Planning Ahead
Are you prepared for tomorrow's products

As technology changes, so must the tools that use it. A constant challenge for software programs that try to integrate new technology is that the new technology is often incompatible with the software. This usually stems from an improper design of the software. For example, 15 years ago, no one was concerned about Windows ... 10 years ago, virtually no one new about the Internet ... and today, not too many people seem overly concerned with the potential of smart cards or other forms of information/payment devices. Box Office Xpress is focusing on these emerging technologies.

Software programs need to be able to adapt to new technology. This is not always an easy task, as it really is impossible to see very far ahead with regard to new technology. However, if the basic structure of a software program is designed in an open fashion, new technology can often be neatly tied in to the existing system. How do you know if a software program you are considering is designed in such a fashion? You don't. You can ask, but you know the answer is going to be "sure". Who's going to admit that their software is antiquated? What you really need to do is ask "how" the program is designed to handle future technology. If you're not an IT expert, just be sure to have one at your side when you ask the question.

With regard to Box Office Xpress, we initially dove in and immersed ourselves in the market for several years. During that early time, we released two similar versions of the program. And then, after paying our dues, we utilized the experience we had gained and completely rewrote the program from scratch. Now, a major enhancement is released, as needed, that incorporate major new technology into the program. The base structure of Box Office Xpress was designed to easily accommodate such major additions and changes to the program. This is one way that Box Office Xpress stands out above other programs that simply opted to convert their existing DOS-based programs over to new technology. Such a conversion comes at a price - a very fragile framework that often has to deal with incompatibility issues.

Because of its solid foundation, Box Office Xpress doesn't need to worry about those sorts of problems, making the program a solid and stable system that welcomes new technology with ease.

What do we see for the future of Box Office Xpress? Quite a bit in the way of software technology enhancements, new peripheral integration, expanded user-interfaces and new forms of admission. New and exciting features that take advantage of these technologies will become available as quickly as we can add them. Keep watching ...

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