Upgrading!
Thursday, I _finally_ get to upgrade our system to NiteVision 2009 from NiteVision 3.1, which we've been running since 2005. I'm looking forward to the upgrade and the bug fixes, although I'm sure there will be new headaches as well.
Oh, and if anyone recalls the paperless checkin system i was experimenting, using drivers license scanners and electronic signature pads? Yeah, it's not going to work. Besides hardware issues that i wasn't informed of before installing the system (namely, the scanners and signature pad like to disappear from the system and won't function again until it's rebooted), there's also the issue of data loss, which I found out the hard way. If the database isn't being continuously backed up, in the event of a system failure, any electronic checkins will be lost going back to the most recent database backup. If there's no paper trail in place, then not only is the guest's credit card info gone, not only is their personal information gone- but we won't even know what room they're in, because they're gone from the system as if they never existed.
While I may have fixed the hardware disconnect issue by setting the USB ports to not power down ever, until I can get a continuous backup of the SQL databases in place (which Remco is VERY hesitant to work with me on, finally pretty much telling me that while it can be done, not to do it) paperless checkins are out.
Oh, and if anyone recalls the paperless checkin system i was experimenting, using drivers license scanners and electronic signature pads? Yeah, it's not going to work. Besides hardware issues that i wasn't informed of before installing the system (namely, the scanners and signature pad like to disappear from the system and won't function again until it's rebooted), there's also the issue of data loss, which I found out the hard way. If the database isn't being continuously backed up, in the event of a system failure, any electronic checkins will be lost going back to the most recent database backup. If there's no paper trail in place, then not only is the guest's credit card info gone, not only is their personal information gone- but we won't even know what room they're in, because they're gone from the system as if they never existed.
While I may have fixed the hardware disconnect issue by setting the USB ports to not power down ever, until I can get a continuous backup of the SQL databases in place (which Remco is VERY hesitant to work with me on, finally pretty much telling me that while it can be done, not to do it) paperless checkins are out.