Agencies Roll Out Automated Reporting Products

Even as the glitz of online booking and expense reporting systems steals much of the technology thunder in 1997, other products rolling out this quarter also hold promise for improving the process for travel managers and travelers alike. Travel management reporting products are getting major face-lifts as a number of the largest corporate agencies open the Windows this summer, while new front-end productivity tools aimed at travel agents promise a burst of efficiency and customer service at the point of sale.

The biggest rollout of new tech products will come from American Express, which is about to release "an enhanced product line and new platforms in almost every category," said Raphael Carty, vice president of global information services.

The first product out of the chute will be Pre-TripPower, a new and jazzy version of Amex's DOS-based PDQ pre-trip reporting system, which will move into the Windows environment and add an enhanced meetings functionality. As opposed to PDQ, Pre-TripPower, to be launched this summer, will offer more "wizards" and pre-programmed menus and a faster response time. But its most unique feature will be its ability to handle meeting and group management and corporate aircraft.

Rather than just pulling data from the CRS, the system allows for the addition of other data fields, such as food and beverage and A/V costs. So, instead of just totaling group air, hotel and car charges, the system will let travel managers pull together total meeting spend reports, Carty said.

"The main driver behind the expansion of PDQ was travel buyers telling us they wanted more control over expenses before they are incurred, so they can be more proactive in cost avoidance," he said.

In addition, the movement of this product, as well as others in the Amex arsenal, into the Windows environment allows users to cut and paste data into other reports and documents, and to more easily e-mail or fax reports to others in their organization, said Amex global IS marketing director Bert Silverstein.

Pre-TripPower has been internally tested at Amex's GTMS meetings division since June and is installed at 15 corporate sites. "This is not something in the lab, but something we know is working well," Carty said.

The cost of the product varies based on travel volume and service level, but it offers "an incredibly quick payback," Carty said. Available now in the United States and Canada, Pre-TripPower also will roll out in various European versions, using individual languages and currencies, before the end of the year.

Carlson Wagonlit Travel, meanwhile, is sprucing up its own travel-management reporting product, and is about to release a new version of the InterAct reporting module at about 25 customer sites, with a full rollout scheduled in about six weeks, said new vice president of interactive marketing and advanced technologies Andy Williams. Based on the Cognos set of business management tools, InterAct has been upgraded to more efficiently process large amounts of data for global accounts. A Web-enabled version of InterAct "is a high priority" and should be available by late 1997 or early 1998, Williams said.

And Rosenbluth International has been migrating its VisionDirect reporting package to the Windows platform as well, and this month is rolling out Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 versions. The 32-bit Windows 95 version is "three or four times faster than the old version, and easier to use," said marketing vice president and CIO Dean Sivley. Included in the new version are many more pre-programmed reports, allowing travel managers to pull up spending by country in the local currency, for example.

VisionDirect also has a new pricing structure. The Plus version with full functionality now lists for $9,500, while the "slightly scaled down" Pro version lists for $5,000. Both have a monthly service charge based on such variables as whether data is transmitted by disk, CD-ROM or downloaded electronically, and level of support.

While the use of reporting tools is bringing agencies and their customers closer together, so too is a shared focus on technologies designed to increase the productivity of the agents on the front lines. In an increasingly fee-based environment, travel managers have quickly come to realize that the dollars they save in agent productivity may well be their own--and they are pushing an already-receptive agency community into accepting new products. Said Andy Cameron, vice president of strategic development at McCord Travel Management, "This is a year of execution of details. In a fee-based environment, there is a lot of benefit to be gained by focusing on basic agency and client information products. We are all recognizing that we can save tens of thousands of dollars in real money through the use of technology tools."

McCord is rolling out the newest release of TurboSabre, a CRS productivity tool that allows agents to handle many booking functions by hitting a single key, rather than recalling a long string of keystrokes. Productivity at sites using the new version is up almost 20 percent, he said.

Sales of fax-back products that automatically fax itinerary options to travelers and create shell PNRs are up three times over last year, said Paul Hoffman, vice president of Automated Travel Systems in New York. Interest is brisk in screen highlighting and "sticky-note" products that remind agents of precisely who their customers and preferred suppliers are.

Going a step beyond those products this spring is Carlson Wagonlit Travel, which is rolling out a proprietary application of "screen-pop" technology--which it developed for the General Electric Travel Center in Phoenix--to three other central reservations centers in Denver, Rolling Meadows, Ill., and Bedford, Texas, said vice president Harriet Washburn.

The telephone-based screen-pop system prompts callers to enter a PIN number on their telephone keypads after they dial into the agency. As their call is being transferred to an agent, the system accesses the traveler's profile, a list of his past itineraries, any history of service problems and any other relevant information--and displays it all on the agent's screen as he answers the phone. If something went wrong on a traveler's last trip, for example, the file might prompt the agent to acknowledge the error and offer a free upgrade.

The technology also can be used to screen callers who need special attention--forwarding calls to an agent who speaks the appropriate foreign language, for example, or directing high-level travelers to specially trained executive agents.

Screen-pop technology also is in place at SatoTravel, where it serves to notify agents of all trips booked over the past 12 months, "so the agent knows at a glance whether he is dealing with an experienced traveler or someone who needs a lot of information, or a travel arranger responsible for a number of people," said president Michael Premo. "This technology allows us to acknowledge travelers in a way we cannot do in the CRS environment.