OSI’s Timeshare Soft is Hit with Canadian Resort

“OSI’s software has, hands down,  the fastest  booking process  I’ve ever seen, “ says Kelly McAree, Resort Manager at Fairmont’s Lake Okanagan Resort located near Kelowna, British Columbia.  “We’ve looked at a number of solutions for our reservations systems, but nothing comes close to what OSI’s Timeshare Soft provides.”

Object Systems International (OSI) a Utah-based, multi-national business, founded in 1999, with offices in Layton, Utah, and Sofia, Bulgaria focuses on enterprise-class, web-based records management solutions. Since the year 2000, they have been servicing the timeshare and travel club industry with their TravelClubSoft (TCS) product (formerly known as @ttitude Resort System). OSI has a number of software products and two of them (Travel Club Soft and Timeshare Soft) are specifically designed to facilitate the diverse aspects of the timeshare and travel club industry.
Their newest product, TimeShareSoft (www.Timesharesoft.com) was developed out of necessity to accommodate some distinct needs of clients within the timeshare industry.  It is able to solve timeshare-specific challenges such as highly specialized inventory control, auto-generated maintenance fees, and complex ownership types.

OSI’s software  has been successfully implemented in multiple offices within Fairmont Resort Properties in Canada, as well as several Travel Clubs and single resort operations in the US and in Canada.

According to Catherine Fuller, OSI’s Director of Business Development, OSI’s travel industry software  is a true web-based SAAS (Software as a Service) system, meaning that it is hosted and maintained by OSI, and users access it securely via a web browser from anywhere at any time. OSI’s software, being both flexible and scalable, is capable of handling anticipated growth, regardless of how quickly it occurs, and regardless of its geographic distribution.  The technology and application have all the functions and features necessary to run the largest of enterprises, but can also be configured to run single resort operations and smaller travel clubs.

McAree, whose resort is located along the shoreline of Okanagan Lake, one of the 10 hottest destinations in the world referred to as “Napa of the North,”  says “Once I saw their solution first hand, I was impressed with  how OSI is able to facilitate increased efficiency with regard to data migration, system configuration and installation of their software. The speed of the reservation system within OSI’s software is really going to  impact our day-to-day operations. To say I was impressed is an understatement. “

Object Systems International (OSI) has announced that Catherine Fuller, Director of Business Development has attended an in-depth seminar and successfully completed a detailed knowledge examination held at the American Resort Development Association’s Carolina Regional Meeting.   OSI is a Utah-based, multi-national business, founded in 1999, with offices in Layton, Utah, and Sofia, Bulgaria.  Its technology division focuses on enterprise-class, web-based records management solutions.

ARDA’s seminar offers concise education tailored to meet the needs of suppliers of both goods and services to the timeshare industry. The course addresses the basics of the industry and timeshare-specific terms, as well as the characteristics of timeshare buyers, trends and legal issues. An in-depth look at the timeshare project lifecycle, reserve funding and refurbishment schedules are included.

Several group activities encourage participation and enforce the discussion topics. According to the ARDA web site, (www.arda.org), participants come away with a better understanding of the nuances of the industry as well as a solid grasp of the vocabulary to promote effective communication with industry leaders.

All attendees who successfully complete the course and pass the subsequent test are awarded a certificate of completion.

According to Fuller, she attended the seminar to boost her  knowledge of the industry to which OSI has a deep commitment.  Since the year 2000, OSI has been servicing the timeshare and travel club industry with their TravelClubSoft (TCS) product (formerly known as @ttitude Resort System). OSI has a number of software products and two of them (Travel Club Soft and Timeshare Soft) are specifically designed to facilitate the diverse aspects of timeshare and travel club industry.

Among OSI’s clients are 6 Dimensions Consulting, Royal Host, Grand Lakefront Resort Club-US, Fairmont Resort Properties-Canada and TTG.  For more information:  www.travelclubsoft.com   www.timesharesoft.com www.objectsystems.com or call Cathi Fuller at 801-444-3844  ext. 115.

Managing Director of Barrasford & Bird Worldwide, Robin Barrasford recognised the potential of the overseas property industry over seven years ago. It was whilst purchasing his own property abroad that he began to realise that the UK and other worldwide investor property markets were underexploited. From this early overseas buying experience, Barrasford & Bird Worldwide was established, created to introduce and guide new and seasoned property buyers to the potential of property investments abroad. Today the company employs over 30 staff in a variety of worldwide locations and develops its own luxury resorts in Greece and the Caribbean.

Robin Barrasford achieved a degree in ‘Computers and Information Systems’ at Manchester University before starting a post-graduate course in Mathematics and Education at the University of Sussex. However, after the first year, he became frustrated with academic life and joined Sussex Police. Robin stayed in the police force for ten years and became one of the youngest ever sergeants in the history of the force before being promoted to acting Inspector duties in the seaside resort of Eastbourne. Before Robin Barrasford began to explore the overseas property market he took a year long break from his distinguished role as Police Inspector, to focus on family life. Moving to the southwest of England he bought and converted a collection of barns into a family home. Whilst the country living experience tempted the family enough to permanently settle in Cornwall, Robin Barrasford was seeking a way to extend his love of property and combine it with a full time entrepreneurial business.

Recognising the potential of the property market in Bulgaria, long before the boom in Eastern Europe began, Mr Barrasford was quick to envisage the full potential of this new property market, and created a sales and marketing company to package the property to the investor market and first time overseas property buyers. The company he created was Barrasford & Bird.

Before long the Bulgarian property market had begun to blossom. Not content with emerging eastern European markets, Mr Barrasford co-developed developments both in Bulgaria and the Caribbean. Barrasford & Bird became a worldwide success story, consistently sourcing new markets, packaging them to investment purchasers with the mainstay of the business built on customer service and excellence in the industry. To date, Barrasford and Bird worldwide had handed over more than 2000 completed properties.

In 2005 the overseas property industry came together with the notion of self regulating its practices and Robin Barrasford was one of the first to champion the notion of a voluntary set of guidelines and regulations that would translate customer confidence and industry excellence. Today, this initiative has become the Association of International Property Professionals, an upstanding industry voice and the regulatory body of the overseas property industry.

From day one, Barrasford and Bird Worldwide endeavoured to offer the best customer service in the industry, backed up by a lifetime aftercare guarantee. The company employed more support staff to look after customer needs than sales staff to achieve this goal and has an exemplary reputation within the industry.

However, it became apparent that the developer on occasion was the ‘weak link’ in the process. Therefore, Robin decided that the only way to ensure a consistent quality of service from reservation to full ownership was to become the developer as well as the agent.

The next step was to canvass the company database of over 18,000 (now 65,000) clients to ascertain what clients actually wanted from their overseas property. Once this information was collated, Robin then sought out markets with genuine exit strategies and strong government support for tourism. It was from this research and the company’s dedication to customer service that the Halcyon Hills resort in the Greek Island of Samos was born.

In 2008 Robin Barrasford was the only overseas property industry expert from the UK asked to judge the prestigious AIPP awards, and along with a distinguished panel of professionals including the Ombudsman for UK estate agents, his wealth of experience and renowned professionalism helped choose the most prestigious award winners in the industry today.

In July 09 Barrasford & Bird Worldwide were proud to announce an affiliate partnership with RCI’s The Registry Collection. Having great success with Fractional Ownership sales for over 6 months, the
team at Barrasford & Bird Worldwide were looking for an additional string to their bow for the luxurious Halcyon Hills Resort, Samos, Greece. RCI approached Barrasford and Bird with the many benefits of joining a shared usage programme. It was the clarity of branding and the sumptuous lifestyle of The Registry Collection that finally tempted Barrasford & Bird Worldwide to sign up.

Customer orientated, Barrasford & Bird Worldwide wanted their buyers to enjoy the luxurious element of shared ownership that complimented the five star facilities to be implemented at Halcyon Hills, Greece.

Halcyon Hills is situated in what is undoubtedly one of the finest locations of a hotel resort anywhere in the world. The site looks across an expansive azure sea to Asia Minor and the soaring mountains of a forestladen national park. The gentle waters of the Aegean lap against the beach which hugs the curve of the bay while the channel between Asia Minor and Samos ensures that the waters remain calm, offering superb swimming and sailing.

The village of Klima rests next to Halcyon Hills and has two delightful tavernas gracing its shoreline. The small, boutique tourist resort of Psilli Amos is two bays to the West, while the historically rich harbour of Pythagoria (Named after Pythagoras who was born there) lies 3 miles to the West. The islands capital is a 15 minute drive away from the resort and the international airport is just a short 20 minute drive.

Halcyon Hills has been meticulously designed with its stunning location firmly in mind. Every property at the resort enjoys the panoramic sea views from the terrace and is centred around a 1200m2 spa.

The resort was created by one of the most respected architects in Greece, Yiannis Vikelas, and he was give guidelines to work within when designing the halcyon Hills experience.

• Halcyon Hills should complement the natural beauty of Samos
• The Resort must feel authentically Greek
• No two properties should look the same
• Every property is to have a sea view
• From the sea, Halcyon Hills should look like an authentic Greek village
• The resort must have all the facilities, quality and services of a five star resort

Once the concept was achieved architecturally, the interior design then needed to be addressed. Once again, the overriding principle was that the resort must feel as if it fits like a glove in Greece and that it is not just another luxury hotel that could be anywhere else in the world. The Halcyon Hills experience is centred around Greek style whilst ensuring that the owners benefit from five star service and quality.

With the success of Fractional Ownership at Halcyon Hills partnered with the stunning opportunity that is The Registry Collection, Halcyon Hills Spa and Marina Resort offers a slice of the highlife for a fraction of the cost with prices starting from just £21,000 for 1/12 ownership of a variety of property styles.

6 Dimensions Consulting (6DC) to Work Closely with Application Service Provider

Object Systems International (OSI) has announced that it will broaden its impact on the timeshare and travel club industry by implementing their software at 6 Dimensions Consulting’s administration and sales offices.   OSI is a Utah-based, multi-national business, founded in 1999, with offices in Layton, Utah, and Sofia, Bulgaria.  Its technology division focuses on enterprise-class, web-based records management solutions. Since the year 2000, they have been servicing the timeshare and travel club industry with their TravelClubSoft (TCS) product (formerly known as @ttitude Resort System). OSI has a number of software products and two of them (Travel Club Soft and Timeshare Soft) are specifically designed to facilitate the diverse aspects of timeshare and travel club business.

OSI’s product, Travel Club Soft  is a web-based SAAS (Software as a Service) system, meaning that it is hosted and maintained by OSI, and users access it securely via a web browser from anywhere at any time. The technology and application have all the functions and features necessary to run the largest of enterprises, but can also be configured to run single resort operations and smaller travel clubs.

OSI’s Travel Club
6 Dimensions Consulting LLC (6DC) is a full-service provider of services such as business process analysis and design, information technology evaluation and support, inventory management, vacation club design and evaluation, owner referral program design and servicing, website design and integration, proximity marketing, as well as online training and knowledge base systems.

According to Dora Edmonson, CEO of 6DC “our consulting firm assists vacation ownership/timeshare resort companies to successfully operate with increased efficiency, service and revenue.  6DC is extremely impressed with OSI’s products which assist vacation ownership/timeshare resort companies to successfully operate with increased efficiency, service and revenue.  They are simple and efficient to use which is precisely the reason we decided to use them in our home office.”

Catherine Fuller, Director of Business Development for OSI says that Travel Club Soft is easily implemented, “unlike a lot of software out there, ours requires few interfacing ‘tweaks’ that are frequently time consuming and expensive.  In short, it will free you from having to worry about technology while you to focus on your core business. It will allow your business analysis to be more accurate and complete because your data will be cleaner, centralized, better integrated, and most importantly, more current.”

According to Fuller, the two companies have a strong commitment to each other to mutually provide services where the fit is right far into the future.

Among OSI’s clients are TAN, Royal Host, Grand Lakefront Resort Club-US, Fairmont Resort Properties-Canada and TTG.  For more information:  www.travelclubsoft.com   www.timesharesoft.com www.objectsystems.com or call Cathi Fuller at 801-444-3844  ext. 115.

Perspective Magazine met with Sherman Potvin at the Ragatz Fractional Interest Conference in San Francisco and we were intrigued to hear about the industry veteran’s new project, Fractional Homes International.

Perspective: Can you start by giving us some background on yourself and your company?

We have LuxuryFractionalguide.com which is the largest fractional website in the world, and we geared that website to be consumer oriented, We wanted to do two things: obviously make money in the long term, but what I had discovered 15 years prior is that the education of the general public is crucial if this was going to be a success. Because the website is consumer oriented, we write articles and updates and we now have a blog to further educate the public on the pitfalls and the promises of fractional sales and the benefits of course of why people are buying fractions and why developers are selling them.

Luxuryfractionalguide.com has been like a window on the world of fractionals for me that very few people have.

One of the things I learnt quickly was… have “Ask The Expert” on that website and I often at times want to just rip it down! Because I get so many questions, but I’m the sort of guy that will answer them, people take the time, so I answer them, so there I am 10, 11, 12 o’clock at night, I’m at my computer and sometimes I’m like “god these questions!”

So I thought I could alleviate some of the questions by writing a book because the questions are mostly from home owners around the world, I’m not talking just America, but Bulgaria and New Zealand, Australia and the Middle East and the Far East, everywhere, in fact it was amazing to see where they came from.

So, I wrote my book, as I said about 18 months ago, Fractionalize to Maximize, and it served a purpose to some degree, I’ve sold over 2000 copies from people all over the world, so the book has been helpful but yet it’s created even more questions as I had wanted to keep it in layman’s terms and there’s more to selling a property than just what’s in the book, this is more about how to get your property ready to sell.

So, I knew, and I’ve known for a couple of years that the niche within the niche of fractional ownership, is the one off standing homes, the single vacation home where people want to sell them in this economy and can’t, but even in good economies when, two, three or four years ago when the economy was rolling, people were wanting to sell in fractions to maximize their return, and, they understood that if they could sell some fractions of their home, keep a fraction, they could have their cake and eat it too. They could still go to visit their place but they didn’t have all the costs associated with ownership.

So, what with that, I started to think about developing Fractional Homes International, which is a franchise company, and basically, our goal here is to produce talented, knowledgeable, trained people – real estate related people – whether they’re real estate license agents or small developers or investors who want to buy a home and turn it into fractions. This company will serve all those people – with our “bible”, what we call our training manual – which is 14 months in the writing. This will serve our franchisees with the knowledge to be able to, from A to Z, take someone’s home, and sell it out in fractions.

There’s nobody consulting today that wants to deal with a one off home because there’s no money in it. Myself and the six or eight other people who do consulting for the larger developers, we tend to stick with the larger developers because a) the homeowner can’t afford us and b) there’s not enough long term money in selling a one off home for us.

So, I know that the people who graduate and come out of our training as franchisees will be busy right away because the market’s so huge, especially with the economy the way it is, so much beautiful real estate for sale at bargain prices, and even at bargain price there not moving. This is a way to move the person’s home and get a fair price for it. So, in a nutshell, I’m hoping Fractional Homes International will be the vehicle to springboard the vacation home owner from around the world ahead faster, the true fractional industry is going to be growing, the first niche has got to come out of the box.

I believe that the industry itself is going to recover much quicker than whole ownership real estate. I think people are going to be looking for alternative ownership where they can have a little chance of an investment, not as much money, be able to vacation in a much more expensive, nicer home than they normally could afford with a fraction of the cost and I think that’s where the industry is going.

Perspective: So, you’re going to train people to then consult consumers on how to fractionalize their homes– are you also going to help advertise those homes for sale, through the website?

Absolutely – our website will have those homes on it, our Fractional Homes International website, but also those homes will be on Luxury Fractional Guide as part of the deal. So they’ll have two different avenues of advertising. I really plan on this company being Number 1 in the world a year from now in the fractional industry.

I’m going to spend the money to do it, I’m committed to it and we plan to put this website out by mid-summer in five languages. We truly want to be international because the market is international. The long term goal is to have a master franchise, someone for Europe, and in the UK, someone Down Under, and every country that seems to have taken to the fractional concept. South Africa has more fractional programmes going on right now than we do, it’s crazy, its caught fire over there and so I would expect I would licence someone there to be a franchise for Fractional Homes International.

I envision this being a global company where they can all exchange inside the network and all the franchisees would have the advantage of being able to communicate with each other on what’s working and what’s not in different areas and what they did to a particular house to make it special, or where they put money that didn’t work etc.

I mean, the education within this company five years from now, with maybe four or five hundred or a thousand, even, agents, is going to be unbelievable, and it’s just going to make us all that much better.

Perspective: So for example, if someone owned a fraction of a home in San Francisco they could change it with someone in South Africa through you?

Of course. Right now we are bringing into play our own fractional exchange called Luxury Fractional Exchange but we envision maybe as soon as two years down the road, the company will have its own exchange system within the company as we’ll have that many homes being fractionalized and that will make it even nicer and more reason for people to join us.

Perspective: How would that work alongside some of the larger people you work with? Do you envisage being able to get the exchange company to a point where they’ll accept people from stand alone homes into theirs or do you think they’ll keep it totally separate?

No, not at all – I know all of the guys from the exchange companies , I’ve been in this industry all my life practically it seems, but, I know all the players, and they’re not particularly interested in getting into the one off single stand alone home as it doesn’t give them enough critical mass to be effective. Our exchange will be unique to vacation home owners and small developers.

Perspective: What would you class as a small developer?

Ten units or less. Anything over ten units we wouldn’t allow them on, we wouldn’t want them to dilute the product.

Perspective: I’m looking at your training manual and its huge – what sort of things are included? What does it entail? And do you get some sort of certification at the end?

Well yes. And of course, we follow this manual all through training and during the whole week of intense training, day and night actually, we do a mythical home, we actually do a whole home all the way through sales and marketing – the whole thing.

But obviously this is all in depth, and we only touch the highlights through training, but when someone has this manual when they graduate, they take it with them. They never really own this, we always own it, they just have it on loan and if they ever lose it or someone copies it, they’re gone. This is really serious material.

But to answer your question, the manual was built like this because we really, really wanted our franchisees to be – when they’re confronted with a little bit of a problem such as a different house, different location, something different about that particular project – not to have to call our mentors on a 24/7 basis – 99% of what they’re looking for is going to be found right here in the manual.

Perspective: So would people come to you in a training centre?

Yes – our next training will be in Denver, Colorado in July

Perspective: And how many people would come along to that?

25 – We don’t allow any more than that – we want it to be intimate, get to know the mentors really well because that’s who they’ll be working with. We’re all going to mentor these people so that they don’t make mistakes and they get off on the right track.

Perspective: And that lasts for one week and then they have an exam they have to pass to get their qualification?

There is a mini exam at the end. They get a certificate and with the certification they get to use all our marques on all of their materials, on their websites, and they are an accredited fractional consultant. For a real estate agent it would be invaluable because they’ll have such a leg up on their competition by virtue of being able to say both on their website and on all their collateral and in their office with our emblem that they have in-house – a person that can fractionalise your home from start to finish. I think that’s going to add tremendous value a year down the road.

Perspective: Do the homes have to have certain criteria – or a certain value? Would it be you that would select those homes or they would have to come to you for approval or some description?

Yes, definitely, we have our operations manual and our standards, and our ethics. All of this is related to our relationship with the person that comes to us and wants to sell their home. It definitely has to meet criteria, location of course being first and foremost, but then the fit and finish, the furnishings, the surroundings, accessibility, the landscaping. It has to be really perfect to be successful – the owner has to understand what needs to be done in order for their home to be right and if he doesn’t we are going to walk away and go to the next one. Because, we really can’t afford to fail – that’s the bottom line, we’ve got to make every one of our projects work in order for the company to grow.

So yeah, we’re hoping that we set the standards for integrity and success in this industry. There’s a lot of people breaking out in this industry claiming to be fractional experts and they’ve never even been on a project before – it’s embarrassing – I see their website and go, “my god, I know that person, that person doesn’t even know anything about this” – but the average consumer doesn’t know this. A lot of people don’t do due diligence and don’t make the phone calls and then they get themselves in trouble and they put thousands of dollars up and fail. So, we’re hoping that we can set the standard in the industry so that others will want to follow it and just to make it the right way so the consumer has confidence in this product; it’s an alternative product, not run of the mill real estate, as everyone knows and understands it. Now, if we all do it right it’s going to be successful. That’s our goal.