TIGARD, OR. - March 22, 2004 - The City of Tigard, Ore., offering more than 300 acres of public parks, greenways and natural areas, has selected RecWare recreation management software to automate its entire park and recreation facility reservation process. With RecWare's new RecNet® software, Tigard's Public Works Department is debuting Internet reservation for its park facilities using a Web-based, hosted solution. This is the first time the City of Tigard has fully automated administration for its reservation process and the first time the public has had automated access.
The City of Tigard, which serves a population of 50,000 just southwest of Portland in Washington County, Ore., processes more than 500 facility permit applications and special use permits annually for picnic shelters, pavilions and athletic fields. According to Parks Manager Daniel Plaza, Tigard's previous automation system wasn't able to keep pace with the department's facility reservation needs. Using RecNet, the department is expecting to reduce paperwork, costs, and save time and improve efficiency. "We initiated an online park reservation program to provide updated customer service, and save money and time," said Plaza. "Our projections showed that if we continued our previous reservation process, administrative costs would rise from part-time personnel costs, and materials and supplies. We needed a cost-efficient system that would meet our needs and chose a technology that would let us get up and running easily without upfront costs."
RecNet's Web-based, hosted technology offers real-time Internet capabilities without requiring agencies to invest in computer hardware and equipment maintenance costs or install software on workstations. Tigard staff can login to the system via a Web browser from any workstation to manage Tigard's facility information. The ?real-time' feature enables staff to track and view all reservation activity as it happens, whether it's by phone, in-person, mail or Internet, to avoid double-booking or scheduling conflicts.
Added Shawn Cutsforth, microcomputer support tech, City of Tigard, "We needed a very customized solution to meet our facility reservation needs, features our previous system wasn't able to deliver. RecWare not only represented the best technology and track record in the business, but the team responded to our specific application requests so we didn't have to sacrifice any of our previous procedures. We were Internet-ready in a very short time and avoided the typical hardware and maintenance costs to support the service. Now we can streamline our service and save staff time and taxpayer's money."
Staff members can set up detailed facility information, enter facility overlaps, generate facility calendars by day, week, month and year, generate financial reports, print contracts and permits, and establish global ?skip' days in calendars to prevent reservations for specific days such as holidays. Calendar views can also be customized to show multiple facilities at once.
The public can now visit the city's Web site (www.ci.tigard.or.us) and search for facilities by amenities and available dates and times, place temporary holds on facilities, and reserve facilities, day or night. Customers can submit payment online using a credit card, receive immediate e-mail confirmations. The department is also offering $5 discounts on any online reservations.
Customers can check their account status, online, using RecNet's ?My Account' feature and view their family reservation schedules, payment history, or even update their contact information.
About RecWare
RecWare, part of The Active Network (www.theactivenetwork.com), has provided best-of-breed recreation management software solutions to the city and municipal recreation market for more than a decade. With products such as RecWare Safari desktop software, Safari Hosted Internet Registration, ProActive Internet Registration and RecNet hosted, Web-based software, professionals can access the industry's best recreation management technologies to automate activity registration, facility reservation, membership management, league scheduling, financial management, and to offer Internet registration, Internet facility reservation and Internet membership renewal. For more information, visit www.recware.com.