FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 20, 2004
Dean Evans & Associates Begins Shipping EMS Enterprise 3.0 Room and Resource
Scheduling System
Latest release utilizes new development platform; delivers greatly enhanced functionality
DENVER -- Dean Evans & Associates (www.dea.com)
today announced the release of EMS Enterprise 3.0 and its Web-based component Virtual
EMS. Corporations, school districts, cultural and sporting venues, churches, hospitals
and higher education facilities are among the many types of organizations that use
EMS (Event Management System) products to manage the scheduling of rooms and resources,
and the processing of charges for event-related services.
The most advanced offering yet in their EMS product line, Version 3.0 utilizes the
Microsoft® .NET development platform. “The biggest advantage of using .NET is that
it allowed us to quickly and easily create a number of very specialized functions
within the program,” says Sean Nelson, lead developer on the desktop interface.
“EMS users benefit from the enhanced functionality, as well as a significant increase
in performance.”
Among the tools available in this release is one called the Query Builder. Redesigned
using .NET, this new version of a tool found in previous releases of the software
allows users to develop ad-hoc queries, personalized browser displays and simple
custom reports. Another widely requested feature that is available in EMS Enterprise
Version 3.0 is a change to user security that lets multiple departments share space
in a single database while keeping information on their events and room availability
completely confidential. Version 3.0 also simplifies the scheduling of cross-time
zone events such as video conferences.
Sites that have performed pre-release “beta testing” of the product have offered
very positive feedback. Kellie Pnacek-Carter, an Event Services Assistant at Grand
Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan, feels the company did an excellent
job of responding to customer comments and suggestions in developing 3.0. “The release
of 3.0 brought with it improved functionality that exceeded my greatest expectations,”
she says.
As with the desktop portion of the program, a number of improvements in functionality
can be found in the Web-enabled component, Virtual EMS. Foremost in the list of
enhancements is an overall redesign of the system to accommodate an e-commerce model
of room and resource selection that is familiar to most Internet users (adding items
to a “cart,” completing a “checkout” process, etc.). Also contributing to the ease
of use of Virtual EMS 3.0 is the ability of system administrators to modify help
text online by simply following a link to an editing window. Organization-specific
instructions can add to or replace the system’s standard “how to” information, allowing
an organization to further customize Virtual EMS to their own business processes
and procedures.
About Dean Evans & Associates
Founded in 1986 and based in Denver, Colo., Dean Evans & Associates develops,
markets and supports a line of sophisticated software products for facility scheduling,
event management and office hoteling. Their Event Management Systems (EMS) family
of software products is ideal for scheduling and managing the rooms, services and
resources needed for events taking place in a wide variety of educational institutions,
government sites and corporations. Thousands of organizations, including four of
the six largest U.S. banks and more than a dozen Fortune 100 companies, rely on
EMS software. Other users include conference and convention centers, healthcare
facilities, civic and cultural venues, sports facilities and churches. Online demonstrations
of the software are available at www.dea.com, or
call 1-800-440-3994 and ask to speak with Tom Schek.