Dear EMS Customer,

If you are a longtime EMS customer, you may recall seeing the Reservation Times come and go in the past. Suffice it to say that we’ve been around the newsletter block a few times! But we know from your comments that you like to be kept informed about what’s going on here at Dean Evans & Associates, so we’ve dusted off our typewriters and we’re ready to give it another go.

We hope that you find the new format (web page display) appealing and the articles informative. And since newsletter content produced in order to meet an arbitrary deadline generally means poor-quality content, we’ll be publishing the Reservation Times on an “as-warranted” basis… probably a handful of times each year. So, check it out when you have a minute, and let us know what you think. If you’ve got an idea for an article that you’d like us to write, or that you’d like to write, we’d love to talk to you about it. Just shoot an email to tom@dea.com.

Table of Contents

New Products Lead to a New Look for EMS

The EMS Development team has been very busy lately creating all-new products (like the EMS Master Calendar and the EMS/Room Wizard interface) as well as making major enhancements to our existing systems (EMS Lite/Pro/Enterprise and Virtual EMS). While these new advancements in technology are very exciting, it became clear to us in the Marketing department that what was really, truly important in all this is that the EMS logo was looking a little tired, a little dusty, a little… dare we say… outdated.

Beginning in early 2005, we set out to do a little brand “freshening” and the result is the lovely new logo you see above on the right (contrasted with the old logo on the left). Much more appropriate for the super-smooth, cutting-edge software to which it is affixed, wouldn’t you agree? We have been slowly rolling-out the new logo in direct mail pieces, advertisements and our website, and hope to have implemented the new look across the board within the next few months. But at this point, with the new logo finalized, a new color scheme coordinated, the four “EMS icons” (date and time, room, services and resources) retouched, a new trade show booth created, new corporate stationary stocked and revamping of the EMS website complete, we are pleased to share with you: EMS, a brand reborn!

Override Your Way to More Flexibility in EMS Pro and Enterprise

Any event planning professional knows to expect the unexpected. Today you might be asked to create a one-time reservation at an off-site location. Tomorrow someone needs a piece of A/V equipment delivered to another building not defined in EMS. Or maybe you need to rent a canopy from an outside vendor but don’t want to define it in EMS as you may never use it again.

Even the most well conceived plan for defining facilities and resources in EMS can benefit from some added flexibility to accommodate those one-time-only requests. The “Override Description” feature in EMS Professional and EMS Enterprise is an often overlooked tool that provides that added flexibility, giving users the ability to book one-off resources or offsite venues without defining a new item or a new room in Configuration.

How does Override Description work?

Once you set up an override description room or resource in Configuration, an additional field is displayed when you go to book the item, allowing you to type in any location or resource description you like. For example, you could define an Override Description room called “Outside Area.” When you book this room through the Reservation Wizard, an additional field becomes available. You can then type in any value you wish: “Main Plaza” or “South Lawn”, for example. And the room can be given a different description each time you use it.

Likewise, if you define an Override Description resource called “Vendor-Provided Equipment”, when you add this resource to a booking you can type “10 x 10 Canopy”, “Outdoor Stage Delivery” or whatever it is you need to record. The end result is you now have the flexibility to book these one-off rooms and resources without having to clutter your database with meeting areas or items that you book infrequently or possibly only once.

How do I set up an Override Description room or resource?

To define a new room or resource, you must have access to the Configuration area in EMS. For an Override Description room, log in and navigate to Configuration – Facilities – Rooms. Select a building and click New. Give the room a code and name that will help users identify it as an Override Description room when making a reservation. “Other”, “Outdoor Space” and “Delivery” are common examples. Select the Classification called Override Description. Fill in other fields on the window as appropriate and then click OK.

For an Override Description resource, navigate to Configuration – Resources and then the applicable category. Add a New resource and call the item anything you like; “Other”, “Vendor Equipment” or “Special Menu” for instance. Check the Override Description box. Fill in other fields on the window as appropriate and then click OK.

How do I book an Override Description room or resource?

To book an override description room, use the Reservation Wizard in the Specific Room search mode. After selecting the appropriate building, you will see the Override Description space in your list of rooms. Select this room and notice that a Location field is now available on the Reservation Wizard window. Type an entry there and then complete the reservation as you would for any room. To book an Override Description resource, use the same process you would to add any resource to a booking and simply look for the item in the list. After selecting it, edit it and type the new description. (Note: Because they are named on-the-fly, EMS cannot confirm the availability of override description rooms or resources.)

Whether you are trying to book an event at an off-site venue or keep track of a resource item that isn’t a part of your inventory, Override Description items are a great way to give EMS added flexibility for those unexpected requests.

U of Kansas Unions Save $20K Annually with EMS/HVAC Interface

As described in a recently completed EMS case study, the heating/cooling systems in the KU Unions automatically adjust based on event data from EMS Enterprise, thanks to an innovative interface written by one of our business partners.

Background

Founded in 1864, the University of Kansas (KU) has its 950-acre main campus in Lawrence. Two union buildings serve the more than 26,000 undergraduate and graduate students that attend KU. The Kansas Union, dedicated to the memory of the 130 KU students who died in World War I, was completed in the mid-1930s and has undergone many renovations since then.

The idea for the Burge Union, a satellite facility on the west side of campus, came from students and union staff. That building, named for a former director of the Kansas Union, began operating in 1979. Today, the two facilities function as the living rooms of the campus, serving the social, cultural and recreational needs of students and staff.

An Insightful Question Gets the Wheels Turning

In 1999, administrators at the Kansas and Burge Unions were looking into changing energy management systems for their facilities. As part of their research, a group visited the KU Facilities Operations department to check out the new Johnson Controls Metasys® system that they had recently installed. In the course of discussions there, Wayne Pearse, Union building engineer, asked an insightful question that would ultimately lead to a mutually beneficial linking of two seemingly unrelated systems. “I noticed the Start/Stop schedule in Metasys and asked if it could be tied into the EMS reservations program,” says Pearse. “Nobody knew the answer, of course, because it had never been done.” However, people were intrigued.

At that time, the Air Handling Units (AHUs) that heat and cool rooms in the Unions were activated manually each morning by an employee who walked around the facilities with an event schedule in hand and physically flipped switches on for areas in which events were scheduled. Those AHUs would then run until the Union buildings closed, some 18 hours later, regardless of how many events were scheduled in that area. At midnight, another employee had to make the rounds in the buildings and turn the AHUs off. Not only was it a labor-intensive process, it was one in which there was great potential for error, leaving the meeting and event scheduling staff with an ever-present concern that something might be overlooked. None of them wanted to receive a call from an angry reservation holder whose room was not properly heated or cooled.

A Well-Designed Solution Leads to Significant Savings

To explore the possibility of an EMS/Metasys interface, Johnson Controls, which was bidding on the work at the Unions, contacted Streamside Solutions (www.streamsidesolutions.com), an engineering firm that specializes in energy management systems. Brian Russell, president of the company and a former Johnson Controls engineer, was very familiar with the Metasys product. In just over a month, Russell wrote and tested the new “EMS Scheduler” interface, and in January, 2000 he installed it in the Kansas Union to rave reviews. “When he brought the EMS Scheduler in, it worked without a hitch,” says Pearse. “I went through a one-hour training session with Brian and our staff took it from there. He made it very easy to understand and control.” More recently, the EMS Scheduler was connected to the heating and cooling system at the Burge Union with similar results.

While cost savings associated with the EMS Scheduler interface are not calculated on an ongoing basis, they are sizeable. “We saved $13,000 in electrical costs in the first six months of using the system in the Kansas Union,” says Pearse. “And the system saves us approximately 700 hours per year in labor.” Asked to rate the success of the EMS Scheduler project, Pearse says, “It met both of our goals: The interface took the human element out of the heating/cooling equation allowing for better customer focus and it provides major savings in energy consumption.”

Gene Wee, reservations coordinator for the KU Memorial Unions, agrees that the system has had a positive impact on customer service and on the stress level of the reservations staff. “Kansas is a four-season region, with a number of sub-zero days in the winter and 100+ degree days in the summer, so heating and cooling are important issues for our guests,” he says. “With the EMS Scheduler interface, we have the confidence of knowing that the room temperature will be set right. No more situations where a room is uncomfortable because we ‘got busy and forgot to turn on the air’!"

Looking Ahead

Today the collaboration between the Kansas and Burge Unions and Streamside Solutions continues, with enhancements making the EMS Scheduler interface even more powerful and user-friendly. And while it was written to work with a Johnson Controls product, Brian Russell points out that it could be modified to interact with any system that has an open interface, making the kinds of energy and labor savings experienced at KU widely available to facilities that use EMS scheduling products.

What is Microsoft .NET?

According to Microsoft, .NET® is their strategy for connecting systems, information, and devices through web services so people can collaborate and communicate more effectively. .NET technology is integrated throughout Microsoft products, and now throughout the EMS line of products. What does this mean for you? In simple terms, .NET applications are easier for us to develop, easier for you to deploy and easier for both of us to support and integrate with other systems.

It has taken 2 ½ years to rewrite the EMS family of products in Microsoft .NET – a very challenging task given that we continued to enhance EMS along the way! Now that that project is complete, however, there will be a new level of efficiency in future EMS development. Very simply, our programmers have less code to write. The .NET Framework uses a highly componentized, plumbing-free design that enables our developers to focus on the business logic in EMS rather than worrying about basic building blocks.

.NET applications are much easier to deploy. The .NET Framework comes bundled in newer versions of Microsoft Windows, so installing EMS is now as easy as copying its files to a local directory. EMS no longer relies on shared components or registered 3rd party controls, which eliminates “DLL hell” and other potential versioning conflicts. Considered a “Smart Client” application, the desktop-side of EMS can even be deployed to client PCs in the same manner as a web application, with a simple shortcut pointing to a shared installation of EMS on a server.

Microsoft’s .NET technology also provides improved performance, more reliable applications, better systems security and much more. In summary though, .NET provides a highly productive, standards-based environment that will offer new possibilities for integrating EMS with other next-generation applications.

Lite 5 Lives up to Expectations

In the four months since we announced its availability, EMS Lite Version 5.0 has created quite a buzz among our customers and prospects, who are finding that its enhanced functionality is everything they had expected in a major new release… and more.

“Version 5 represents a large leap ahead in both functionality and performance for EMS Lite and Virtual EMS,” says Kevin Raasch, our executive vice president. “In talking with our customers about product direction, there were certain features and functions that came up consistently.” Among those were the ability to:

• submit space requests from the Internet
• create reservations directly from the web
• track resources
• generate invoices

“Version 5 makes all of that functionality available through optional modules, allowing organizations to create a customized system that meets their specific needs.”

In addition to enhanced functionality, EMS Lite Version 5.0 utilizes new technology throughout. Microsoft® .NET was used to develop the product’s user interface, and the Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine (MSDE) has replaced Version 4’s Microsoft Access database.

“Many of the people I talk with have simple, but important, resource management and invoicing needs,” says Aaron Knox, DEA account manager. “EMS Pro is more software than their situation warrants, but EMS Lite with the extra modules meets their requirements and is well within their budget. And the ability to submit requests or make reservations directly from the Internet can have a huge impact on an organization’s scheduling efficiency.”

For more information on what’s new in Lite 5, go to www.dea.com/Lite/LiteNew.aspx.

Join us for Scheduling with an Altitude

With the 2005 EMS Users’ Conference right around the corner, the crew at Dean Evans & Associates is working harder than ever to bring you the best event yet! The theme for this year’s conference, “Scheduling with an Altitude”, couldn’t be more fitting for an exciting weekend in beautiful Beaver Creek, Colorado! The Rocky Mountains are one of the most desirable vacation spots in the world, boasting incredible views, top notch cuisine and scenic mountain communities. The Park Hyatt, Beaver Creek, site of the 2005 conference, is one of the most stunning resorts in Colorado with its gorgeous rooms, first class spa and premier 18-hole golf course.

Our main conference focus will be to provide users with all of the information they need to get the most out of their EMS Professional, EMS Enterprise and EMS Master Calendar systems. Not only will the conference feature education sessions to expand the breadth of users’ EMS knowledge, it will also include a number of “best practices” presentations hosted by EMS customers in which especially effective and creative uses of the system will be showcased, giving users an opportunity to compare their operations with those of similar organizations. In addition, we have invited some of our industry partners to attend the conference to give our users information on products and services that can complement their EMS system.

As always, the EMS Users’ Conference is an excellent place to meet others in your industry as well as great people outside your industry. Throughout the conference there will be plenty of opportunities to network as well as time to just sit back and enjoy the fresh mountain air. We will be hosting a reception to kick off the conference Sunday night, September 25th, and a closing dinner to wrap it up on Tuesday. We will also be providing social breakfasts and lunches on Monday and Tuesday during the conference.

If you are not attending this year but would like to know more about the conference, please visit www.dea.com/UsersConference/Conf.aspx for detailed information. If you are registered for the conference, we hope you’re getting excited for this high altitude adventure! See you soon in Beaver Creek!

Trade Show Calendar

The staff here at Dean Evans & Associates loves to get out there and really connect with the people who use EMS as well as those who are not yet using it but would benefit from implementing an EMS system. That’s why we make it a top priority to attend a number of trade shows throughout the year. 2005 has been a season of innovation and change for EMS and that makes it even more important for us to get the message out.

The trade shows we have already attended this year have been great successes thanks to the many customers and potential customers who have stopped by our displays to share both their praise and their constructive criticism of our products and our company. There are still a handful of shows on our calendar between now and the end of the year. If you have plans to attend any of them, please stop by and say “Hello”!

• Educause, October 18-21, Orlando
• ASBO, October 21-25, Boston
• IFMA, October 23-25, Philadelphia
• NSBA T+L, October 26-28, Denver

And if you know of a trade show that we might not have heard of where event management and calendaring software might be of interest to attendees, please email us (sales@dea.com) with the details!