A good recreation software management system is essential to any Parks and Recreation organization. These all-in-one solutions facilitate activity registration, leagues, point of sale transactions, facility reservations and permitting, memberships, and more. Choosing the right vendor can be complicated – evaluating implementation, data transfer compatibility, support, and more. It is important to trust the team behind the software provider chosen for your organization.
REC1’s online recreation software solution has been considered an industry leader with one of the highest retention rates in the industry because of its transparency, personal support and training, and scalable pricing.
What are your priorities?
Chances are, if you are reading this, your current “solution” is not working for you. “Lack of customer support”, “an increase in pricing”, “hard to navigate” – are just some of the complaints REC1 hears from organizations like yours who are exploring alternative options.
It’s important to put together a list of your priorities – functions you have and currently like, and a wish list of features that are currently lacking. Facility Reservations, Membership Management, Activity Registration, Point of Sale, League Management, Surveys, and Ticketing are a few of the modules that are available to every REC1 Customer at no additional cost.
What are the future plans of the organization?
Technology is constantly changing, some organizations will make you pay for upgrades, while REC1 pushes a monthly new release that provides each organization with the latest features – at no extra cost.
Regular communication, like a monthly newsletter should feature sneak peeks and updates on features in the pipeline. In order to keep products fresh, REC1 encourages clients to submit product enhancement requests through an online ticket tracking system. We regularly accept and incorporate client feedback at no cost, assuming the change will benefit the entire user base. Be sure the system you choose communicates future plans in a way that you are comfortable with.
What is your timeline?
It is important to evaluate your software choice with a demonstration and trial, gain proper approvals, train administration, and minimize disruption to users.
For example, REC1 can generally be implemented for an average size recreation organization within 1-2 months. This includes data imports, a custom website to match your site, and more. If you have implementation, training, or integration needs that require a longer implementation schedule, we’re happy to adjust accordingly. No two customers have the exact same schedule. Factors like “all-in” vs a “scaled rollout” approach, not to mention your own scheduling needs, will factor into the final implementation schedule.
Where will information be stored, is “cloud-based” secure?
It is important to maintain a high level of security around the software product, as is necessary with cloud-based security. Drawing upon industry standards, insurance requirements, and PCI requirements ensures that REC1 is only accessed in the manner it’s intended to be accessed and by people who are authorized to do so.
Methods include:
- Physical security at REC1’s Tier 1 data centers (owned by Codero, TelX, and Rackspace)
- Server firewalls
- Anti-virus scanning
- IP logging and filtering
- Application security monitoring
For User Security, REC1 will assist in configuring user levels and assigning users to those groups. Thousands of permissions can then be configured on a group by group basis. Most permissions apply on a page-basis, but some also apply to specific functions within a page (buttons, fields, etc). REC1 will guide you through this process as part of Training & Implementation.
For credit card security, REC1 maintains PCI compliance through an Approved Scanning Vendor (ControlScan), scanned monthly, and provides a quarterly certificate of compliance. Customers are provided a copy of that certificate for use in their own PCI Compliance.
When possible, REC1 tries to take the software (and you) completely out of PCI scope by leveraging “hosted” payment pages when available. Many payment gateways have payment forms that can be embedded within REC1 (or that the browser can be redirected to) that ensure card data never touches the REC1 servers. Instead, the card data is keyed directly into the payment gateway’s form, and REC1 simply receives a notification that the payment was successfully made.
What support and training is offered?
When choosing software, be sure to look at the types of support and training offered. A toll free number at no cost? An online support system for users to submit software issues or requested enhancements? What to do for an emergency?
In general, REC1 recommends a Train-the-User approach in most cases with hands-on training for participants. Users learn the system much more quickly when they’re entering actual data during the training sessions. REC1 also offers remote training and onsite training. What type of training would work best for you?
Will the system be compatible with existing hardware and software?
As an internet‐based, fully hosted software solution, clients only need a computer with internet access with software such as REC1. There is no hardware to install. There is no software to install.
Customers may opt for a variety of hardware peripherals to enhance their recreation software experience. Magnetic stripe readers, barcode readers, thermal printers, cash drawers and more.
What does the software cost?
Every company has a different way of charging for their software. REC1 tries to make it simple, easy, and scalable with a transaction-based pricing model of 1% per transaction. It doesn’t get easier than that! Be sure that the software you choose, charges in a way that will work for your organization.
REC1
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