Williamsburg, VA, is a wonderfully traditional environment, but "historic" computer systems can drive a manager to distraction. When the owners of three Best Westerns there (the 301-room Best Western Patrick Henry Inn, 86-room Best Western Colonial Capitol Inn nearby, and 133-room Best Western Williamsburg two miles away) decided that their twelve-year-old DOS-based systems had to go, they went modern all the way.

"We run all three properties from central reservations, sales and accounting departments at the Patrick Henry," says Meredith Lunceford, Director of Information Systems. "Our old DOS-based systems had no way of communicating between themselves, so we never really had an accurate idea of availability at the two remote properties, which led to all kinds of lost revenue and huge frustration among the staff."

"We were determined to go with Windows-based replacements, for their power, ease of training and ability to integrate with our office systems. But they absolutely had to let us check the actual data at all three properties instantly; our top priority was to have all necessary information available to everyone who needed it, in real time. We knew this wouldn’t be inexpensive, but we decided that if we were going to go this route, we should do it properly."

The solution chosen was the VisualOne (formerly NGSC) integrated PMS and Sales & Catering product, installed on servers at each property and linked with dedicated T-1 communications lines. "We used custom hardware from a local PC vendor," says Lunceford, "to get as much power as we could for less than we'd pay for a major brand, and because we knew we'd get faster and more personal service this way. The properties were also completely rewired and new network equipment from a single vendor (Intel) was installed to eliminate compatibility issues."

The results have been highly successful. "The response time is instant; everyone can check data at all three properties and know it's accurate right up to the second. After an initial few weeks of caution - everyone's always wary of change at first, and many of us were new to Windows so we had a learning curve all round - it's been enthusiastically adopted by the whole operation."

"We're selling more rooms - the last available rooms, for once - more accurately, and we're doing far less administrative paperwork so we have more time to concentrate on selling and managing. The staff is happier because their jobs are easier, and as a result we're giving a better, more confident service to our guests."

Now that's using modern technology to let tradition thrive.

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