Emerging Trends in

Quality Control

Sponsored by:

By Norman L. Rose

May 2009

Emerging Trends in Quality Control

Author: Norman L. Rose

Editor: Colie Hoffman
Norman L. Rose
Senior Corporate and Technology Analyst
PhoCusWright, Inc.

Philip C. Wolf
President and CEO

Carol Hutzelman
Senior Vice President

Christine Lent
Mr. Rose is a 26-year travel industry veteran with an
extensive background in both the corporate and leisure
travel markets. As an analyst and consultant for the
past 13 years, Norms focus has been on emerging
technologies and how they impact business practices
in the travel industry. From 1982-1988, he held sales
and marketing management positions at United Airlines
and from 1989 to 1995, Norm was corporate travel
manager for Sun Microsystems. At Sun, he worked
with a number of third-party developers creating
client/server software for the business travel market.
This included early prototypes of self-booking tools
and expense management systems. In September
1995, Norm founded Travel Tech Consulting, a firm that
specializes in developing e-commerce and procurement
strategies for travel and technology companies. Norm
has been an analyst with PhoCusWright since 1999
and is the author of numerous publications and articles
including Corporate Travel Technologies: Today and
Tomorrow (September 2007) and Selling Complex
Leisure Travel Online: Focus on Dynamic Packaging
Technology (December 2004).

Vice President, Finance

and Administration

Bruce Rosard
Vice President, Sales
and Marketing

Lorraine Sileo
Vice President, Research

All PhoCusWright Inc. publications are protected by copyright. It is illegal under U.S. federal law
(17USC101 et seq.) to copy, fax or electronically distribute copyrighted material beyond the parameters
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May 2009

Emerging Trends in Quality Control

Table of Contents
Contents

List of Figures

Description

Executive Summary

Introduction

Emerging Trends in QC

Figure 1
7
Traditional Service Bureau
and Agency QC Process
Figure 2
Emerging QC Process

Calculating a QC
12
Software Benefit for the
Corporate Client and TMC
Related Issues

13

Summary and
Recommendations

15

Glossary of Terms

16

2008 PhoCusWright Inc. All Rights Reserved

Emerging Trends in Quality Control

May 2009

Description
This white paper reviews emerging trends in
quality control (QC). When introduced in the
late 1980s, QC capabilities were primarily to
find lower fares and better seats for corporate
travellers. Identifying and correcting errors
was also a primary function, but doing so
often required additional human intervention.
Travel management companies (TMCs) are
currently experiencing increased pressure
on cost management. QC capabilities remain
a critical tool for TMCs to address those
pressures by powering touchless travel
fulfilment for their corporate clients. This
paper reviews a number of emerging trends
in QC software development, including the
capability to measure policy compliance
accurately across all reservations. Another
emerging trend brings the QC process
up to the point-of-sale, a move that will
prevent errors from happening in the
first place. Lower-cost solutions based on
global distribution systems (GDSs) are now
coming to the market and providing needed
efficiencies and tighter workflow integration,
thereby driving savings for TMCs and their
corporate customers.

2008 PhoCusWright Inc. All Rights Reserved

Emerging Trends in Quality Control

May 2009

Executive Summary
The phrase touchless travel has become a
staple of the travel-management lexicon. In
todays cost-conscious environment, using
automation to manage every aspect of the
travel process is essential to drive efficiencies
while maintaining or improving the quality
of services delivered. This has expanded
to include additional capabilities such as
automated TMC service fees and pre-trip
policy adherence not only on the individual
trip level, but across multiple reservations.
QC software is a mission-critical tool that
helps TMCs and their corporate clients meet
these goals. Some of the findings discussed
in this paper include the following:
Traditional QC functions of lowfare search and seat recheck are less
important today because of fewer lowerfare opportunities and higher change
fees. The focus has shifted to driving
touchless travel reservations by enabling
file finishing and content validation.
Managing policy (pre-trip) across
multiple reservations and driving QC
management to the point-of-sale are key
emerging trends in QC development and
execution.

2008 PhoCusWright Inc. All Rights Reserved

An integrated solution that symmetrically

manages online and offline records
represents best practices in processing
and QC deployment.
Since the GDS is the core reservation
processing system, third-party QC
software vendors must wait to receive
the completed reservation from the GDS
before they can begin the QC review
process.
GDS-offered QC software is emerging in
the market and providing a lower-cost
alternative to more expensive third-party
solutions.
Corporate travel managers should
evaluate the QC software used by their
TMC to better understand how errors
are found and will be prevented in the
future.
Ineffective QC software results in errors
in corporate reporting and creates
service inconsistencies and potential
service disruption.

Emerging Trends in Quality Control

May 2009

Introduction
What
happens
behind
the scenes is a key factor
affecting the cost of fulfilling
that ticket.

A traveller makes a reservation on a

companys preferred corporate booking
tool (CBT) or via an agent-assisted pointof-sale. The electronic ticket is generated
and confirmed by the system. This sounds
straightforward enough, but what happens
behind the scenes is a key factor affecting the
cost of fulfilling that ticket. For years weve
heard the term touchless travel as an
important goal of transaction management.
Behind this goal is sophisticated automation
that ensures that the record is complete and
accurate. This is the realm of quality control
automation.

GDSs remain the heart of the

reservation process.

Historical perspective mid-office QC

as a TMC selling feature
Travel management companies have used
QC software for almost 20 years. In fact,
during the early 1990s TMCs often touted
this software as a key differentiator. Before
the days of CBTs, QC software not only
checked records for accuracy, but also
rechecked the GDS for lower fares and
better seat assignments. Some third-party
companies provided QC capabilities in a
service bureau configuration where QC
routines were created by staff in a central
location. Over the last five or six years, many
travel agencies have looked to secure more
local (on-site) control and configuration.
This has pushed management of specific
quality checks to the TMC, enabling greater
flexibility and control.

QC software the hidden engine

behind touchless fulfilment

Though there is plenty of qualification

around touchless fulfilment, there is no
question that QC automation plays an
important role in agency operations.
Passenger name records (PNRs), also
known as reservations, must be checked for
completeness and accuracy before a ticket
is issued. Identifying opportunities and
automatically correcting any issues while
providing actionable processing reports
to prevent future potential oversights are
at the heart of the current evolution of QC
capabilities.

The GDS remains at the centre of the

reservation process
Though there has been talk about possible
bypass over the last five years, GDSs
remain the heart of the reservation process.
QC capabilities interact with the GDS to
ensure that the PNR contains the accurate
information
necessary
for
ticketing,
trip management and reporting. These
capabilities include checking the record
for consistency (e.g., logical date orders of
various travel components) and making sure
it contains the necessary client and agency
documentation for accounting and reporting
purposes. It is essential to remember that
the QC functions and related benefits are
based on the GDS record. Therefore, thirdparty solutions that must constantly react to
potential GDS format changes are not able
to easily integrate QC within the reservation
process.

Today the theme of touchless fulfilment has

emerged as a marketing tool to once more
differentiate TMC services.

2008 PhoCusWright Inc. All Rights Reserved

May 2009

Emerging Trends in Quality Control

Validating PNR content

continues to be the primary
purpose of QC software.

To be a truly touchless
reservation, file finishing
must
be
completely
automated.

There are four traditional QC functions (see

Figure 1):
Low-fare search Historically the low-fare
search function of QC software repeatedly
rechecked the GDS to search for lower
fares that might qualify for reissuance.
But today, the QCs importance as a lowfare checker has faded due to fewer lowerfare opportunities and higher change
fees. In todays environment, driving
lower fares through rechecking is no
longer a major feature in QC software.
Seat recheck If you speak to any
frequent flyers, they will likely put great
emphasis on their seat preferences and
how they get them. These involve more
than partiality to aisle or window seats
and often involve specific sections or
even specific seats on a particular aircraft
type and airline. In the past, the QC seatrechecking function was often marketed
as a key value-added service provided
by the TMC. Today, because of the wide
adoption of CBTs with graphical seat

maps, the travellers or travel arrangers

handle this type of seat selection
themselves, thereby lessening the need
for automated recheck of seats.
Content validation Validating PNR
content continues to be the primary
purpose of QC software. The reservation
must contain the required policy
documentation,
itinerary
remarks,
department, etc., in order to pass
through to the ticketing process. For
example, it is important for the TMC
(and ultimately the corporate client) to
track what was offered versus what was
booked. Was the lowest fare taken? If not,
why? In a truly touchless environment,
QC capabilities conduct itinerary content
validation to identify missing information
and avoid potential errors. The realized
efficiency of a locally managed QC is
dependent upon the effectiveness of
specific checks configured, including
validations that are often specific to a
given company, division and/or office.

Traditional Service Bureau QC Process

Customer

Agent Books In GDS

GDS

Service Bureau

Agent Tickets In GDS

Low fare search

Seat Recheck
content Validation

Cryptic QC
software requiring
special training

Traditional Agency QC Process with Locally Installed Software

Customer

Agent Books In GDS

GDS

Agency

Agent Tickets In GDS

QC software
installed at the
travel agency

Figure 1

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In these traditional examples, the QC process is used for PNR validation but has no point-of-sale feature
to prevent errors from occurring. In the service bureau configuration, the QC process is handled by a
third party in order to handle large volumes of data and requires special skills to interface with cryptic
formats.

Emerging Trends in Quality Control

May 2009

Emerging Trends in QC
Agencies had to find a
way to fulfil tickets at
the lowest cost while
improving service.

File finishing To take advantage of GDS

capabilities to manage trip content, policy
compliance, travellers support and data
overall, specific fields must be completed
prior to driving the ticketing command.
To ensure that these necessary elements
are contained in the reservation, QC
automates related file-finishing functions
that add predefined documentation or
itinerary information, thereby reducing
the need for human intervention. To be a
truly touchless reservation, file finishing
must be completely automated.

Locally controlled versus centrally

managed

To truly realise touchless

fulfilment, QC must be
brought up to the pointof-sale to prevent these
errors from occurring.

2008 PhoCusWright Inc. All Rights Reserved

In the early 2000s, when online travel

agencies (OTAs) and large TMCs launched
online-led corporate travel divisions,
Internet travel management companies
(ITMCs) emerged and gained market share

by offering lower service fees for online

bookings. To maintain margins, both ITMCs
and traditional TMCs had to find a way to
fulfil these tickets at the lowest possible
cost while continuing to improve customer
and corporation services. Over the last five
years, the growth of CBTs and continued
downward pressures on TMC service fees
has emphasized the need for very costeffective QC capabilities. In response to
this market requirement, new companies
and products have emerged to offer QC
capabilities to the TMC community and its
clients and are moving from a service
bureau environment to fuller integration
with (and control by) the agency. This trend
was enabled by new GDS-based capabilities
with more user-friendly interfaces.

May 2009

Emerging Trends in Quality Control

A new opportunity has

emerged to use QC
technology to look across
multiple reservations.

Third-party QC software
vendors must wait to
receive the completed
reservation
for
QC
reviews.

Driving QC to the point-of-sale

Ultimately, any potential errors are initially
generated at the point-of-sale, where
information is either missing or entered
incorrectly. To truly realize touchless
fulfilment, QC must be brought up to the
point-of-sale to prevent these errors from
occurring. Robotic checks on accuracy have
been a staple of QC systems for many years,
although the ability to prevent errors from
happening is a fairly recent development.
As shown in Figure 2, the goal is an endto-end automated process. Despite the
growing adoption of CBTs, the reality of
todays market is that a significant number
of reservations are still booked by agents
in a call centre. This is particularly true for
more complex and multinational travel
programs. And it is important to note that
even when the reservation is self-booked
via a CBT, incomplete records still require
human intervention.

QC errors brought
to the agent POS

Emerging QC Process
Agent Books In GDS

QC Software

GDS

Agent Tickets In GDS

with improved
user interface
installed at TMC

Customer
QC Capabilities Appled to the Booking Process
Through Call Center or CBT

Content Validation
File Finishing
Identification of Errors

QC Issues Ticket

QC errors corrected
in CBT PNR
Customer
Uses CBT

GDS

QC Software

Agent Correct Errors

QC Issues Ticket

locallyinstalled
or used in
service bureau
configuration
Content Validation
File Finishing
Identification of Errors

Figure 2

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Emerging Trends in Quality Control

Travel
buyers
should
understand
how
the
TMC defines touchless
fulfilment and the software
tools used.

It is essential for corporate

travel
managers
and
buyers to move toward a
unified approach for both
online and offline bookings
on a global basis.

Applying policy across all/multiple

reservations
Because of the historic focus on single trip
integrity, QC systems have traditionally
limited their function to individual record
review. As corporate travel managers and
buyers try to squeeze more value from
their travel programs, a new opportunity
has emerged to use QC technology to look
across multiple reservations simultaneously
to better identify policy violations and
savings opportunities and reduce risk
prior to ticketing. This aggregate review of
individual trip activity prior to travel, and
even prior to ticketing, enables a new set of
criteria to manage and improve effectiveness
of the program.

Managing the broader spectrum of

process automation service-fee
management, interacting with GDS
functionality
Long gone is the era when internal corporate
travel departments were viewed as profit
centres. This view was often driven by
large supplier rebates received from the
companys TMC. Negotiating an override
with a supplier or sharing in a TMCs
compensation still may be a model for large
corporate buyers, but todays focus is on
optimizing the entire reservation process.
One important aspect is aligning service
fees, lower-cost electronic booking and
fulfilment options. This requires not only
automating the reservation process using
CBTs, but also ensuring that the fulfilment
process is touchless, regardless of whether
the reservation was booked online or
offline.

2008 PhoCusWright Inc. All Rights Reserved

May 2009

With traditional QC software offered by

third parties, it is easy to forget that the key
interactions take place within the GDS. The
GDS enables the reservation and controls the
ticketing function. Third-party QC software
vendors must wait to receive the completed
reservation for QC reviews. As GDSs evolve
and embrace more modern infrastructure,
they offer solutions that can reduce the cost
of the QC function while bringing a more
tightly integrated solution to the market.

Unified automation for online and

offline bookings
The market has seen a dramatic rise in CBT
usage over the last few years. Companies
are supporting more automation to better
manage program costs and provide
greater policy compliance by identifying
discrepancies at the point-of-sale. Although
many large corporations are now reaching
80-90% CBT adoption of qualified
reservations, a significant portion of
total reservations are still agent-assisted.
Therefore, it is essential for corporate travel
managers and buyers to move toward
a unified approach for both online and
offline bookings on a global basis. This
goal is difficult, but can be achieved by
applying symmetrical processing to reduce
errors, uniformly manage risk and deliver a
seamless traveller experience ultimately,
to optimise the touchless rate regardless of
initial booking path.

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Emerging Trends in Quality Control

The Costs and Benefits of QC Systems

Using a QC system is not without cost. In fact,
most systems charge a per-trip fee, which
can add up to a significant monthly cost,
particularly with large-volume accounts. Of
course, there are corresponding benefits to
these costs, which include the following:
Driving touchless travel and lowering
agency processing costs Most
progressive corporate travel managers
and buyers view their relationship
with their TMC as a joint effort to drive
efficiencies and reduce costs in their
travel program. Service-level agreements
(SLAs) often include precise productivity
goals, including online adoption targets.
Touchless travel is measured by tracking
fulfilment costs in cases where the
TMC provides a reduced service fee
for reservations that do not require
human intervention. Travel buyers
should understand how the TMC defines
touchless fulfilment and the software
tools used to achieve this goal, and how
they can help achieve it. For TMCs, the
benefit of QC capabilities is obvious:
reduced cost with greater efficiency.
Facilitating automated reservations and
touchless fulfilment benefits has been a
major factor in transforming TMCs from
transaction processors to true travel
management consultants.
Improving efficiency, reducing errors
and achieving client goals The core
reservation information is the foundation
of corporate reporting. When data errors
occur, information and subsequent
analysis can be inaccurate. Errors that
make it through to the reporting stage
can cause the corporate client to view
the TMC data with skepticism. From this
perspective, effective and proactive QC
data review becomes a critical element
to a successful travel management
program.

2008 PhoCusWright Inc. All Rights Reserved

May 2009

Consistent and quality traveller services

and experiences The other key objective
of a managed travel program is to drive
efficiency at the traveller level. Ultimately,
TMCs still compete on service. If errors
reach the traveller or if the ticket is not
issued automatically (resulting in delays
and/or higher fees), this reflects poorly
on agency performance. QC capabilities
make sure the right documentation is
in place for key information remarks,
billing information, trip resources,
notifications, etc. Ultimately a more
informed and productive traveller is the
key to a positive trip experience.
Aggregate views of PNRs applying
policy
across
multiple
traveller
reservations Looking at aggregate
views of trip data across reservations
is an important emerging trend for
QC. CBTs have automated much of the
policy-enforcement process, but the
policy focus is primarily limited to an
individuals adherence to single trip
criteria. When trying to limit overall
travel, such as the number of employees
attending a given conference or meeting,
a pre-trip report has been the primary
management tool. This brings into focus
an essential reality of modern corporate
travel management: Managing total trip
views is of equal or perhaps greater
importance than simply managing policy
compliance on a given reservation. By
looking at PNR trends across reservations
as part of the QC process, TMCs and their
corporate clients can more proactively
manage trips, with a clear benefit to the
companys bottom line.

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May 2009

Emerging Trends in Quality Control

Calculating a QC Software Benefit for

the Corporate Client and TMC
Ultimately a more informed
and productive traveller is
the key to a positive trip
experience.

For the TMC:

For the corporate client:

As the primary customer of QC automation,

the TMC needs to evaluate the softwares
performance
based
on
productivity
measurements. The benefits of automation
range from the obvious (cost reduction) to
more intangible measurements, such as a
decrease in management reporting errors.
When evaluating QC systems, TMCs must
understand whether solutions:

Given the fact that QC costs are generally

part of the operational expense of the
TMC, how can a corporate travel manager
or buyer understand material cost-benefit
analysis of these systems? How can he or
she compare competing QC offerings and
how they each affect the companys bottom
line? The key to this analysis is to create key
performance indicators (KPIs) that measure
the impact of the QC benefits. These include
the following:

Provide a platform to easily create and

customise routines for various corporate
accounts and branches the more
proactive (or early) in the booking and
fulfilment process, the better.
Enable ongoing cost reductions and
savings as more reservations become
truly touchless.
Provide ability to easily automate aligned
service fees (or associated reconciliation)
as fee structures reflect enhanced
processing capabilities.
Enable proactive management of policy
compliance across multiple reservations
in order to help corporate clients better
manage total travel spend.

The percentage of online (CBT) bookings

that are touchless
The percentage of offline (agent-assisted)
bookings that are touchless (processes
without intervention after the point-ofsale, or POS)
Quantified trip savings
The number of trips avoided or
adjusted due to the ability to view
policy compliance across multiple
employee trips
The number of potential errors
identified and corrected (and potential
lost savings)
Average processing costs per trip

For the traveller and overall program
benefits:
Accurate and complete corporate reports
and subsequent analysis (account
management)
Traveller satisfaction and productivity
metrics (trip support and documentation,
T&E/invoice details, etc.)

2008 PhoCusWright Inc. All Rights Reserved

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May 2009

Emerging Trends in Quality Control

Related Issues
A global approach that
accommodates
local
requirements is a best
practice in procurement,
and QC is no different.

QC solutions from the

GDS help standardise this
function, particularly if the
TMC or corporate account
has embraced a single
GDS globally.

The value of a profile system housed

in a relational database
Over the last 15 years, GDSs have moved
many functions, such as faring, off the
mainframe to newer technology serverbased systems. The client profile system
used today in the GDS is still housed on
the mainframe, but that aspect is changing.
Large TMCs have already embraced offGDS profiles to better manage customer
information. CBTs have their own profile
systems that currently need to synchronize
with the GDS-based systems. This trend
enables significant efficiencies and much
a more customer-centric use of profile
information throughout the transaction.
When a profile system is in a relational
database, QC capabilities and checks can
interact with customer information in a more
productive and proactive way ultimately
enabling some QC even before the POS
process begins.

Role of QC in global travel

procurement
There is no question that procurement now
has a greater influence on global travel
management than ever before. A basic
purpose of the procurement discipline is to
drive global standards across the enterprise.
When it comes to travel, multinational
companies struggle with creating these
standards, since regionalization can be
challenging. But the goal remains and
is achievable: A global approach that
accommodates local requirements is a
best practice in procurement, and QC is no
different. Procurement is driven by metrics,
and the measurements previously discussed
can be used to track the effectiveness of the
TMCs QC systems and be adjusted for any
regional variances and opportunities.

2008 PhoCusWright Inc. All Rights Reserved

Global issues
Even when consolidated with a single
global TMC, particular offices that are
affiliates of the TMC may lack the same set
of tools held by a mega-TMC. Most affiliates
follow a standard format (supplied by the
mega-TMC) for profiles and uploading the
management information system (MIS), but
standardizing with a single QC system is
more problematic, particularly when trying
to reduce errors by pushing information
back to the agent point-of-sale. Obviously,
multinational corporations that have not
standardized with a single TMC face this
problem as well.
QC solutions from the GDS help standardize
this function, particularly if the TMC or
corporate account has embraced a single
GDS globally. Since all third-party QC
systems rely on the GDS for this function,
GDS-based QC helps bring the functionality
to the platform itself rather than to
independent software that must adapt to
changes in GDS formats.

Risk management uses

Risk management is more often a part
of the travel management process today
than in past decades. Implementing risk
management policies, such as limitations on
the number of senior executives on a given
flight or attendees to a given event is more
difficult. Pre-trip reporting typically does
not affect the point-of-sale, but integrating
GDS QC that alerts agents to potential risk
management issues can make this function
more effective.

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Emerging Trends in Quality Control

The
guiding
principle
must be simplification of
the process to minimize
various potential points of
failure.

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Business process re-engineering

The re-engineering of business processes
was a major corporate trend in the mid1990s. To truly benefit from a systematic
method of improving operations, a detailed,
end-to-end review is required. For example,
if a corporate client believes there are
numerous errors in his or her TMC reporting
system, seeking the source of those errors
and re-engineering systems to prevent these
errors from occurring is a key component of
a truly holistic re-engineering effort. Viewing
QC and automation across that same broad
standard is essential. Items such as bringing
QC functions to the point-of-sale to prevent
back-office issues or integrating automated
service fees are great examples of how
essential that end-to-end perspective is in
this process.

May 2009

Simplified approach to streamlined

automation
Buyers of QC automation tools often
become enamoured by the bells and
whistles of various QC software vendors.
Though key functionality is important, the
guiding principle must be simplification of
the process to minimize various potential
points of failure. If the system has a superior
interface but lacks the ability to feedback
and identify errors to the point-of-sale, the
total value of such a system may be limited.
A more holistic approach, using the concept
of total cost of ownership (TCO) when
evaluating any software, is always preferred.
TCO takes into account more than just
features; it also considers the actual effect
the solution has on operational efficiency,
data accuracy and client satisfaction and
at what cost.

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Emerging Trends in Quality Control

May 2009

Summary and Recommendations

QC software was created
to interact with the GDS,
and therefore QC software
provided by the GDS is a
natural extension of GDS
services.

Automating the reservation process is

only half of a comprehensive technology
approach. In order to achieve a truly touchless
environment, deploying an effective QC
technology is essential. Trends that bring the
QC function to the point-of-sale can actually
prevent errors from reaching back-office
systems. All options should be considered,
including QC software provided by the GDS.
QC software was created to interact with the
GDS, and therefore QC software provided
by the GDS is a natural extension of GDS
services.

Travel management companies steps

to evaluate QC systems
QC software has been an important tool
for TMCs for many years. As the market
changes and GDSs offer QC solutions,
TMCs should be constantly re-evaluating to
ensure that the QC solution used for their
travellers provides the company with the
strategic advantage. For TMCs, the following
is suggested:
Evaluate both third-party- and GDS-based
QC software solutions. This includes
taking a careful look at when and what
errors are identified and how they are
corrected, with the goal of preventing
them from recurring.
Understand how the QC capabilities truly
affect the quality of service. If errors are
allowed to reach back-office systems, the
credibility of management reports may
be in jeopardy but rechecking a lower
fare may not deliver much value at all.
Measure the efficiency and customer
service gains when QC capabilities are
implemented at the point-of-sale.
Consider using lower-cost, more efficient
QC capabilities as a way to increase
profitability and differentiate TMC
services.

2008 PhoCusWright Inc. All Rights Reserved

Corporate travel manager or buyer

steps to evaluate QC systems
Most corporate travel managers and buyers
are not actively involved in the selection of the
QC system used by their agencies because
the agency has already made the selection.
Their incomplete view of the reservation
process may actually cost their companies
money because human intervention on
reservations is charged at a higher fee. To
ensure that corporate travel managers have
access to accurate management reports, it
is essential that they be actively involved
in the review and validation processes of
their TMC. To evaluate the QC system used
by their agency, corporate travel managers
should:
Evaluate the total cost of current QC
system. How is this cost passed on to the
corporate client?
Understand TMCs QC costs as part of
the total fees charged by the agency.
Measure the percentage of CBT records
that are touchless.
Understand the impact of a lower-cost
point-of-sale QC solution.
Estimate the additional savings that could
come from making a higher percentage
of CBT bookings touchless.
Todays environment requires both the
corporate buyer and the TMC to work jointly
toward the goal of touchless reservations and
ticket fulfilment. Both parties have a strong
interest in ensuring maximum efficiency at
every step of the process. QC technology
is a critical tool to drive a touchless end-toend solution, reducing processing costs and
delivering a superior product. As GDSs bring
QC tools to the market, both the TMC and
corporate client must re-evaluate their current
processes and systems in order to shift the
focus from mid-office to point-of-sale QC,
thereby driving down costs and improving
reporting accuracy.

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Emerging Trends in Quality Control

May 2009

Glossary of Terms
Business Process Re-engineering A
systematic, disciplined improvement
approach that critically examines,
rethinks,
and
redesigns
missiondelivery processes in order to achieve
dramatic improvements in performance
in areas important to customers and
stakeholders.
CBT (Corporate Booking Tool)
Applications that automate online
business
travel
bookings
and
automatically enforce corporate travel
policies at the point-of-sale.

Relational Database A database that

groups data using common attributes
found in the data set. The resulting
clumps of organized data are much
easier for people to understand.
TMC (Travel Management Company)
Travel agencies that specialise in
corporate travel management.
TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) A
measure of the value of a product or
service that factors in all costs, both
direct and indirect, associated with the
product or service.

GDS (Global Distribution System) The

primary platforms for travel reservations.
GDSs aggregate travel content from
multiple sources and power online and
offline bookings.

SLA (Service-Level Agreement)

Agreements that describe the minimum
performance criteria a provider promises
to meet while delivering a service.

KPI (Key Performance Indicator)

Quantifiable measurements, agreed
to beforehand, that reflect the critical
success factors of an organization.

Web Services Standards-based suite

of technologies (XML, SOAP, WSDL, and
UDDI) designed to support interoperable
applications to application interactions
over a network.

ROI (Return on Investment) Profit (or

loss) on an investment.
PNR (Passenger Name Record) The
basic reservation record containing
predetermined parameters such as
name, itinerary, telephone contact and
reservation.

2008 PhoCusWright Inc. All Rights Reserved

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