Signing up for Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation activities is about to get much easier.
Soon, Stuttgart military community members will be able to sign up for certain child care programs, Outdoor Recreation trips and Arts and Crafts classes from their home computer, with the help of FMWR’s new software program, “WebTrac,” a part of its Recreational Track system.
Even though the garrison FMWR directorate has been using RecTrac internally for 15 years, “currently, customers don’t see a lot of what RecTrac does,” said Zak Carter, U.S. Army Garrison Stuttgart FMWR information technology manager.
With the addition of WebTrac, customers will be able to interact with FMWR on a new level by signing up and paying for FMWR programs and services online.
The first WebTrac patrons in USAG Stuttgart will be parents whose children are enrolled in Child, Youth and School Services programs.
Beginning Feb. 16, parents will be able to pay their CYS Services child care bills online using a password and login e-mailed to them from FMWR, said Brian Tierney, FMWR functional technology specialist, who is heading up the CYS Services portion of WebTrac.
Parents can also pay fees and register for some School of Knowledge, Inspiration, Exploration and Skills classes, he added, and submit child care inquiries from home.
“I think it’s a huge convenience for parents to be able to sign up for stuff without having to come to the central registration office,” Tierney said.
In addition to CYS Services, several other FMWR programs will be taking advantage of WebTrac in USAG Stuttgart.
In the future, Carter anticipates that the golf club will use the program to keep track of golfers’ individual handicaps and tee times. Outdoor Recreation customers will be able to sign up for recreational programs, such as ski trips, beginning March 8. Arts and Crafts customers will also be able to sign up for upcoming classes online.
According to FMWR officials, the garrison will start a drive Feb. 21, 2010 to get all authorized users to register their household for WebTrac.
“Once the account is approved, the world is yours, as far as WebTrac is concerned,” Carter said.
With customers signing up for events online, WebTrac will also function as an organizational tool for FMWR. It can keep track of large events, from trips and programs, to locker rentals at the fitness center.
WebTrac is intertwined with all of the FMWR programs, Carter added. “It’s an all-in-one software solution for FMWR at the point of sale.”
WebTrac also keeps tabs on customer preferences, such as what kinds of activities a family normally signs up for, he added. The long-term goal is to deliver custom-tailored information to families on programs FMWR believes they would like to participate in.
For now, however, the program is mainly focused of giving community families the convenience of handling some FMWR transactions from home.
For more information, call FMWR at 421-2089/civ. 0711-729-2089.
