(This article posted by Sharon Drechsler)

Michele Colson from VSA Resorts was kind enough to spare a few words for my article in the November/December 2009 issue of ARDA’s Developments magazine. Here is an excerpt from my article, “Killer Apps”:

Some geek, somewhere — probably wearing horned rim spectacles he’d bought in the ‘80s – once upon a time excitedly dubbed a vital new software application he’d written a ‘killer app.’ The jargon stuck and today, Wikipedia defines killer apps as “any computer program that is so necessary or desirable that it proves the core value of some larger technology.” In other words, a killer application in our business can make your resort run a whole lot smoother.

So, what are the latest killer apps in the timeshare software environment? According to VSA Resorts VP of Operations Michele Colson, they are the software tools that help get her staff through a busy summer weekend. “We had the busiest summer season I’ve seen in years,” said Colson. She’s still feeling breathless from the experience. “Our resort properties in Virginia Beach are a popular drive-to destination for the entire Washington, DC metropolitan area, as well as Richmond, Virginia. Ordinarily, we see a steady stream of vacationers during the season, but this year was just wild! I think people who would ordinarily have taken their vacations in Orlando or Europe decided to stick closer to home this year.”
“This year we introduced what our software company, SPI, is calling Curbside Check-in. It  It’s a way for our security guards to register guests using a wireless device to  get them a card key right on-site when they arrive in the parking lot.”

Colson also is enthusiastic about SPI’s Orange Task Manager. “Our department managers and I can schedule activities for ourselves and for our staff to make sure nothing falls through the cracks and so that we have a documented record to show our Board, if necessary. The system will be great for me, because today, I send emails or leave voice mail messages to tell one of our maintenance staff to take a look at an air conditioning unit, for example. I either get back an email or a phone call to tell me what happened: whether it’s fixed or perhaps telling me I need to take the unit down while we wait for a part. With the task management application, we’ll be able to use one centralized platform to communicate and we’ll have a permanent record. We won’t have to wonder whether or not someone got our message or whether or not a task is completed.”

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~Sharon for SPI

How would my day go if I were using SPI Orange Systems’ Loan Servicing software? I imagine it would go pretty much like this:

Grab coffee, turn on computer, check email…well, you get the drift. Now it’s time to actually get my work done. First, I might import all of the transactions completed by the sales team from the previous night and set up any new accounts. (SPI will already have the fields completed with the contact information, purchase details and loan type, so all I have to do is check for anomalies.) Next, I can import the lockbox information from my bank for payments or issues, such as bounced checks. The system will automatically apply the payments according to the Bill Code parameters we’ve already set up, so I just check to look for the exceptions.

Sure enough, Mr. and Mrs. Front Porch paid the wrong amount, so I’ll need to research what they wanted to apply the additional amount, later. But for right now, I’ll tell the system to go ahead and spread the payment to principal, interest, service fee and a late fee, if necessary. The remainder can go into an exception bucket until we figure it out.

Uh-oh. Sales called in to say they have just rewritten a loan to save a deal. That’ll take me a couple of keystrokes to change the Bill Code and have SPI’s system redo the spreading of their last payment.

Now I’m ready to start making my collection calls, so I run a report with the contact and loan information, along with details about how the interest rate and late fees were accumulated. Sometimes it’s just a matter of explaining the information to the owner. At other times, I need to put them on a payment plan to help them catch up. There are several letters that are required by law, so SPI’s system will automatically run them for me to stuff in a window envelope and send over to the mailroom.

At the end of the day, I run a series of reports including cash flow projections and collections summaries. Ah…. Another full day goes by, leaving me with the satisfying feeling of a job well done.

How about you? Does this all sound familiar? Please tell me how your ‘day-in-the-life’ goes.

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–Sharon for SPI Orange Systems