc. If a guest is unsure of when he wants to travel, then the operator can pull up all open properties that fit the guest’s other criteria. Multiple properties are equitably rotated in the system automatically according to a management specified scheme.
All systems are sold with a modem to allow direct access for trouble-shooting, remote maintenance and updates. The C-ISAM file management system allows a user to customize reports from the relational database, which could be used for such things as marketing, statistics and historical information. A complete accounting and general ledger module is available that will integrate with the reservations system. This system is designed to operate on the IBM 386 PC. Also available is an integrated Property Management System.
PC Associates (System)
“Modular Reservations System” is an automated method of booking and managing reservations while retaining the ability to work like most current manual systems. It can be applied to many activities such as ski school lessons, restaurants, entertainment and rentals. The system can be operated independently at one station or several stations can be networked with a master unit. This system is designed to be integrated with the “Modular Automated Ticketing System” also by PC Associates and operates on the IBM PC or compatible system with a hard drive.
Restaurant Management
Unique Business Solution Systems (System)
“Automated Restaurant Management System” is a full-featured management tool for food service operations that tracks sales, inventory items, labor and ideal-food costing, along with an integrated accounting system. Information is posted directly from cash registers into the system to eliminate laborious data entry. This system is designed to run on an IBM PC AT in either a single-user or a networked environment.
Ski School Management
Good Turns Software (Software)
Good Turns Software developed “The Ski School Management System” in 1985 for the ski school at Deer Valley, Utah. The system allows for multi-station bookings and provides a user with a variety of scheduling information as well as developing a customer database over time. Formatted reports include instructor daily/ weekly schedules, daily/ weekly instructor availability summaries, instructor statistics and both pre-assigned and unassigned private lessons.
The booking system allows for both walk-ins and advance reservations. Guest information is collected and then an instructor availability search is made either immediately or when convenient, based on any special needs or preferences of the guest. When an appropriate instructor is found, that time slot is assigned and the lesson appears on that instructor’s daily schedule. The scheduling system incorporates time spent teaching, in clinics and any other miscellaneous time such as days off, sick days, etc.
This program was originally developed to operate in a mainframe environment, but is also available in modular form for an IBM XT with 640K and a 20meg hard drive or a compatible.
Snowmaking/Power Monitoring
Applied Resources Group, Inc (System)
“ARG-100” is an automated monitoring and control system for snowmaking installations that is designed to allow ski areas to minimize energy costs while maximizing production. The system contains six modules including data updates, mountain weather, snow production vs. cost, snowmaking strategy, load shedding and management information.
Artificial Intelligence Systems, Inc. (System)
“SnowTracker” with “PowerTrac” is an extremely powerful snowmaking and energy management tool. Not only does this program collect data on all facets of a snowmaking operation, it also will begin to make recommendations to operators as to what guns should be used on what part of the mountain, given the predicted weather conditions for that day of operation. This is made possible by using the only available “Artificial Intelligence” system software in the ski industry. A.I. allows a computer to learn from continuing data input, which, in this case, leads to a specific weather prediction capability for a specific location over time.
The “PowerTrac” portion of the system allows a user to monitor energy use from all sources within the ski area and can eliminate excess demand charges by not allowing pre-set parameters to be exceeded. The KW usage and temperature of each machine is monitored so that real time preventative maintenance can occur.
Ratnik Industries (System)
Ratnik Industries has graduated from remote radio control of their snowmaking equipment to a fully automated control system. These “Dedicated Snow Gun Computers” use a known gun curve and a weather station to determine the optimum operating parameters for that gun. This information is then sent to the electronic hydrant valves resulting in the proper air and water settings. Preset snow quality parameters can be manually overcome for special conditions.
Also available from Ratnik this year is a power-load monitor that can be used for snowmaking and other power users. The unit monitors KW used, demand, time/date and can have alarms set.
Snowmax Technologies (System)
“Energy-Max” is a real-time monitoring and control management system for snowmaking systems. The monitoring system allows a user to keep track of power usage in both demand and KW usage and includes alarm settings to avoid excess demand charges through appropriate load shedding. The control feature allows you to designate what functions on what machines will be automated, but can include pump and compressor startup or shutdown, valve operation and cooling system shutters or fan motor speeds.
York Automatic Snow, Inc. (System)
York sells the most comprehensive automated snowmaking system available, which includes the guns, hydrants, weather stations, water and air-cooling systems, monitoring/control sensor package and a process-control computer. This total system can be broken up into various modules for any particular needs. With the complete system, the entire snowmaking operation could be automated and has been operated in this mode where an operator merely enters his desired snow quality and location parameters into the computer; the computer takes it from there. Most U.S. installations as yet have opted for some modifications to the fully automatic system.
Ticket Sales
Data Services Company of America (Recreation Technologies) (System)
Data Services offers the “RTSS 2,” a computerized admissions system, which could include self-contained ticket selling stations (with resident memory and disk storage) that can be tied directly into a host computer. Minimum requirements for the host would be an IBM AT compatible with a 20meg hard drive. When hard-wired, the host computer will automatically collect sales information from selling stations into a resident database program where it can be accessed for period reports including current, daily, weekly, year-to-date, etc. This information could also be down-loaded at the end of a selling cycle using the selling station’s disk storage device.
Delta Information Services (System)
The “Ski Area Management System” is a fully integrated ski area point-of-sale and accounting package that includes add-on modules for ticket sales and management, food and beverage sales, operations reports and a variety of other possibilities. The typical ticket sales system would consist of the supervisor’s module and several seller station modules. At most ski areas, this system would be directly connected to a host computer for data storage and report generation. Each seller’s station includes a workstation keyboard and ticket printer. The workstation is self-contained in the event of the loss of the host computer or communications, which allows tickets to continue being sold while the sales information is being stored at the workstation. Hardware for this system would consist of an IBM PC AT for the supervisor’s module and Canon TX-50 II workstations at the ticket windows.
First Tracks, Inc. (System)
“Ski-Key” is a new offering in automated lift access and point-of-sale ticketing systems. The system revolves around a programmable data “watch” that can be programmed at a seller station with a variety of ticket types and amounts that can then be “read” at a lift access gate site. The gates communicate with the control computer to validate the ticket and record its usage, which allows a ski area to be creative with its marketing and sales, being able to sell passes by the vertical foot, hour, mid-day morning or afternoon, etc. A message system also can be added to automatically alert a skier that there is a message at whatever lift they are accessing.
Mountain Management Systems Ltd. (System)
“Ticket Express” is an automated ticketing and lift access system that was first installed in Vail in 1987 and now serves 85 windows there. The point of sale part of the system incorporates setting up transactions into single keystrokes to speed the sales processing time. Each selling station requires its own computer and hard drive as well as a ticket printer. Retail sales can also be handled at the ticket windows if desired.
The lift access portion of the system is new and includes a variety of ticket mediums to enable maximum flexibility. Users also can use either the “turnstile” access control or just give a wand reader to ticket checkers who can then verify the validity of any electronic ticket type. Another option allows a picture pass to be printed at the time of sale on the normal ticket stock. Any IBM AT can be used at the ticket windows.
NEDAP (System)
“Ski Card” is an automated turnstile-based lift access and ticketing system. The ticket in this case is a programmable microchip inside a plastic card. The card is sold to skiers with the ticketing information loaded on the microchip at the time of the sale. Each turnstile has an antenna that recognizes the valid card and admits the user, allowing the ticket to remain in the skier’s pocket. The Ski Card can be reused up to 5,000 times and should last 10 years under normal conditions. Each turnstile has a maximum capacity of 800 PPH.
PC Associates (System)
“Modular Automated Ticketing System” is a point-of-sale system for ticketing that is PC-based and can be networked. It includes color graphics for custom printing of tickets and a data base capable of retaining information on season pass holders, group sales, frequent skiers and more. Different windows can be configured differently if needed. Options include a credit card interface and a barcode interface for data entry and ticket checking. This system also accepts input from “Touch Teller” the automatic credit card ticket dispenser. This system operates on the IBM PC or compatible system with a hard drive.
“Touch Teller” is a stand alone automated credit card ticket dispenser that uses a touch screen and a standard PC and ticket printer inside an environmental enclosure. Phone line connections allow for credit card verification and data downloading to a host system. Encoding information can also be sent at any time by the host computer to change any of the sales parameters.
SkiData (System)
SkiData is well known in Europe and is becoming better known in the U.S. as one of the most prolific vendors of automated lift access and ticketing control systems. The SkiData 330 and 340 systems rely on either magnetically encoded ski tickets or a programmable microchip “watch.” Each seller station encodes the ticketing information onto the card or chip which is then presented at the turnstile to access a lift. The card must be entered into a slot while the “watch” is passed near a reader. Access is granted if valid and the usage information is captured by a controller station for eventual downloading.
Sprinticket (System)
“Tikitbox 2000” is a stand alone automated credit card ticketing station. It has been developed to look and operate like a typical bank-card automated teller in order to minimize the learning curve involved for a new user. The enclosure is environmentally adaptable and the system will print user specified management reports. Credit card verification is built in to the system. Buyers have the option of either a direct purchase or Sprinticket will install and maintain a unit in return for a percent of sales fee.
Unique Business Solution Systems (Software)
“Advanced Ticketing System” is an automated ticketing system that can either run as individual stations or as a networked system. Reports can be defined by the user and there are three different ways to backup data. The management function allows a user to change ticket prices, types, shift periods, etc., from one location. Sales information can be viewed by the manager in a real-time mode. The software runs on any IBM PC or compatible.
For a list with names and addresses of software companies, write to SAM, P.O. Box 644, Woodbury, CT 06798
