Greetings Patricia,
The museum at which I used to work has VISTA. I used it for 3 1/2 years
as the Visitor & Volunteer Services Coordinator. (The museum has
approximately 175K-275K visitors per year.)
> Do you use it for admissions sales and/or for scheduling?
It was used for admissions and scheduling. The initial set-up can be
complicated, but TM/VISTA can do all that. (Of course, I have no clue
what they charge.)
The museum where I worked has 8 admission desk staff (6 Visitor Services
Representatives + 2 Visitor Services Specialists) who work under the
supervision of the Visitor & Volunteer Services Coordinator. They used
VISTA's "Front Desk" only. There are multiple buttons to push for any
function; however, once one learns the rhythm, one can use it
efficiently. We had some days (6 hours) when two people (12 "man
hours") processed up to 1,500 sales (just a bit more than one per
minute).
The Education Department has someone who books tours through VISTA's
"Back Office." Scheduling works quite well, from my perspective, as it
prepares an easy experience when the group actually arrives.
> Is it easy to use?
VISTA is not what I would call intuitive. There are multiple steps to
make any change to the system. Changes to ticket categories, programs,
and resources can (though I'm not sure how exactly) affect the
statistics archiving and reporting capabilities.
> How is the support services?
I had little contact with them, having left that to our IT
administrator. Some issues -- like hooking up to ticket printers --
were beyond my non-technical mind.
> Have you found another product that works just as well or
> better?
We reviewed multiple other products in the attempt to find an all-around
software package to replace VISTA which incorporated not only the
admission and tour scheduling , but also food service/event management.
I cannot recall the names of those software packages; but we concluded
specialized software was best -- so we stuck with VISTA (which was in
place and working) and purchased a software package intended for food
services/event management.
I'm unsure if this is helpful, and invite further question if I've been
unclear or if you wish for more detail.
Best wishes, sincerely,
j heuman, Education Curator
Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art
Utah State University
4020 Old Main Hill
Logan, UT 84322-4020
t 435.797.0165 | f 435.797.3423
Education costs money, but then so does ignorance.
Sir Charles Moser, b. 1922
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