HSVPOA IT Manager Will Rainwater shared great news at the Wednesday, February 21 Board Meeting. But before giving us the details of his announcement, Rainwater addressed the recent Explore the Village website platform changes. The POA, specifically the IT staff, expected that when the new computer system was implemented, there were bound to be difficulties. Extensive system changes are complicated and never go off without a hitch.
Rainwater said, “The rollout of the Northstar application has not been without its challenges.” He thanked the public for its patience and staff for helping resolve some of the issues that arose.
“I promise you that we are making inroads every day, almost every hour. We are getting these issues resolved, and if everyone would continue to have a little patience with us, we would definitely appreciate it,”
Will Rainwater, Hot Springs Village POA IT Manager
Now for some exciting news!
Hot Springs Village is getting a mobile app called “HSVPOA.” A mobile app, short for mobile application, is a software application developed specifically for small, wireless computing devices, such as smartphones rather than desktop or laptop computers. Rainwater said testing on tablets has not been done yet.
Rainwater said the HSV mobile application, currently in beta testing, will be available on both the iPhone (Apple) and Android platforms. When available, the app must be downloaded.
The manager showed the initial login screen and explained there would be a lot of functionality within the new app, including gate access. He said that you can, on the go, submit for a visitor or guest to come in through our gates by using the new mobile app.
“This [the gate access form on the new app] is one of the big ones! We’re really happy with this. The gate access form is something we needed to improve on, and we finally have that with the Northstar app.”
Another function in the app is the ability to book a golf tee time. “Again, a big one! You can book tee times on the fly if you have an internet connection.” This app allows you to navigate the various HSV golf courses and submit lottery requests.
Previously, we could not book reservations for the pickleball courts; Now, we can do this. You can also book tennis courts, either hard or clay,
Rainwater said that one of the things he likes is that the app also has a “Contact Us” that links to all the POA contact information. “The nice thing about it is that you only have to tap on the number within the phone app, which will dial it for you.”
General Manager Kelly Hale added that restaurants can be contacted with only a tap on the phone. Hale said the restaurant hours of operation and specials will be kept updated. (I believe this will only be for the restaurants housed in POA-owned buildings.)
Always finding ways to work smarter and improve, Rainwater said that administratively, making any updates will be easy for staff because they only need to be made in one place and will automatically apply to both the website and mobile application.
While the app is still in beta testing, it is hoped to be ready for public release within the next few weeks. Watch for the announcement.
Will Rainwater, HSVPOA IT Manager presents new app.
By Cheryl Dowden
Click here to read “Rainwater Prepared Villagers for Software Transition.”
Click here to visit the Explore the Village website.
Click here to contact the HSV Gazette.
Cannot believe they would rollout more nonsense when they have so many issues with the current system. So lacking in communication and execution it is laughable at this point.
No payment history, no ACH information, tee time system is inefficient and pro shop staff are lost.
I could go in about the small details in every aspect, but I have tried and management does not want to hear.
This attitude of ‘hang in there ‘ and every installation has issues is the talk of non professionals. Having done this in my career, I would have been in deep trouble if a rollout was this poor. And there in lies the problem, we have such a lack of project management and no expectations of results that we get this result, along with pats on the back for introducing more garbage.
Yes, I am not happy, no need to point out the obvious.