i:FAO, the corporate-side travel procurement provider, confirms plans to replace Hi-Mark reporting with its own quixdata reporting software for all powertrip customers.
Powertrip, the complete corporate on-line travel management solution, offers small to mid-sized corporations an affordable and easy to use solution to achieve immediate cost savings when booking business travel.

Since the acquisition of the powertrip rights from X-tra Online in late June of this year, i:FAO has placed an added emphasis on powertrip clients and product development. This included the review of existing third party relationships such as Hi-Mark`s reporting system and XOL`s MyTrip offering.

In line with the long-term commitment to powertrip by the i:FAO Group, several initiatives were started. These include improvements of the powertrip architecture, additional functions and enhancements.

One important change for powertrip is the migration to arctic, i:FAO`s proprietary connectivity server, also used by i:FAO`s cytric. By migrating to arctic technology, powertrip will easily integrate to all major GDS and establish direct connectivity to a variety of vendors. In supporting a single platform for both powertrip and cytric, i:FAO creates additional synergies and lower maintenance cost. Completion of this effort is planned before the end of 2001.

More than fifty new functions and enhancements in various powertrip releases since July 2001 have been completed. These include support for international currencies, improvements to cabin class selection, application of discounts to hotel and car bookings, and advanced handling of the PNR prior to placement on the agency queue. The accelerated product development schedule will deliver significant new features by year-end, particularly in administration management and improved handling of PNRs. These features are designed to assist agencies in reducing operational expenses.

Based on powertrip`s strong functionality and ease of use, i:FAO has developed plans to make powertrip America`s preferred online travel management solution for small to mid-sized businesses. Building on the strong partnerships with leading travel management firms, i:FAO will continue to grow the powertrip business fast and aggressive.

Upcoming releases throughout the year 2002 will further enhance the strengths powertrip already has and will focus on increasing the usability for customers as well as the management of the system for agencies. Creating further synergies within the i:FAO Group, powertrip will also feature the upcoming Market Fares Server technology from i:FAO, which will allow agencies and corporations to load, manage and book all types of contract fares completely independent from GDS pricing.

 

www.ifao.net

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