“We’re very excited to be launching our new, updated site,” Campground Automation Systems CTO Jon Sharp said. “The new site design incorporates our latest product branding and brings many new features.” Chief among the new features is the ability for customers to select and sign up for a product plan directly on the website. “We wanted to provide the same convenience to our customers that Sunrise provides to their customers using SunriseReservations.com.”

The website refresh coincides with the annual ARVC InSites conference and Expo held this year in Savannah, GA. Attendees will now have access to the latest product information and be able to take advantage of show pricing through the site.

About CAS

Nashville-based Campground Automation Systems offers Sunrise, a complete reservation and campground management system for small, medium, large, multi-park or unattended campgrounds, featuring online reservations, real-time inventory, guest profiles, 24/7 convenience, and utility management.

This new development blog will allow us to share some of this excitement we as software developers and engineers feel as we build innovative technology solutions for campgrounds and RV parks.  We hope to describe in greater detail these solutions to some of the unique challenges we and our customers have faced.  You may also expect to get sneak peaks at upcoming features and catch glimpses of the underlying technologies we use to build great products.  Our hope is that this information will be a benefit to our customers and to those not yet Sunrise users.  We also hope to provide a service to the wider Java/Open Source developer community of which we are a part, by sharing some of our experiences.

As CTO and Senior Engineer, I take pride in our fine development team.  Each member is passionate about technology and dedicated to the user experience.  You can expect to see posts from each of them here, detailing aspects of their current projects and sharing their expertise.

In order to wrap this post up on a somewhat technical note, I’ll attempt to briefly describe something that is core to our system — real-time reservations.  As we set out to develop a software back-end for our self-serve outdoor check-in kiosk system, we knew that our system had to be real-time.  That is, the inventory managed by the system, and available from a remote kiosk needed to be accessed in real-time in order to know for certain that sites were truly available and to prevent double-bookings.  We also planned to provide a complete, “end-to-end” system, with a powerful guest-centric online portal site.  These requirements meant developing a fully web-based management system, backed by a robust transactional database system, deployed to the so-called “cloud.”

Over the past several years, we’ve done just that, and it has resulted in a powerful, flexible and scalable platform with many features built on top of our real-time inventory model.  In future posts, I hope we can share more about this platform and why we feel Sunrise truly is “A New Day for Campgrounds.”

The conference and trade show will take place at the Adventure Bound Camping Resorts in Gatlinburg, TN. It’s a wonderful time of year in the Smokie’s to rest your feet in a cold mountain stream.

While your at the conference, come by our booth to see the latest innovations being introduced in the Sunrise Reservations and Panorama Services. With our mobile solutions, you are now free to roam your park!

Contact Us

We want to talk with you if you are making an upgrade, have questions, or think that Sunrise could work well for your campground. Please contact Robert at robert@campgroundautomation.com or (877) 783-2367 ext. 105.

Please join us in supporting the Texas Association of Campground Owners at the 2011 TACO Spring Meeting and Trade Show in Kerrville, TX from May 1-3! Visit with old and new friends at the Guadalupe River RV Resort or the Inn of the Hills Resort & Conference Center while you catch up on the latest news and developments that affect property owners and managers.

The conference opens Sunday, the 27th, with Northeast Campground Association planning meetings. Monday and Tuesday will be filled with educational seminars (earn CPO credits) and vendor exhibits where new products and services can be evaluated. The conference will conclude after the Cracker Barrel Discussion and a Murder Mystery Dinner Comedy – “Class Reunion” Tuesday night, the 29th.

“We provide convenient solutions for managing reservations and controlling access to properties and services” CAS Director of Customer Development Robert James said. “Come by and talk with us about how CAS solutions enhance our customers’ experience and lifestyle.”

The convention will take place at the Ocean Lakes Family Campground (Rio All Suite Hotel in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

“We provide convenient solutions for managing reservations and controlling access to properties and services” CAS Director of Customer Development Robert James said. “Come by and talk with us about how CAS solutions enhance our customers experience and lifestyle.”

The Sunrise System is an end-to-end reservation management system including online reservations, real-time availability, guest profiles, self check-in kiosks, and utility control. New features in version 2.0 include the often-requested reservation grid interface, yield management, enhancements in reporting and business rule management, and expanded compatibility with support for the Apple iPad and Android mobile computing devices.

“We are excited to introduce version 2.0 of Sunrise. There are many new features that make the system both easy to use and very powerful,” CAS president Tyler Duffy said.

Current Sunrise customers receive all software updates automatically.

Sunrise 2.0 is now available for online demonstrations and will be on display at the InSites 2010 Convention and Outdoor Hospitality Expo in Las Vegas, Dec. 1-3.

You can learn more about the Sunrise System, live weekly demos, and upcoming trade show appearances at Campground Automation Systems’ website, www.campgroundautomation.com.

Once you register to attend, you will be sent via email all of the information required to join the webinar. If this time does not work for your schedule, please fill out the contact form and request a personal demo at a time that fits into your busy schedule.

The convention will take place at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV.

“This year we are going to be releasing several new kiosk models at lower price points, along with some new surprises,” CAS president Tyler Duffy said. “Come by and see us at booth 404!”

“We are excited about the new release and the information provided by the improvements.” CAS president Tyler Duffy said. “We’re particularly excited about the new pricing calculator, as we’ve learned that campground managers are eager to upgrade, they just want to know how much it will cost them. We’re proud to offer our pricing right on our website. With two billing options, Campgrounds can easily see just how affordable the Sunrise system is.”