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The key to automation is its simplicity

The term “automation” has been around since 1946 when a Ford automobile engineer named D.S. Harder first coined it, but the act of “replacing human effort with power from another source” has been with us since the beginning of time. Think of the stone tools used by early man or the mechanisms that followed such as the lever and pulley, then inventions like the windmill and steam engine. Today we have computerized actions, ubiquitous in the modern world, which use programmed commands to complete a series of instructions, or processes, without intervention – reducing or often completely removing human touch.

In the travel industry, automation is core to the value proposition of tramada®, and its simplicity in solving clients’ needs is key. The number of routine tasks you can automate in tramada is almost limitless, creating highly productive and efficient agents.

Depending on the level of automation used and specific workflow that an agency wants it applied to, tramada automation is designed to:

  • Minimize agent touch points, freeing them from repetitious, manual processes
  • Ensure that processes are precise, repeatable and consistent across all agents and vendors
  • Eliminate human error and reduce costs associated with mistakes that may come with financial consequences
  • Streamline workflows and increase productivity
  • Allow agencies to classify and manage the exceptions that exist in most business processes and which are not only time consuming to find and fix, but are often business critical
  • Give agents more time to process more bookings (without increasing overheads) and invest in high-touch, high-value activities such as selling and delivering excellent customer service that go straight to the agency’s bottom line – improving satisfaction levels of client and agent alike.

Automation in tramada can be categorized into two groups:

Core automation features. These enable all tramada-connected agencies to default certain fields and automate certain functions, are defined by the agency, and are available through set-up and flag enablement at the system or consultant level. For example, an agency may wish to use default settings in an agent’s log-in to accurately pre-populate fields such as booking source or booking type at the booking level. Or from a financial perspective, to apply automation to reconcile NDC, BSP or Air Tickets. Importantly, these core automation features come out of the box and at no additional charge for all three tramada system types: Standard, Broker and Premier, while other core automation functions, such as fare savings and auto itinerary creation which are activated and managed at the Company level, are unique to tramada Premier.

Additional automation modules are available on a user-pay basis and designed to deliver a truly touchless, end-to-end workflow comprising service fee application, policy exception handling, charge-back remarks and much more. Three of the powerful automation tools available for tramada Premier are great examples of how automation, simply applied, can trigger huge gains in agent productivity and data integrity.

  • Offline Automation is for those agencies seeking a truly touchless end-to-end workflow of traditional/manual agent-made bookings. The module is the powerhouse of tramada’s automation through the use of structured remarks, allowing agencies to automate repetitive, transactional processes within tramada.
  • Quality control automation: Concur Compleat, which provides automation of PNR management in a GDS, can be used independently or with tramada – but when integrated into tramada’s GDS Automation module by accessing data that is not available directly in the GDS it substantially enhances the auto-ticketing process. Concur Compleat facilitates routines, or automated processes that sit over a GDS, to make checks for data, add data into a PNR and drive actions such as checking for meal codes and passport information in the GDS. The GDS Automation module enables configuration to occur in tramada and Compleat then makes a technical call to tramada to obtain data used to either undertake quality control checks or drive automation actions. Please note: an agency must subscribe to both Concur Compleat and GDS Automation to use the solution.
  • GDS App. This tool gives the tramada user access to a client profile to enable data to be moved into the reservation creation process, seamlessly and within a familiar environment. This all-in-one workplace not only reduces toggling between the GDS and tramada environments, but also leverages the Offline Automation module to create and transfer remarks for the client profile so that meal preferences, frequent flyer info and other corporate-specific requirements are never missed.

The travel business has come a long way since its stone-age days of hand-written paper tickets. Regardless of the level and type of automation that’s applied to tramada to reduce and/or remove human touch from repetitive, error-prone processes, the business benefits from automating those processes are many, varied and drive significant improvements to the modern agency’s bottom line. Simple.