Travelport is introducing a suite of new tools for users of its Galileo travel agency desktop, aimed at boosting efficiency as well as some useful features for when agencies change GDS.
The Smartpoint App sits on top of the existing Galileo desktop and gives retail and call centre agents additional functionality by combining key-stroke commands with mouse-click functionality, something which could not be carried out on the existing platform.
Travelport reckons combining the older (and well-liked) cryptic commands with mouse tools can reduce call handling times and the number of keystrokes by15%, and even over 70% when simple searches for best fare are carried out.
Essentially the product is a bid to improve the user experience of the desktop by marrying existing processes favoured by many agents with more modern windows-based functionality.
It is different from the new Travelport Universal Desktop currently being tested in various agencies around the world, which has a completely new interface and does not use the Galileo-type cryptic language entry system.
Perhaps one of the most interesting tools within SmartPoint is a translation tool for agents. But this is not spoken language, but rather the unique cryptic codes used by each individual GDS.
Feedback from when companies change GDS provider has shown that agents often have to learn a completely new cryptic language for the shortcuts used for airlines, destinations, types of fare, etc.
SmartPoint has included a tool which automatically reads keystrokes in one GDS code and converts into Galileo on the search entry screen.
Travelport says SmartPoint is already being used by around 1,200 agency customers, but plans to introduce it across the customer-base, starting towards the end of 2011.
UPDATE: A similar translation tool has been available on Amadeus One, a platform used a number of corporate agencies in the US, since 2010.