bus and coach software – Travel Manager

March 9, 2009 – 12:20 pm

We have been working on multiple language support for a couple of months now and this morning we finally got our first widget into multiple languages This is the FIRST time this type of capability has been available to bus & motorcoach operators anywhere

Here is the original English version of the widget (click on the image for a larger image):

and here is the exact same form in Mandarin Chinese (click on the image for a larger image)

The version displayed to the end user is based on his / her browser settings – so if they have chosen their default language to be Chinese then the Chinese version is displayed. If they have Spanish as default then the Spanish version is displayed. Imagine being able to allow customers from all over the world be able to use your booking engine online in their own language

We are working through the following languages (for the quotation widget):-

English
Mandarin Chinese
Spanish
French
German
Portugese

and are looking to put into beta within the next couple of weeks. We will then focus on other widgets

As always – your feedback is much appreciated.

Regards

Dean

March 7, 2009 – 11:21 am

This morning we launched the new radius based quotation system. You can choose the radius from gateway cities that you service from the profile page and the quotation widget will determine the closest office to serve any quote requests that come in.

We have also added 2 new buttons on the quote screen within TravelManager to show the route and distance from the office.

All locations stored in TravelManager now have the longtitude and latitude stored with it – so we can do some very interesting reports in the near future – so as where are your customers in relationship to your offices? What is the average distance you need to travel to service a trip etc..

Regards

Dean

March 6, 2009 – 12:16 pm

I read a great article in Fortune Magazine yesterday that really captured the conflict that nearly every business finds itself today regarding pricing for 2009. By using a Pricing Power Matrix smart companies are using this tool to analyze their customers perception of their product or service.

picture 3 204x300 How to INCREASE your pricing in 2009?

Getting your customer to pay more

It works by identifying two things are your services a Commodity or Unique and are they Discretionary or Necessary?

With a lot of uncertainty for 2009 it’s so important that the Motorcoach Industry resist the pressure on pricing. Short-term pain of falling revenue is leading Motorcoach Operators to discounting, which can impact long-term effects on customer perceptions.
So what do you do to increase your pricing when everyone else is dropping them? You need to looking becoming more:
1. Unique: Make your Service as unique as possible with lots of value add that your competitors are not willing or capable of doing
2. Necessary: Focus on the customers or sectors that need your service more than ever
As TravelManager focuses on Customer Facing side of your business we can help you do both by marketing more effectively, increasing the understanding of your customers needs, identifying new opportunities for your business and more..

So are up for the challenge? By updating the software every week we can make you more UNIQUE not to mention with all the rising costs of Travel (environmental and financial) the Motorcoach can become very NECESSARY!

March 2, 2009 – 12:26 pm

We are currently working on a number of enhancements to the online charter quotations widget for the North American market. These include the ability for an operator to establish their base / gateway city and a radius that they are willing to accept quotes for.

Zooming in – you can see the radius information better.

Customers can then visit your site and get information about each office and in which radius you operate within.

If you have a number of satellite offices where the radius from each overlap then the engine will work out the closest office to send a quotation to.

This is functionality based on end user feedback and we anticipating having the first phase of this radius capability in place by the weekend. We will then focus on additional reporting requirements and or widgets for your own websites so you too can share this information with your customers.

All of this information is driven from your profile screen – so please ensure it is updated with correct data – so you can take advantage of this as and when it comes online.

Regards

Dean

February 21, 2009 – 8:55 am

This morning we rolled out a number of improvements to the software. These include:

Phase 1 of the customer centre, so quotes from email addresses already known to the software platform are all associated with the same customer.

eg.

If julie@abc-company.com creates a quote on the 1st of February and she creates another quote anytime in the future using the same email address then both of these quotes will be attributed to the same customer in TravelManager.

This will allow you to generate additional reporting on your customer base. For example. How much is Julie worth to me over the past X months / years or how many times has Julie booked with me this year and what was the average $ value of each booking?

In the near future you will be able to choose if you want to give Julie log in access to a specific customer centre so she can create quotes, accept prices, print off invoices etc… without having to contact you. Again – this is an optional feature and you get to choose if you want to provide any or all of your customers this feature.

We have also made some cosmetic improvements to the North American quotation widget with feedback from users.

We also closed down 17 feedback requests from the community this week – we have 27 open feedback items which we plan to lock down within the next 2 weeks – so keep the feedback coming

Regards

Dean

February 16, 2009 – 9:38 am

After 3 days of heavy technical workshops on the future direction of the TravelManager platform we needed the weekend to recover

A lot of discussions took place focusing on the following 3 areas:

Mobility Applications including iPhone & Android platforms to enhance the 24/7 access to information whilst on the move
API’s to allow for extensions by 3rd party providers
Web Services to enhance the TravelManager platform with richer data / information

The iTM 2009 develoment conference was always intented to focus on technical rather than business issues – and as such we created some actual code which can be part of future functionality in the very near future. For example – we have our very first iPhone Application in Alpha testing right now

We are looking for a number of early adopters who would like to beta test the iPhone applications over the next couple of months – if your interested let us know and we will get your iPhone onto our beta platform. The first applications will be fairly primitive – but we expect to have access to all of the core information you require within the next 2-3 months Especially now we have invested in a range of new Apple equipment

We also have the draft specification for the “quotations within a radius” solution written up and we are now in full development of that piece of functionality.

We have an employment widget and a customer members centre designed.

We have other exciting news – we have expanded our premises in Sheffield, UK and recruit additional development resources focusing on mobile applications

Watch this space for a glimpse of these new developments and maybe even some photos from the iTM 2009 conference soon

We will have another development conference in 6 months time – we will open this one up to more people – so if you are interested then email info@gotravelmanager.com and we will put you on the mailing list.

Regards

Dean

February 14, 2009 – 7:16 am

We rolled out the following functionality this morning:-

[1] Log a call button on the main quote details screen ( this is the 1st phase in a full click to call process )

[2] Added “Location Name” to quotation widget (eg. Empire State Building)

[3] Changed passenger number on online quotation widget to accept a range of passengers (eg. 11-13)

[4] Implemented first iPhone API for iPhone applications which are currently in development

Regards

Dean

February 12, 2009 – 10:20 pm

While the techies are enjoying themselves this week at iTM 2009, developer conference it’s good to remind our users what TravelManager is all about, YOU the end user!

It’s a lot more than just a fancy looking software system with a “Dashboard” it’s actually something that can make you day-to-day life easier as Motor Coach Operator. By providing some easy to user tools “Widgets” for handling quotations via your website or over the phone TravelManager can save you time, make you look good to your customers and also give you a better understanding of how you’re performing.

The additional benefits include that we take your ideas and feedback to improve TravelManager with our weekly updates means that you’re more in control of how things should work. Better still you’re getting all those great ideas from other users, sometimes things you’d have never thought of. It’s amazing how much we’ve learned from our users feedback.

Remember YOU will probably come up with better ideas than the TECHIES so make sure you click on “Feedback” when your using TravelManager…

Regards,

Eamonn

February 10, 2009 – 7:25 am

Tomorrow sees the start of the first annual International TravelManager (iTM 2009) developer conference in Sheffield, UK.

We will see developers from many different countries (UK, Ireland, Netherlands, India, China, & North America) come together (both physically and via video uplinks) to discuss some of the exciting technical developments occuring right now and how they may be best implemented into the TravelManager platform for the benefit of our customers.

High on the agenda of iTM 2009 is API extensions using Open Standards, iPhone / Android development, next generation video platforms & GPS systems.

More information to follow soon….

Regards

Dean

February 9, 2009 – 9:56 pm

Today, we have purchased a whole suite of Apple Mac equipment for the office and signed up to Apples iPhone Developer program in anticipation of getting our first iPhone native application for TravelManager out of the door within the next couple of months.

Let us know what features and functionality you are looking for. We are currently thinking along the lines of;-

New Quotes & Quick Respond
Customer Feedback & Quick Respond
Website click through analysis
Industry RSS Newsfeeder
Profile updater
Garage Defect Sheet / Vehicle Check Sheet
What else?

Regards

Dean

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