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| POWERFUL E-COMMERCE SERVICES TO MANAGE WORLDWIDE TRAVEL OPERATIONS |
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| After six years
of successful operations, our client wanted to go online.
In the process, they teamed with Icreon, to develop their website
as an online service to provide 24/7 services to customers.
Providing online bookings for hotels, flights, cars, cruises,
and a whole range of tour packages, this powerful online
service provides real-time airline reservations bookings
through the Abacus CRS, chat facility to get instant help
from our client's site operators, book online
tours and make online payment over a secure setup. |
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| Customer
Profile |
| Our client is India’s
leading travel company that offers a complete range of
international travel services. With a flourishing business
and vast industry experience, the company promises some
of the best travel services to customers, within and outside
India. |
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| Business
Requirement |
| The explosive growth
of Internet as a medium of providing worldwide services
instigated our client to use this technology as an
extension of its expansion strategy. |
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| Powerful
Technology for Optimized E-commerce Operations |
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| Benefits |
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E-commerce integration for secure
online transactions |
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Optimized business processes for higher productivity |
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Dynamic & Administrator-driven management |
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Customized interface & faster download |
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| Technologies used
in developing this web application are: |
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As a leading provider
of travel services, our client was looking to extend
its operations online. The idea was to be continuously
available and allow customers a value-added experience
in terms of online access, information, and transactions.
In other words, our clients wanted a vertical portal,
with the functionality to book airline and railway reservations
along with advanced search capabilities to look for feasible
travel alternates such as hotels, airlines & railway
reservations, cruises, and car rental services.
The vortal would serve as an integrated e-commerce solution
providing information about various travel packages, tariff
rates, and new deals along with online transaction processing
capabilities. |
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Our client planned
their online presence in a phased manner. We realized
that our client's website was an implementation of the company’s
strategy to provide value-added services to customers.
The unique selling factor in this case was a highly comprehensive
vortal, with a feature-rich and easy to use interface,
in addition to high-end security for online payments.
Initially, the vortal was developed using Java technology
with a basic version of CRS powered by Amadeus. This CRS
did not allow customers to make online reservations, instead
only allowing searching seat availability with airline
published fares. There were tools such as the currency
converter, passport guidelines, weather information, and
visa guidelines. For customers, the member registration
functionality was developed along with an advanced search
facility to look for travel destinations and tour packages.
However, this was just the first phase.
Phase II involved the implementation of a fully functional
CRS (powered by Abacus) with live seat availability and
reservations search features. This version also allowed
our client to enter their negotiated fare prices to
the system. However, our client required further enhancements
to the features and functionality of the vortal and therefore
required another overhaul of the vortal. Since then, there
have been major revamps to keep the vortal upbeat in terms
of performance and technology. As part of the Phase III
implementation, the CRS was upgraded to the XML version
of Abacus. The vortal provides the facility to book airline
reservations through Abacus and make online payments through
the ICICI payment gateway. In all, the solution has
always been a scalable setup with automated and process-driven
functionality.
The latest architecture is a complex multi-tier setup
developed using ASP 3.0 on the front-end and SQL Server
2000 on the backend. Abacus is the middle layer responsible
for managing real-time online reservation of airline tickets. |
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The system automatically
generates the PNR number, which the customer can view
through the website. Ensuring secure online transactions
has always been the top priority, and thereby the vortal
authenticates protection through VeriSign. The ICICI online
payment gateway has been integrated with the solution
for secure and faster online payment processing. The vortal
also provides a Java-based chat facility, using which
customers can get in touch with our client's helpdesk
and receive instant responses to their queries.
Apart from this, travelers can search for various destinations,
tour packages, hotels, and economical deals offered by
our client. If a customer needs to book a tour, hotel,
car rental, or cruise online, they can simply select the
tour package or destination of choice, book the deal and
make payments online. |
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| Summary |
| The solution
has been a crucial factor in improving operational efficiency,
increasing asset utilization, reducing distribution costs,
and building long-lasting relationships with customers
and employees. The Icreon team was involved in Website
promotion, and implementing a phased development strategy
for the vortal. Providing a self-managed and completely
automated setup, the website is a highly reliable
solution for travelers within and outside India. |
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