For the first time in nearly 3 years we’re have some Server downtime but before today our up time has been better than 99.999+ %. The issue related to a problem hard-drive but to be safe we moved to a new server. The issue was fixed within less than 15mins however a new Server requires a DNS change and therefore takes sometime before the site is visible again across the Internet.
Sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused.
TravelManager Team
We updated some our contact numbers over the last few months so just in case you don’t have the correct one for your country here’s our local office numbers:
UK: +44 121 314 1895
US: +1 312 646 6035
Ireland: +353 1 809 1744
The primary contact email address is info@gotravelmanager.com
Just realized today that it’s been far too long since we’ve posted on the blog. We’ve had a pretty manic few months so here’s the latest:
1) We’re working with National Express UK to provide Real-Time Passenger Information and Schedule Reporting in part of £2m+ contract with fuel management and GPS tracking. TravelManager will play an important role in vehicle and driver allocation so expect some updates on the schedule service module.
2) We’re hiring more developers to join the team on TravelManager to help with all the additional features we’ve been designing over the last few months. TravelManager will come out of a beta release before the end of 2010 with official launch in 2011.
3) New uTrack website in development for launch in October and another TravelManager website with all the features to launch later in the year.
4) We’ll be attending the Travel 2020 in London next week and the Coach and Bus Show in Dublin in November.
5) We’re working with several local authorities in the UK with some major announcements to be made in the coming weeks 
As ever we look forward to any comments and feedback you may have about TravelManager.
Regards,
Eamonn
As part of the Multi Vehicle / Day / Movements update to TravelManager we’re changing modules to support the new design. This involves adding more options and fields as well as updating the reports and widgets.
This week we’re going to be updating the Vehicles module with 2 minor changes:
1) “Vehicle Type” will now use the same vehicle types used on the online quotation widget. This gives you total flexibility on the name and types of vehicles you present to the customer and use internally to reference vehicles
2) “Details” has been added to allow for a short description for the new design e.g. Motorcoach with 54 seats has: “Leather Seats, Restroom & Airconditioning”
Update to Vehicle Module in TravelManager
*This feature is not on the live server yet but we recommend that you check you vehicle types in Account Information -> Admin -> Charter Settings (Private Hire Settings).
Eamonn
We’ve been pretty quiet on the blog the last few weeks because there’s some major updates under development. Apart from some minor bug fixes the developers have been busy working on a total redesign of how a Private Hire / Charter Quote or Booking is entered into TravelManager.
Key feature requests such as the support of mutliple days, movements and vehicles is now included. So the software will have the flexibility to enter any type of scenario e.g.
1) An over the road booking where there’s multiple days and detailed day by day itinerary.
2) Large shuttle service for a conference with multiple vehicles
3) Unusual services such as a full day service following by an evening with a different driver and/or vehicle
4) And more.
*Here’s a few screenshots to give you an idea of what will be live in a couple of weeks.
New Details Section
Locations Tab in the New Movements Section
Comments tab in the new Movements Section
Fees tab in the new Movements Section
Regards,
Eamonn
We are currently in the final stages of testing for a rollout this coming saturday.
A significant amount of improvements to the quotation process have been developed. Including:
All of these improvements are based on feedback gathered by customers – so Thank You for your assistance to date.
We are busy testing and creating training material so you can take advantage of what promises to be the most advanced quoting and invoicing process available to motorcoach operators worldwide.
Regards
TravelManager Support
Documents such as PDF’s or Word Docs can be attached to any email template created in TravelManager. This feature allows for operators to attach terms and conditions, marketing information about their fleet and company or any type of document that would be of value to send with an email template.
As will all features of the email templates the user can override the default options to remove or add additional attachments on per charter / private hire basis.
Some recommended templates would include:
1) Terms & Conditions
2) Company History & Fleet Profile
3) How to Charter/Hire a Motorcoach?
4) What additional fees/services are included and not included?
5) Etc.
Setup requires administrator level access under MyAccount -> Admin -> Email Templates.
Regards,
Eamonn
In TravelManager there’s 17 default statuses that can be applied to a quote. These help track the progress of each quote from new to closed and the possible scenarios during the booking process. To faciliate best business practise a TravelManager administrator can configure the email templates with triggers on the Status of the quote. There are two main types of change
1) Quote status from
Control what email templates are available based on the Quote Status. The email templates can be available regardless of the status by not applying any “Quote Status From” selection on an email template. Alternatively if you apply a “Quote Status From” for example to be “Open” the email template will only be displayed when the quote status is “Open”.
**If you’re using a lot of email templates this can really simplify you options based on quote status.
2) Quote Status To
Have the Quote Status change based on what email template is sent. This second type of automated change is the status change where the email template triggers a change in state e.g. The status could be changed from “Open” to “Quoted” once a proposal / quotation is sent to the client.
Simply change the “Quote Status To” the new status.
Regards,
Eamonn
The Quotation template and PDF is undergoing a major redesign at the moment so based on some great feedback we’re adding the ability to add Custom Fees as standard to your quotes. This custom fees can be specific surcharges that may apply to your area or fees that are company policy e.g. A fee for having a restroom / lavatory on the vehicle.
As these charges maybe standard across the majority of your quotes, you can now have them as default fees that will appear automatically. As with everything with the templates you can overide a standard option on a per quote basis. This should really help insuring that you’re billing as consistently as possible as well as avoiding any possible confusion with your customers.
Custom Fees in TravelManager
*This new feature goes live this week but here’s a quick screenshot of what it looks like in the admin section of TravelManager.
Regards,
Eamonn
We’re in the process of redesigning the PDF templates in TravelManager for Quotations, Confirmations, Invoicing and Receipts. Based on feedback over the last few months we’ve been adding additional fields such as breakdown on fees, comments for pickup and drop off locations and whole range of other requests.
New Design for TravelManager Quotation PDF Template
The design is still undergoing some final changes but I thought it was time to share what’s been created so far. We’re hoping to launch this update for the 19th of July.
*As ever we always appreciate comments and feedback.
Regards,
Eamonn
