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BTS unveils travel solution

Our Bureau

CHENNAI, Dec. 14.

BHARAT Travel Service (P) Ltd (BTS), a mid-segment Chennai-based travel agency, has launched its Customer Enterprise Relations Management system, branded Slipstream, which helps customise travel service to suit clients' needs and demands.

Slipstream was developed by EloraSoft Inc, a California-based company. The total cost of the installation is in the region of Rs 60 lakh.

Mr Mahesh Sriram, Director, BTS, said that when most of the big Indian and the multinational companies have become technology-driven, the time has come for service providers like travel agencies to scale up its operations to match those of its clients.

The core competency of BTS is in the areas of corporate travel and eco-tourism. ``The focus would be on these two areas and will not be dealing with walk-in customers or the FITs (free individual travellers),'' Mr Prajod Varma, Head, eBusiness, BTS, said .

Slipstream is a Web and WAP-enabled open system which is compatible with phone and fax.

Mr Varma said that the system works at removing the traditional organisation hierarchy, puts task management in place and has no geographical barriers and can connect to the best talent in the industry.

Slipstream can integrate with any third party system either with the computerised reservation systems like Amadeus and Galileo or with the corporates.

Slipstream has various management functions like account activity, product, order, sales force, administration, call centre and business rules and policy.

The system would manage all the rules and travel policies of the various corporates which would enable the travel agency to make the booking accurately. BTS has been compiling the details of its corporate clients for the past one year.

BTS would also commit service level agreements with their customers which bring in better efficiencies.

The company has been completely reorganised into independent strategic business units (SBUs) and is roping in talent from the industry to drive the SBUs.

The system will be used in BTS and when it is error proof will be used in Interserve, which is an association of independent travel agencies all over India.

After that the company hopes to become an application service provider (ASP) for the travel industry.