Maritz Rolls Out Integrated Automation

<FONT SIZE="+3"><B>Maritz Rolls Out Integrated Automation</B>

<I>Relational database drives booking-through-expense reporting system that also captures meetings data</I>

By Lauren Bielski

</B>Maritz Travel Co. is beginning to deliver to its clients the first component in its version of a reservation processing-through-expense- reporting system, built on a relational database that supports both tasks and also is designed to capture information for simple meetings.

After 14 months of beta testing, Maritz is rolling out a point-of-sale reservation processing system called Proview, and plans by the fourth quarter of this year to introduce Polaris, a reporting system that will be robust enough to support global consolidation of transient and group travel.

Proview has been in beta test with one of Maritz's largest accounts, which has been using it for group and transient booking. GE Capital Corp., in its Visa program for small business, and AT&T, in its Rewards Program, also have tested the system for transient bookings.

Meanwhile, clients Baxter in Chicago, Georgia-Pacific in Atlanta and Whirlpool in Benton Harbor, Mich., have all agreed to install the solution as early adopters.

Whirlpool will have Polaris and Proview installed in mid-October and signed an agreement to include the system as part of its service contract this past June. "The strength of the technology was a big factor in deciding to continue using Maritz as our agency," said manager of corporate travel Judith Steinke. "These days, most of the agencies are talking technology. To me, it's not what you talk about, but what you've beta tested and are ready to install that counts."

Beta tests with Thomson Electronics and Michelin have proven that Polaris can draw from the database rate information, credit card numbers, and department codes from multiple sources for use in transaction processing and information reporting.

Steinke said Maritz will set up Polaris so that the company can compare air bookings to air expense reporting data. The company also will use the system to track meetings.

Maritz is hoping that integrating customized solutions based on an open platform approach, and coupling that with an a la carte menu of support options, will get the largest and brightest firms on top of their meetings management game. If Maritz can equip their clients with the meetings manager component of the reservations tool, ensuring that meetings data is captured when the meeting is booked, that will be a significant first step toward truly enlightened purchasing from meetings industry suppliers.

The Maritz approach employs an open architectural standard, providing a foundation for integrating third-party solutions already available and integrating a seamless approach to booking and expensing trips. To aid planners in meetings management, the system can be configured with third-party software tools, such as E-Travel for booking, and Meeting Works, TTG, and IMPACT for registration and budget management.

Both Proview and Polaris are driven by the Maritz Enterprise Data Solution, a relational database that can extract data from multiple CRS systems as well as company-held databases in the creation of passenger records and expense reporting forms. While the system employs the CRS in the traditional way to access the hotel or car rental agency's inventory block, Maritz hopes this system will eventually be part of a solution that will bypass the CRS altogether.

The MEDS solution, in which the agency has invested more than $40 million, is the product of four years of development. It is built with the integration of third-party components, including a Sybase System 11 database engine, Sun Microsystem and Compaq Proliant remote database service, and a fiber-optic backbone to build the network itself. MEDS is online (although not necessarily fully operational) in several regional Maritz offices, including Atlanta, Benton Harbor, Mich., Chicago, New York, San Francisco and St. Louis, via the agency's wide area network.

But this is no mere configuration of high-styled hardware. MEDS has thousands of data tables-such as rates, preferred suppliers and clients' travel policies-that will enable sophisticated correlations to be made for reporting purposes.

Because the client-server database is relational, each piece of information stored in multiple databases can be correlated, and the system recognizes the same data in different locations. Updating client records is a more manageable process because changes in one record file (e.g, credit card numbers or vendor address) are automatically reflected in all files.

"The idea is to move away from a CRS-centered model of information processing to a distributed model, where data is also culled from a database that the company and agency control," said vice president of business development Bill DeRoze.

The Proview system now landing on travel and meeting managers' desks uses a front-end Pentium workstation. With the point-of-sale setup, a traveler calls the reservation center and dials an access code that prompts his or her record to appear on the reservationist's desk. The record provides instant access to that individual's travel history, company policy and preferred vendors. When a PNR is created for the trip being booked, all the relevant information from past trips-including seating preferences, special meals and travel policy restrictions-will be automatically populated in the new record. Additionally, users can open the passenger profile while the reservation file is open.

The information is supplied on the screen in an easy-to-comprehend format, in contrast to that presented from a CRS system, enabling the reservationist to easily refer to aspects of the traveler's profile, DeRoze said. MEDS enables the booking system to identify inputting errors or omissions and reroute them to reservationists.

Companies can opt to have a fully automated e-mail- based system called Maritz Express to communicate with the central reservations facility, or they can use online systems provided through America Online, Compuserve, Microsoft Network, Prodigy, Corporate Apollo or EAAsy Sabre to make the reservations and queue them to Maritz for editing and processing, in addition to phoning reservationists. Maritz intends for the application to eventually be housed on the traveler's desk, with a consultant to provide assistance as needed.

To book groups, Proview has a component that can be used to implement car and hotel reservations and another that manipulates reservation blocks. For meetings management, Polaris can generate hotel rooming lists and arrival and departure lists based on reservations (not ticketed) data and other group-related reports. It also has a billing system that can track meeting planning labor by project, air and hotel commission.