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Even rustic outdoor hospitality needs business internet
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Vista Recreation is one of the largest operators of outdoor recreation facilities, with campground locations spanning 16 states. Their mission is to provide safe and unique camping experiences for the public while partnering with public agencies to foster and promote sustainable outdoor destinations.
As a full-service outdoor recreation management company, Vista Recreation manages a variety of campground environments, including those geared for basic "primitive" camping as well as sites geared for recreational vehicles (RVs).
"We offer camping experiences and marina management," marketing director Jeff Brown said. "We have campgrounds with boat rentals, docks, lakes, rivers and streams that are the focus for a lot of the campgrounds. But there are others in mountain locations with walking trails, hiking, long bike trails and more."
Vista Recreation
gets connectivity
in challenging
environments
with Verizon LTE
Business Internet
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Vista Recreation makes customer experience a priority with hospitality and digital convenience, even in a remote mountain setting, a desert or a heavily forested area. "Campers still expect a level of service when they're camping with us," Brown said.
The company depends on strong connectivity to run its property management systems, point-of-sale (PoS) systems for guest check-in, mobile laundry service applications and on-site retail. And given the often-challenging environments of their various locations, Vista needs reliable connectivity that can scale up quickly without the need for significant investment in infrastructure.
"Guests expect a connection like a normal business, even though our environments are sometimes challenging," said Brown.
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Guests expect a connection like a normal business, even though our environments are sometimes challenging.”Jeff Brown, Marketing and Business Development, Vista Recreation
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Campsites connected to the cloud
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Vista's various locations also rely on data that is centralized for the entire organization, allowing each to operate independently with access to information available to all.
"We need to allow each location to operate independently as needed to make quick, operational decisions," said Ray Lucas, Vista Recreation's director of information technology. "We need a centralized information source, so we need whatever they're doing to be available to our managers and our senior managers to know what's going on in the organization."
Verizon LTE Business Internet supports that need, providing access to the company's cloud-based data.
"Almost everything we do is cloud-based," Lucas said. "Being able to provide a cloud-based system, whether it's a point-of-sale or a property management system, really gives them that flexibility. "The easy installation and wide coverage of Verizon LTE Business Internet allow each location where we installed the service to operate independently as needed and to make necessary quick decisions with help from data stored in the cloud."
In several of their locations, Vista Recreation now runs business phone service over the LTE Business Internet connection, which has helped reduce monthly billing costs.
"In these locations, all systems now run strictly off a Verizon data signal," Lucas said. "Whether it's desk phones, email or point-of-sale, everything is running off that one connection and it's saving us money."
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Challenging geography
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Brown said the geography of some of Vista Recreation's more remote locations may sometimes create connectivity challenges.
"Verizon helped us by working through our IT team to come up with solutions to get the signal around some of the terrain obstacles and get a good signal to the point-of-sale system, and front desk for online check-in as well," Lucas said.
One such location, on Lake Mojave in California, is sited near a low cove along the lake.
"We really had to do some line-of-sight work to get that connection in there," Brown said.
Brown also emphasized that their systems run on Verizon LTE Business Internet connectivity, including PoS, check-in and even campsite stores, designed to deal with the unique location challenges involved. "If we didn't have these kinds of connections in our business, it could slow down and frustrate our guests immensely."
Vista Recreation also has used Verizon LTE Business Internet to support some of the major events they have hosted, including a professional bass fishing tournament, with a live webcast for its award ceremonies. Other Vista locations have hosted national RV rallies and vintage trailer rallies with associated webcasts.
"It's already paying off," Brown said. "We needed that Verizon signal to put out webcasts and have our guests be able to run a successful event."
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Whether it's desk phones, email or point-of-sale, everything is running off that one connection and it's saving us money.”
Ray Lucas, Director of IT, Vista Recreation
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Connectivity helps Vista Recreation thrive
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Fundamentally, Vista Recreation is on a mission to provide contemporary customer experiences, even when many of the campgrounds are remote and even rustic, Brown said. "As this business has grown, we've definitely felt the need to push the envelope in terms of technology and delivering connectivity for our own operations and for our guests."
The outdoor hospitality business is evolving, he said. "If we're going to compete with other forms of outdoor hospitality and hospitality in general, we're going to have to deliver quality connections to the internet in challenging locations."
Verizon LTE Business Internet supports several of Vista Recreation's remote and beautiful locations that were challenging to get a signal into, Brown said, which makes Verizon a great partner for its future growth. "Verizon can scale with us as we grow and help us innovate in the outdoor hospitality space."
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LTE Business Internet is available within the U.S. on Verizon's 4G LTE network. Compatible LTE-enabled router required (Verizon-provided or Customer-provided). Terms apply.