First-class services for the travel industry: managing the quality of Web services systems.(Case Study)
Publication Date: 01-FEB-04
Publication Title: XML Journal
Format: Online
Author: Mitra, Anjan

Read this article now
Try Goliath Business News - FREE!

You can view this article PLUS...

  • Over 5 million business articles
  • Hundreds of the most trusted magazines, newswires, and journals (see list)
  • Premium business information that is timely and relevant
  • Unlimited Access

Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 7 Days!

Tell Me More   Terms and Conditions

Purchase this article for $4.95

Description

AgentWare's Web services-based solutions enable travel agents to locate the best travel options with greater efficiency. By ensuring that these loosely coupled systems are meeting business requirements, AmberPoint Service Level Manager is helping AgentWare continually improve its services.

Low airfares for customers. High-quality customer service from travel agencies. Once, these objectives seemed mutually exclusive. But AgentWare's Web services-based solutions are helping travel agencies bridge the gap. AgentWare gives travel agencies the ability to quickly and easily obtain real-time, panoramic views of fare and schedule information from a single Web interface.

To proactively monitor and manage its subscription-based solution, AgentWare uses AmberPoint's Service Level Manager, which is designed specifically to bring comprehensive service-level management to Web services systems. As a result, AgentWare has been able to exceed customer service expectations, mitigate problems before they can impact business, and develop new revenue opportunities.

Turbulence in the Travel Industry

Not long ago, travel agents obtained all the flight and fare information they needed through Global Distribution Systems (GDSs), such as Sabre, Galileo, WorldSpan, and Amadeus. However, as new, low-cost carriers emerged, such as JetBlue Airways and Southwest Airlines, it became imperative for agencies to include these airlines in their searches as well.

Unfortunately, these airlines do not participate in the GDSs, requiring instead that travel agents go to their individual Web sites. Travel agencies found themselves doing manual searches through multiple Web sites to find the best fares for their cost-conscious customers--hardly a recipe for efficiency.

AgentWare solved the problem by enabling travel agents to use a single Web interface to access fare and schedule information...



More articles from XML Journal
Troubleshooting .NET applications: implementing as XslTransform wrappe..., February 01, 2004
Remember ebXML? Doing business in real time.(Standards), February 01, 2004
Matters of syntax: ConciseXML builds upon the important qualities of X..., February 01, 2004
Web-services transactions: from Loosely Coupled--the Missing Pieces of..., February 01, 2004
FileAct for SWIFTNet: helping financial services gain savings from the..., February 01, 2004

Looking for additional articles?
Click here to search our database of over 3 million articles.