<B> TechTalk</B>
By Mary Ann McNulty, Technology Editor
<B>Mobile Res Competition Heats Up</B>
Not to be outdone by competitors Sabre and Galileo, Amadeus announced that it too plans to launch "wireless travel management" that will allow travelers by year-end to access reservation and information services on a new breed of mobile phones and handheld computers, in cooperation with Ericsson. While the GSM phones required currently aren't deployed in the United States, executives expect them to catch on with cellular service providers in coming months. In the pilot phase of the project, Scandinavian Airlines System and Smart, the global distribution systems' Scandinavian and Baltic distribution partner, are allowing frequent fliers to book and cancel flights and check availability using a customized version of the Amadeus Internet products via a personal digital assistant or handheld computer with Web browsing functionality, connected via an infrared modem to a GSM cell phone. Sabre announced a similar partnership in March and Galileo last month demonstrated a prototype it's working on with a technology company.
<a name="2"><B>Maritz Takes On Self-Booking Rollouts</B>
Leveraging the best practices of its travel technology consulting unit, Maritz Travel Co. recently dedicated staff to the implementation of self-booking applications, rather than relying on existing account managers to perform the task. In an interesting development, Maritz also is beginning to see customers take advantage of its fee-based technology consulting business to help them select and implement booking and expense applications, build Web sites and even represent the travel department in various IT working groups, said a spokesperson for the agency. Maritz so far has helped 15 clients implement self-booking tools and now is passing along the best practices on configuration, rollout and building usage through this streamlined technology consulting effort. Other than client Worldspan, which has achieved an 80 percent penetration level on its own Trip Manager product, the best penetration rate of any corporate customers is 30 percent.
"Implementations are going faster, because providers are making the products easier to use, corporate managers are focusing more on developing implementation plans, including incentives, and the attitude in the marketplace is focusing more on the cost of travel transactions," said Richard Spradling, corporate vice president of information technology. To differentiate itself from its competitors, Maritz has forged relationships with several third-party providers and consults with customers on the selection and implementation that would work best for them. Five clients already have taken advantage of Maritz's offer and outsourced the development of their Web sites to the agency.
<a name="3"><B>Aqua 2000 Available On Amadeus</B>
Amadeus users finally have access to the mid-office technology of Aqua 2000 to help with file finishing, waitlist clearance and booking seat assignment preferences. While it has been available on other GDSs for several years, Santa Ana, Calif.-based Aqua just released the version that uses the Amadeus Application Programming Interface designed to simplify the integration of the Amadeus system with third-party products or business logic. The Aqua 2000 suite can be programmed to quality control reservations, including charging tickets to the correct cost centers; finding lower fares; distributing information to customers via e-mail, fax or pager message; automatically upgrading premium members at exactly the time allowed by airlines; and tracking e-tickets. The suite also offers pre-travel reporting and an Internet fare module that connects to selected sites to capture fare specials.
<a name="4"><B>Expense Vendor Develops Oracle Version</B>
Automated Reimbursement Systems, Miami, announced the release of a native Oracle version of its Travel Expense Reporter software, in addition to the Microsoft SQL and Sybase database versions. ARS is targeting the midmarket by developing the product on databases it believes many of those companies are using. "This Oracle release will give a significant amount of flexibility to companies that use Oracle for ERP, but want to have a different expense application than the pre-bundled one," said ARS president and CEO Alan Swift. "Running native to the database means that seamless integration to the Oracle Financials and HR modules has been achieved."
An e-mail-enabled application, TER interfaces with several major mail programs, including Microsoft Outlook, Exchange and Mail, Lotus' cc:Mail and Notes, SMTP Internet mail, Sharkmail and Pegasus.