Paparazzi Italian restaurant joins ranks of gPOS users

Paparazzi, an established local restaurant, with tico owners that are among some of Jaco’s first developers, has deployed a single terminal gPOS system for tracking restaurant sales.   The system has also been configured to provide time tracking for all employees, as well as “account balance” tracking for those repeat customers that have credit terms with the restaurant.  Maria Salazar Pirola, owner of Paparazzi and sister hotel Sol del Oro, has trained her daughters to use the system for all order taking thus improving the restaurants overall accountability an order of magnitude.   Welcome aboard the gPOS train Maria!!

gStream service for CostaRica Surf Safari

Costa Rica Surf Safari needed a way to bring more traffic to their website to allow higher booking rates..   Carmen, owner of Costa Rica Surf Safari, turned to GeckoTech to deliver a robust (99% uptime) streaming camera capable of delivering upto 5 FPS.   Carmen decided GeckoTech’s gStream managed service was “the way to go”.   Low upfront service initiation fees, and ongoing support the ensured the system remained operational.  The result is a great webcam that allows surfers from around the world see real-time video of the Jaco’s surf conditions.     With gStream Carmen is able to see higher “traffic rates” to her site as her western European demographic “check out her surf cam”..    Check it out yoursef:  http://costaricasurfari.com/webcam-jaco-beach-surf/

 

gEye and gPhoto installed for VistaMar 1A, 5A and 7B

Savings and Security.  What more could one ask for.  Especially when the former pays for the latter.   with a little change to spare.  Such is the case for 3 rental units at Vista Mar that recently became subscribers to GeckoTech’s services:  GeckoEye and GeckoWatch.  Vista Mar. situated in Jaco, is one of Jaco’s first developments.   The owners were experiencing brisk occupancy, but were having their rental income gobbled up by ICE.   So they turned to GeckoTech to help lower their AC operational costs relative to ICE power.   GeckoTech answered their “cry for help” by installing GeckoEye.   The gEye system not only lowered the owner’s AC operational costs by 30% but also allowed them remote managing and monitoring of doors/windows/thermostats.   The subsequent savings afforded them the option to install gPhoto at the front door to track all pedestrian traffic in and out of his rental unit.   gPhoto takes successive photos on one second intervals and sends them to a web service where the subscriber can review up to 30 days of photos.   Gone are the days of wondering if their units are rented..   All three unit owners are now in complete control of their properties even though they might be 1000s of miles away.

South Beach upgrades its video surveillance to GeckoWatch

South Beach Hotel (formerly known as Arenal Pacifico) has been using a 14 camera Aver Media video surveillance system for the past 5 years.   The system was becoming unmanageable.  Cost to support (replace obsolete parts) was beyond annual operational budget allotments.   Step in GeckoWatch (gWatch).   gWatch is GeckoTech’s managed service that allows rental properties to focus on the utility of video surveillance, as opposed to the headaches/costs associated with owning video surveillance.   South Beach hotel is migrating its legacy video recording equipment to new IP technologies.   The new system will allow for unified viewing of all 14 cameras, while allow remote and local access via Laptops, iPhones, Android Phones, and iPads.   Wait, it gets even better.   The new gWatch system scales!!   The subscriber can can add more cameras without being forced to upgrade upgrade components..   And the best part?   The subscriber does not need to worry about the system atrophying or being obsoleted technology.  It is a “managed service” that protects the user/subscriber from this eventuality.

GeckoEye deployed into Los Suenos Colina

After years of hearing about the savings realized by GeckoEye (gEye), a unit owner of a rental property at Los Suenos, has finally “bitten the bullet” and subscribed to gEye.  For those who do not know, gEye is a service that mitigates renter abuse of the property’s Air Conditioner.  Specifically, gEye turns OFF the Air Handler when designated doors are open for more than 2 minutes, and adjusts SET temperatures UP when guests are gone on all-day fishing trips. The particular unit owner of this latest installation was experiencing $300-$400 for nominal occupancy.  We predict this unit owner will experience savings of about $100/mo thus resulting in a $1200 year savings annually (assuming he maintains occupancy).   His ROI will be 12 months…  Everyone is a winner with gEye..  Yee Haw!!

Vista Mar adds another GeckoEye to its rental inventory

This month Vista Mar added its 5th GeckoEye (gEye)  subscriber.  Vista Mar is a multi-tenant condo located in the heart of Jaco.   This newest subscriber had heard about the phenomenal savings being realized by other Vista Mar owners and decided to get on the band wagon.   He was tired of funding ICE with wasteful renters. GeckoTech deployed a two thermostat gEye system that is expected to lower overall energy operational costs by 20% and 40% in this particular condo.   Furthermore, the property owner’s property manager can now monitor the condo remotely and through his/her iPhone.  Double win for everyone.

GeckoWatch camera added to Vista Mar rental unit

An existing GeckoEye subscriber has decided to extend his energy management system to include video surveillance at the front door of his unit.   The unit owner can now have a running log of snapshot photos (up to 30 days) to monitor all traffic in and out of his unit.   The unit owner now has visibility of not only WHEN his AC is turned on/off, but WHO turned it on/off.   Talk about having your cake and eating it too!

Casa Ponte deploys GeckoCheck to fine tune Energy Savings

GeckoCheck (gCheck), is GeckoTech’s Energy Measuring/recording system.  GeckoCheck basically monitors all the circuits in a rental property’s circuit breaker box and records all power consumption to the web.   This allows the property owner or manager to log in and see historical and realtime power consumption patterns.  gCheck is often a “hard sell” because it does not have a quantifiable ROI at time of install.  However, in every installation of gCheck there was an immediate recognised ROI within 24-72 hours of its installation.   This is because gCheck will immediately identify “heavy consumers” and over time will identify trends.   Such was the case at Casa Ponte, where GeckoTech had already (2 years ago) installed GeckoEye (energy conservation).   Within 72 hours, the property owner was able to quickly isolate one of his primary air handlers as being “money hemorrhage point”.  It turns out that for years the return duct had been improperly sized and thus the AC was running twice as hard as any other AC.   In a matter of days the AC’s installation flaw was fixed.   gCheck’s ROI will be less than 4 months!!  gCheck is also monitoring the 11 other ACs, 2 stoves, 3 water heaters, 1 dryer, assorted room’s outlets, etc…  Go GeckoCheck

GeckoEye GeckoBee Re-up for Acqua beach front unit

For four years an Acqua beachfront unit enjoyed significant savings due to GeckoEye (gEye) and GeckoBee (gBee) tehcnologies..    When the unit changed hands a year ago, the new owner was not aware of that his new unit had these energy savings technologies installed, and the systems were disabled.   After comparing energy operational costs with gEye against energy operational costs without gEye, the new unit owner was able to “see the light”.   Sometimes experience is the best lesson.   We are glad to have this property back in our folds, and reducing Jaco’s carbon footprint..  Oh yeah, let us not forget the savings!!

Mar Arena leverages GeckoNet to increase renter internet experience

Mar Arena, an established multi-tenant 2 story property, situated on Jaco’s south beach, has decided to “take control” of its internet delivery service throughout its property.   This March, GeckoTech deployed GeckoNET (gNET) as a two radio managed wireless internet delivery service throughout the property.   The new service ensure managed (equally balanced and throttled) wireless connection to each user connected to any of the commercial grade wireless internet radios.   Each user is issued a unique userID and Password upon checkin that is valid only during their stay.   No longer do they need to worry about the neighbors leeching from their wireless internet service and degrading the internet experience for the paying renters/guests. Mar Arena’s permanent party, as well as transient rentals have embraced the new technology and find the security a crucial component in any wireless service.    GeckoTech looks forward to extending the service to include new/additional radios and other “on demand” services.