In the past, facility managers had to beg, borrow and steal time on the secretary's PC and develop their own spreadsheets to obtain or track some of the data needed because the software available was heavily skewed toward accounting functions. But even this had its problems. Two, most of the information used is only available on a basis from the business office. Government's, and hence recreation agencies', computer systems began with accounting, churning out essentially the same financial statements, budgets, and payroll as before. While this was done faster than in the past, it was often still two to four weeks after the fact.
New technology can give pre-analyzed data the second it happens.
New developments in these areas would automatically place program information into the desktop publishing mode for final refinements, allow for phone-in registration, and schedule rooms for each program, printing out daily room setup needs for the custodian. Then take a look at what the Fox Valley Park District in suburban Chicago is doing. My system paid for itself in the first month we used it. Also, an inventory tracking system that suggests product orders based on stock levels that are adjusted with each purchase will self-generate purchase orders once the order is confirmed. That is the sound of Ensign's text pager that is also tied into the computer system.