Case Studies

We have helped numerous clients face challenges large and small. Each challenge is approached with creativity, innovation and a can-do attitude -- with amazing results. Read on...

The Challenge:

The University Towers, a private dorm in Austin, Texas, had been making do with existing commercial software designed for hotels and apartments that just didn't fit the business logic of a dormitory. They asked us to find a solution.

The Solution:

After an exhaustive survey of the other dormitories in Austin, we learned that they were all in the same boat. Each was using a different commercial software for managing apartments or hotels and had tried several others in the past. The discards of one dorm were being tested in the next. Since they were fierce competitors, the dorms did not communicate among each other and did not realize that the room management package they were using or considering had been rejected by two or more dorms already. Our investigation revealed the reasons whey these software packages were insufficient and the business needs of the dorms that weren't being fulfilled by these preexisting commercial software.

Due to these facts, our client opted to skip the rounds of commercial software and appealed to our firm to develop for them a custom program tailored specifically to the private dormitory business. It needed to be able to handle roommate requests and multiple mid-term roommate and room style swaps with fees appropriately prorated. It needed to help staff match residents based upon common interests and lifestyles to minimize the roommate shuffle. It needed logic for lost keys, a photo ID Card system, a cafeteria calendar, early move-ins and late move-outs, meal plans, payment plans, parking permits and online application forms. It needed to be a top-notch accounting system with an audit trail for all transactions.

We delivered. That's what we do.

Our client was thrilled. They were able to run their business more efficiently in a fraction of the man-hours and do everything within one program. They saw immediate savings in being able to handle the same volume of business without being requiring to hire temporary help each season to sort and match roommates and manually enter applications. They found themselves in an enjoyable position of being ahead of schedule rather than months behind for a change. Over time, we expanded the system to include the needs of the security office, package delivery, front counter sales and photocopies and online payments. As a side note, the audit trail accounting functionality also helped identify and catch a long-time embezzler in their office, saving our client from a hidden cost in their business.