A non-profit, membership-based organization dedicated to promoting outdoor activities needed a system that would link the check-in/check-out kiosks at its three kayak rental sites to the database at its central office. Rentals – more than 20,000 customers logged annually – had previously been logged through a manual procedure.
The organization approached B-Three Solutions in March 2012, describing what they needed, and emphasizing that the project would have to be completed very rapidly, because the target date for the rollout of the point-of-sale system was Memorial Day weekend, when the rental sites were scheduled to re-open.
B-Three responded to this challenge by quickly preparing a detailed proposal, illustrating with screen mock-ups how the new system would guide each customer through the rental process. The proposal included a diagram of the system architecture, a project plan and timeline, and a fixed price for completing the project.
The system architecture provided each kiosk with the ability to function independently, saving all transactions to its local SQL Server database during the hours that its kayak rental site was open. Overnight, the day’s transactions would automatically be uploaded to the main database at the central office, and membership updates would be downloaded to the local database.
The system would be able to handle both member- and non-member kayak rentals, and would process various additional purchases, such as T-shirts, sun screen, and bottled water. Whenever a non-member rented a kayak, the system would automatically offer an incentive for that person to sign up for a membership.
In the client organization’s decision to accept the proposal, B-Three’s fixed-fee approach was one critical factor. A related consideration was equally important: B-Three guarantees its work. Every fixed-fee contract signed by B-Three includes a one-year warranty on all of the software developed for the project.
The new point-of-sale system was developed, tested, and installed in time to help the client organization achieve its most successful rental season to date.