Book-IT is a prime example of the quality and robustness of the solutions that Point100 can provide. Book-IT was written for a travel agency and is still in use today with a number of travel agents who have implemented the solution over the last few years. To quote Leon of Farnley Travel, ‘Book-IT was far superior to our original specialist travel agency software. We found it extremely slick and robust. Our operator input time was drastically reduced by the simple interface provided. Point100 had looked at the travel agency business and IT processes, and developed a solution to iron out all the time consuming chores.’
Travel agencies, like many businesses, have their own unique requirements. They need to quickly access every single airport and every single airline code in the world, and a provision needs to be made so that these can be updated. An interface to show flight times and different legs of multiple journeys for different passengers is a necessity together with easy input of the standard extras that travel agents provide, such as car hire, hotels, travel insurance etc. These all need to be linked to the correct providers. In addition a request was made for the ability to de-allocate and reallocate money received from clients that had been wrongly allocated. There was also a need for simple tracking of all costs for commission to individual sales agents and the ability to work from multiple sites, as this was before the cloudThe Cloud refers to servers that can be accessed over the Internet, and the software and databases that run on those servers. Some examples of cloud services for consumers include Google Drive, Apple iCloud, Netflix, Dropbox, and Microsoft OneDrive. Using the Cloud, users can access information on any device with an Internet connection, and can save files in a remote location rather than their device, saving storage space. In addition, the computing and storage is handled by external servers, meaning that users don't necessarily need to spend large amounts of money on processing power. Find out more about Cloud computing here. existed.
Originally an Access 97 Visual Basic application was built. A compression utility was built into the application using Winzip (Internet access was still via dial-up modems). PC Anywhere was used for remote access and to transfer data files between sites.
All the current 4,000 plus airport codes, and almost 1000 airlines were installed and provided with the initial system using the internationally assigned 3\4 letter codes. This allowed operators to quickly input the codes with which they were familiar. They were able to use the saved time to generate invoices and itinerary. The system can translate all the information in full for the invoice output , making it easy for the traveller to understand.
The main invoice module was built with simple navigation tabs for speedy input of relevant information. It also reminded operators about the opportunities to upsell and cross sell extra services. Recall facilities to add or amend travel plans and invoicing were put in place.
The system was built to service both one-off clients and travel agency groups. The first travel agent is based in Piccadilly and is the main agent for the Student Travel Association and numerous business clients. Subsequent travel agents have used the system to provide specialist services for business class passengers and clients.
