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August 11, 2010 – 3:37 pm

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

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

Eamonn

August 9, 2010 – 9:01 am

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 Quote Entry Details Section Major Update – New Quote / Booking Entry Design (Coming Soon)

New Details Section

Locations Tab in the New Movements Section

Locations Tab in the New Movements Section

Comments tab in the new Movements Section

Comments tab in the new Movements Section

Fees tab in the new Movements Section

Fees tab in the new Movements Section

Regards,

Eamonn

Eamonn

June 30, 2010 – 10:04 am

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:

  • Improvements to the PDF Quote
  • Improvements to the Sending of emails to customers
  • Improvements to the way attachements are auto-generated and sent with emails
  • Improvements to the PDF Invoice
  • Improvements to the Fee’s breakdowns and tax rates
  • Improvements to Quote details to capture additional information from the customer

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

June 25, 2010 – 9:00 am

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

June 23, 2010 – 9:00 am

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

Eamonn

June 21, 2010 – 9:00 am

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

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

June 10, 2010 – 10:15 am

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

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

Eamonn

June 4, 2010 – 3:59 pm

As the number of TravelManager customers is growing on a daily basis we’ve decided it’s time to start upscaling our level of Customer Support. To start this process we’re moving all our customer support and training material online to a great tool we’ve been evaluating the last few weeks called Zendesk.

TravelManager Help Desk Solutions

TravelManager Help Desk Solutions

It’s a web based customer support that will allow all TravelManager customers to manage their support issues as well as stay informed on the latest updates and search for frequently asked questions and more. We’re hoping to build a community of TravelManager users to share ideas and tips combined with official support material from the TravelManager team.

TravelManager Help Desk Ticket History

TravelManager Help Desk Ticket History

For our regular blog readers you can see the Beta verison live on here: (http://travelmanager.zendesk.com) before our official launch in 2 weeks with our new website on Friday 16th July.

Exciting times… I might even change my profile photo for the new site :-)

Regards,
Eamonn

Eamonn

**Content is being adding every day to the help desk so keep checking back for the latest help and support.

June 4, 2010 – 7:02 am

We now have a dedicated release notes page so as well as the regular blog updates you can also see a more detailed overview of what additions / issues have been resolved on a more regular basis

The release notes page can be found in the footer of the main website and also here – Release Notes

TravelManager is driven by user feedback – and we really appreciate it.

Thanks

TravelManager Support


May 31, 2010 – 9:00 am

In Saturday’s rollout we’ve updated the email templates section with “Cancellation Penalties” so now you can have automated calculations of penalties for a cancelled charter. A TravelManager Administrator can now edit fees based on the date of cancellation ranging from 30 days to 24hrs before the booked service.

ancellation Fees as a percentage over time

ancellation Fees as a percentage over time

The software automatically calculates the difference between the date of cancellation and the date of service to generate the correct penalty (if applicable).  This facilitates a consistent company policy and reduces potential lost revenue.

New Merge fields have been added to help display the charges in your cancellation email template so the customer can clearly see the fees that maybe applied to a late cancellation.

New Merge Fields for Email Templates

New Merge Fields for Email Templates

Tip: It’s recommended to include your cancellation policy in any terms and conditions document that you may attach to emails to your customer.

Regards,

Eamonn

Eamonn