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With
an eye to increase the productivity of agents, improve their
customer service and increase revenue, Amadeus has introduced
a high output, browser-based, front office reservation tool
for agents called Amadeus Vista. The new reservation tool
has easy to use fully graphical interface for making reservations,
instead of the traditional cryptic interface format.
 It
not only simplifies the overall travel reservation process
for an agent by replacing complex and hard-to-learn entries
with browser-based click on functionality, but provides a
single point entry to the complete range of Amadeus products
which includes access to the Amadeus air, car rental, hotel
reservation, cruise, ferry and insurance products. This allows
agents to offer a complete travel solution to end-users and
build competitive advantage.
The tool has been pilot tested with 200 plus travel agencies
andall customers will be upgraded on the Amadeus Vista platform
free of cost. The challenge, pointed out Ankur Bhatia, managing
director, Amadeus Indian Subcontinent, was to integrate all
the functionality of the disk-based product and add more to
the browser-based product, while focusing on parameters like
low costs, increased efficiency and platform consistency.
Elaborating on the functions of the tool, he said, “The
new product has been designed to enable travel agents eliminate
training costs, enhance productivity and open new avenues
for revenue generation. Vista will increase revenue stream
by allowing access to cruise, ferry and insurance providers,
apart from 500 airlines, 58,000 hotels and 50 car rental companies.
Cost will be reduced because minimal formal training is needed
for agents as user-friendly, self-explanatory icons follow
booking process. Further, latest enhancements of functionality
are sent directly through the internet which means no more
update visits by technicians. To ensure enhanced work flow,
it offers multitasking options as six different work areas
are available and can be worked simultaneously, while one
can switch between the command page and the graphical page.”
Further, a number of productivity enhancing tools exist to
streamline the booking process, such as Summary PNR offering
full view of booked items at all times, Value Pricer offering
fast and easy access to best available price, Travel Choice
allowing automatic processing of policies and preferences
and others. However, according to Bhatia, though infrastructure
has improved, mindset of users need to be changed to fully
harness the potential of technology. Amadeus is also in the
process of developing software, which can be integrated with
the railway system and enable ticketing on the existing front
end.
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