We caught up with Leonard Knox, Head of Finance and Income Generation at Armagh, to find out more about the attraction and how VisiSoft has played a role in its success.
The Armagh Observatory was founded in 1890 and has always been involved in astronomy. Today we employ astrophysicists and PhD astronomy students who are actively working on international research projects into space and astronomy.
In the 1960’s we wanted to extend our reach beyond research and started the public outreach and education programme, to teach others about the work we do. That’s why we built the Planetarium, which is definitely the highlight of our centre for the 55,000 visitors we see each year.
Well the Planetarium dome is definitely the highlight of any visit, our theatre show offers a digital journey into space. Our visitors also get to walk around our site and exhibition rooms, understanding the history of astronomy and the Observatory itself. We also have a gift shop and café on site for people to visit as part of their day.
There were three key priorities for us when it came to EPOS:
Great. Whether I speak to finance, IT, retail or catering; they all find it very reliable and it manages to meet the different needs of all of these departments. VisiSoft just works. Data integrity and reporting is obviously a big part of my role, and the integration with Sage 200 is great. Even if the network goes down, we always know the data will be safe.
I can get all of my financial reporting out of Sage 200 rather than having to jump between two systems, that saves me time and definitely improves the quality of the reporting we can provide to the organisation.
I must say, all of the advice we receive is excellent. Support calls are handled very quickly with minimum fuss. I never find myself having to chase support for a progress update. When it comes to EPOS, every call is a priority as it’s at the front line of our revenue generation. Thankfully, I know the support team will have it in hand and it will be fixed as soon as possible.
We are in the middle of a major refurbishment that has included a till refresh and additional tills in the café. The VisiSoft consultant that visited was brilliant. What I really liked is that he involved our IT and Finance teams in the process and taught them loads about the system. This has made us more independent and allowed us to get more out of the system. It certainly wasn’t a case of plugging in the new tills and leaving.
Online ticketing, admissions, cafes, gift shops, events and reporting all on one system, all backed up by the support you need.
Your visitors deserve the best experience: VisiSoft gives you all of the tools you need to make sure you deliver an incredible day every time!
