Burr White Realty Case Study
Burr White Realty, Newport Beach, had been a long-time user of First Resort Software's AV Main DOS product to manage more than 200 rental properties along the coast of Southern California. As 2004 was coming to an end, they felt the time had come to switch to more up-to-date software that would provide greater functionality and fulfill their goal of modernizing their office.
The Challenge
They wanted to streamline their reservation system and improve their ability to process online bookings, while continuing to enjoy the flexible and powerful accounting functions they had with FRS. With a growing rental property inventory, they saw the need for maintaining descriptions and photos of their properties that could be linked to their website and easily edited.
They also had great concerns about the security of their desk-based data and wanted to make sure it was backed up more frequently and more secure. The continued upgrades and maintenance costs of their desk-based network were becoming a burden. A web-based solution was beginning to make a lot of sense.
Burr White management also wanted to provide greater access to the software so that reservationists would have the option of working from home - a difficult and expensive implementation for desk-based networks. The management team also wanted the ability to access reports and other critical business information from anywhere, at anytime.
Finally, they wanted to fully take advantage of the power and opportunities available on the internet, including the ability to centralize their contact database, instead of utilizing Microsoft Outlook and other 3rd party software for communications. Since their DOS-based software had only just begun to embrace email, and other packages they looked at appeared to be refurbished, outdated software, they couldn't help but think that a more robust software package was available that would meet all of their needs.
Key Challenges
- Update and modernize office
- Data security and backup
- Accessability from anywhere
- Utilize the internet more fully
- Contact database
"Escapia is a stand-up bunch, with a lot of spirit, a lot of excitement, and the drive to always do something better. We have a lot of trust in Escapia."
- Jeremy Hills, IT
The Solution
At the 2004 VRMA Conference, Burr White began discussions with Escapia and quickly realized that Escapia was the solution-of-choice for their organization. Even though Escapia didn't have all of the features they hoped for, they saw the potential and knew that things would only get better. They noticed that Escapia had done things with their software from the ground up, and that there were some things to work out, but that Escapia was on top of it.
Even though they realized the transition to Escapia from FRS would not be a simple task, they trusted Escapia to make it as easy and pain-free as possible.
"Every time we called Escapia for help, the response was fantastic. The Tech Support is great."
- Jeremy Hills, IT
The Result
Burr White and Escapia have established a solid business partnership as well as personal relationships that have resulted in a world-class software solution for their organization. And it's only getting better and better with each day.
Burr White's data is now hosted in one of the most secure data centers in the country - Escapia's Seattle-based data center, Internap. Thanks to multiple physical and digital security levels, and hourly backups, Burr White's data is as secure as technology will allow. This same facility is also home to NASDAQ, Travelocity, Ticketmaster and other high-profile companies.
Their reservation process is more streamlined and includes easy-to-use online bookings that can be managed by their reservationists at home as easily as they can from the office. Plus, they can now easily and quickly edit their property descriptions on their website, add photos, and update the content on their other pages.
In addition to greater functionality, Burr White is now more connected to the internet than ever before, from Escapia's Web Portal technology that enables real-time availability and online reservations, to dynamic links with Escapia's internet directory partners.
Burr White and Escapia - a true success story!
Key Benefits
- Improved data security
- Greater functionality
- The power of the internet
"We have given Escapia a lot of suggestions and ideas for new features, and they've listened. We've seen a lot of changes to the software, which is getting better all the time."
- Jeremy Hills, IT