​When we form a License and Support Contract with a National Park, we do our very best to make our services as valuable as possible. We provide specialized software that has been created specifically for the National Park Service Fee Programs called Advantage 5. This software has many tools that can make the job of Fee Manager much easier when it is used to its full potential. That is something that we can help you with.

​We encourage any of our clients who have any questions at all about Advantage 5 to not hesitate to call us. If we are unable to assist you in that moment we will be more than willing to schedule an appointment to teach you whatever you need to know. We will take the time to guide you through every step. It is our goal for each Fee Manager to feel completely comfortable with the software and understand how it can help their program more. We also encourage any of our clients who have ideas for improvements on the software to let us know and we will certainly take them into consideration for the next update.

We are proud of the Advantage 5 software and all the many things it can do, but we understand that each park is different. Please let us help you use this tool to move your park forward and we will always work hard to improve the software.

We have had a wonderful and ​​exciting year here at the Intermountain Advantage Group. We consider ourselves lucky to be able to work with National Park Fee Managers and their staffs all over the country, helping them with their Fee Programs. It has been very busy in our office with "EMV" and "Every Kid In A Park" rolling out, but we are enthusiastic about what these new programs can do for your parks.

This past year has brought to us many new ideas of how we can support the National Park Service even better and we are excited to begin putting some of them into place. We are always looking for new ways to meet the needs of each individual park. No two Fee Programs are alike and we enjoy that challenge. In 2016 we will see some new technologies that will make Fee Collection easier and more accessible than ever before.  
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Although it is our job to be as much of a support to you as we can, we want to let all of our customers know how grateful we are for your support. All of you have allowed us to work in such a great field and we really do appreciate it. We hope that all of you have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and we look forward to continuing our relationships in the New Year.  

Thank you!

In the world of Point of Sale the big news that has been floating around for most of the year is the national transition to the new EMV cards. We have received many questions about how this is rolling out to the National Parks so we want to give you this update.

First of all, the October 1st Deadline, that has already passed, was for Stand-Alone Credit Card systems only. None of the registers that we have installed in the Parks meet this specification. We do not need to be concerned about that date. We still have plenty of time.

The reason we have not yet been able to install EMV systems into any of the Parks is due to certifications that the credit card companies are currently working through. Because of the sensitive nature of credit card information, these companies need to go through extensive trials and testing to insure the security of their credit card processors. This is taking longer than expected but they assure us they are making progress.

As soon as we get the all clear, we will immediately install the EMV systems at a park that is nearby to our office. Having a lot of experience with new systems, we know that there are usually some bugs that need to be worked out even after going live. We want these issues to happen somewhere we can get to quickly so that we can monitor and fix everything possible before we implement this into every Park we service. Once we are comfortable with the performance in our Pilot Park, we will begin to roll it out to everyone else.

When we do install these systems at the Parks there will be some costs attached to it. Treasury is providing some of the equipment, but not everything. If your Park is not set up with the newer EliXR registers, they will need to be replaced. The software on your older registers is unable to handle the new system requirements for EMV. There are also a few other components that are needed. Please see the diagrams below for more detail.

Although the concept of EMV is simple, the process of actually switching to it is very difficult. We are doing our best to update all of our clients as quickly and smoothly as possible and we are excited to work on this with all of you.

Most transactions at our registers are with a Credit Card and our systems are certainly well equipped for it, but have you ever noticed how after a long time you have to swipe the card a few times to make it work? Before you jump the gun and think that there is something wrong with the device, it is likely that the swipe is just dirty. 

Every time you slide a card through the reader, a little bit of whatever was on the card gets left behind. This will build up over time and can eventually block the magnetic reader. Cleaning the swipe is simple, but before you start assembling your own contraption to clean the sensor, give us a call and we can send you the product that is designed for this job.

These Cleaning Cards are very easy to use and they won't cause harm to your Magnetic Reader. You just need to swipe them through as you would a normal Credit Card about 5 or 6 times. If it seems that it is still dirty, don't worry, we will send you more than one at once to make sure that the device is clean. After you clean it, it should be ready to go and it will read much better.

If your Card Swipe still does not work after cleaning, it may need to be repaired. Please refer to our previous Blog Post for the procedure.

All of the hardware we use in the National Parks is high quality, durable equipment. Some of the registers we installed 15 years ago are still going strong and have never broken down. However, as with all hardware, it will occasionally have issues that need to be repaired. No worries though, we have the technology to handle these repairs. So if you find yourself with some equipment that isn't functioning correctly, please follow these steps to get it repaired.

Step 1: Give our Support Line a call at 801-399-9200 Option 2. We want to know what is going on with your equipment. Often times what appears to be a problem with your Register or Credit Card Modem is actually an issue with your Network or Cables. We will help you troubleshoot everything to narrow down exactly where the problem is. 

Step 2: If we have determined that your equipment does need to be sent in for repair, we will give you the appropriate address to send it to. We will also give you an RMA Number that you should send in with the device. This helps us to keep the repairs organized. Please make sure that it is packaged securely and send it to us when you can.

Step 3: Depending on how involved the repair is, it will take anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks to repair the device. As soon as we have a good idea how long it will take, we will let you know.

Step 4: When you get your repaired equipment back, we would like you to call us again and have us on the line while you hook up your device again. We will make sure that everything works the way it should and we will send an invoice to the email of your Fee Manager.

Following these steps is the most efficient way for us to help you repair your malfunctioning equipment. Please use this so that you can have everything back working as quickly as possible.