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Cornerstone to Offer Acuflight’s Inbound and Outbound
Automated Call Service:
Service Decreases
Manual Inbound Call Processing by 25% and 35% for Outbound Bloomington, Indiana – July 17, 2008 – During a time of peak call volumes for travel
management companies, Cornerstone now offers automated inbound and outbound calls for customers using the iQCX platform.
The recently inked reciprocal marketing deal with AcuFlight allows Cornerstone Information Systems to offer AcuFlight to its
customers and allows AcuFlight to sell Cornerstone services. The service will round out Cornerstone’s passenger
contact capabilities which already include automated texting and emailing. “In a recent example, I identified 35,000 outbound calls a month that could be redirected
from an agent to AcuFlight. That dramatically frees agent time up for more productive tasks,” said James Dargan,
senior consultant for Cornerstone. “During these ever-tightening economic times, effective use of technology is
essential and AcuFlight is the right product at the right time.” Travel agencies using the Cornerstone iQCX platform will be able to shift flight change notifications
to the AcuFlight automated option. AcuFlight can also be used with Cornerstone’s Policy Compliance Manager to
place outbound calls to a designated contact alerting them of travel reservations booked in violation of travel policy. “With the increase in volatility in the airline
market, we’re seeing significant increases in call volumes to agencies. Having this product so readily available
to Cornerstone customers could not come at a better time,” said Rich Miller, CEO of AcuFlight. “We know
Cornerstone has a history of offering the right product at the right time and we’re happy to be the part of their ongoing
success.” The AcuFlight
services now available to Cornerstone customers include:
Auto-Attend™ - This automates fulfillment
center processes and decreases costs of file management tasks such as relaying flight information, modifying or canceling
flight reservations and notifying passengers of changes or problems in their reservations, by more than 80%. APM™ (Automated PNR Management
and Notification) is a record-monitoring service that works quality control queues and automates previously manual intervention.
APM automates critical processes such as sorting records, voice mailing/SMS/emailing customers of changes, then changing file
status and returning records to inventory for fulfillment completion. Global Flight Information Service offers passengers, consumers and mobile subscribers
real-time flight data. A single phone number is used to access all major airline carriers for real-time status of departing,
arriving flights, gate and terminal designations. Enhanced versions include airport and weather information. About Cornerstone
Cornerstone Information Systems is a professional services company helping travel management companies, corporate travel
departments, airline and global distribution systems work more efficiently and more profitably. Founded in 1992, Cornerstone
Information Systems is a privately held company based in Bloomington, Indiana with personnel in eight locations worldwide.
Further information about the company is available at www.ciswired.com or by calling Alan Minton at (812) 269-0014.
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AcuFlight Raising Voice The Beat ~ a travel business newsletter
New York City
Lampooned and largely despised, interactive voice
response nevertheless enjoys fairly wide implementation in the travel industry. Companies from American Airlines to Amtrak
allow travelers to talk via their phones to a computer for status, schedule information and bookings. Now, seven year-old interactive voice response technology provider AcuFlight is beginning
to emerge from a relative quiet period during which its wares were battle-tested by American Express and a major banking client.
Former American Express Online vice president Rich Miller joined AcuFlight about six months ago, after a short stint with
Rearden Commerce, and is now AcuFlight's CEO. The firm's chairman is well-known industry consultant Rolfe Shellenberger, and
its travel booking connections are provided by Richard Eastman's The Eastman Group. Miller could not comment on whether Amex is considering AcuFlight's services, and an American Express
Business Travel spokesperson said the "voice recognition and command" technology used by American Express "is
actually across all the various business units." Sources said Amex had tested AcuFlight with client BankOne (later bought
by JPMorgan Chase) and that Amex had engaged TellMe (now owned by Microsoft) for voice response technology to be used by charge
card--not business travel--clients. AcuFlight did
not name Amex or BankOne, but has said "lengthy tests" with a "large travel agency" and "major bank"
simplified fulfillment tasks and saved time. The scrutiny helped AcuFlight land customers including Aloha Airlines and ExpressJet,
which are using AcuFlight for telephone flight information. According to Eastman, "We've proven its viability in a number
of different travel agency, airline and corporate travel environments. The tool is designed to be flexible and adapt to just
about any existing corporate or business need." AcuFlight
also works with Cornerstone Information Systems. Cornerstone's Schedule Change Manager automates schedule change notices and
prompts agents to take action. The system uses AcuFlight to "perform outbound quality assurance notifications" to
travelers, eliminating human calls. "We're processing
a million transactions a month for one of the top three travel agencies," said Cornerstone vice president of sales and
marketing Alan Minton. "Only maybe 300,000 are affected by a schedule change. It could be as simple as a one-minute delay
or a gate change. Agencies get these schedule change announcements and have to do something with them. The way they do it
now is they put them into a queue and have humans look at them. Depending on whether it's a flight tomorrow or next month,
there could be an issue of urgency. So we automated it." If
agencies don't take action on such notices, airlines may hold them responsible under recently revised "inactive segment"
policies. Cornerstone's Minton said the new system
has automated about two-thirds of the notifications. "AcuFlight comes in because many of these require an outbound voice
call, and much of that can be automated," he said. Corporate
Solutions Group partner Bob Lichtman said he knows of "no one in corporate travel using interactive voice response. I
like it and have had pretty good luck with it. People are on the go. Logically, it could be utilized anywhere, depending on
how robust it is. It's the efficiency of choice--another media to use." The potential may be there, but some doubt the efficacy of replacing agents with voice response systems.
Kayak.com co-founder Paul English runs the gethuman.com Web site, which shows consumers how to skip past such systems when
they call hundreds of product and service providers, including many travel companies. "IVR is good for very narrow status
applications like checking flight status," English told The Beat. "IVR is terrible for applications for making reservations."
"Saturday Night Live" has mocked Amtrak's "Julie"
voice response character, and AcuFlight acknowledges the "disgust" many people have with IVR systems. Miller claimed
customers are "more receptive to it today," but agreed that the technology is "more adept for the simpler things"--despite
AcuFlight's assertion that it "can literally make air reservations [and] total trip reservations."
"The fact is that live agents have been cut dramatically,
which usually generates hold times," Miller said. "This improves customer service for flight info and cancellations--and
frees agents to handle the problem areas." ~
Jay Campbell © Copyright 2007 Business Travel Beat, Inc |
CORNERSTONE
UNVEILS TWO NEW APPLICATIONS
PTA and Schedule Change Manager Processing Over 1,000,000 Transactions per Month:
Bloomington, IN – July 19, 2007: Cornerstone Information Systems, a
technology and professional services firm serving the travel industry, has announced the release of two new applications designed
to increase productivity, reduce costs and improve revenue management. Pre-Travel Authorization (PTA) and Schedule Change
Manager (SCM) are a part of Cornerstone’s reservation and data management platforms that are in use by over 500 corporations
and travel management companies worldwide. “We were hesitant to announce the release earlier this year until we validated
performance on these new applications. Customers including two of three world’s largest travel agencies and their various
business units are seeing some real value from automating the processing of schedule changes and pre travel authorizations.
Our PTA application is currently installed and processing transactions with over 20 corporations and is on track for over
100 installations by year end. We have surpassed the million transactions per month on these technologies and it was
time to share the successful deployment of these applications” said Mat Orrego, CEO of Cornerstone. What is Pre-Travel Authorization?
Cornerstone’s PTA automates the costly, labor-intensive
and error-prone process of securing authorization for business travel before reservations are ticketed. Corporations
can specify a virtually unlimited number of conditions (air, car, hotel, limo, per diem, etc.) that trigger the need for travel
authorization. When PTA identifies such a reservation, an email alert is sent to designated approvers indicating that a trip
is pending which needs their attention. Email alerts are consistent in format and trip details are easily accessible through
a secure web site from any location in the world on a 24/7 basis. Upon approval or declination information is inserted into
the PNR alleviating the need for manual intervention. In addition, a complete audit trail is created to provide proof that
certain messages are getting to the right people at the right times. What
is Schedule Change Manager?
Schedule Change Manager (SCM) automates the time consuming process of managing the numerous
amounts of schedule change notices received by the travel professional. When combined with, Cornerstone’s iQCX
it can be configured to approve schedule changes based on each customers unique requirements and take specific action on the
schedule changes that require attention. These actions include priority queuing, traveler notification via email or
text messaging. Cornerstone is also integrating SCM with California based AcuFlight to enable SCM customers to take
advantage of AcuFlight’s Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR) technology and perform outbound quality assurance notifications.
“There are millions of redundant telephone calls generated by on-line and off-line travel transactions that are costing
TMCs and their customers millions of dollars each year that can be automated. ‘Schedule change’ is just
one type of these calls. We are very pleased to be working with Cornerstone to tightly integrate our technology with theirs
to allow customers to realize significant cost savings and improved customer service for their travelers schedule change needs
and the various other types of ‘redundant’ phone calls that occur in travel," stated Donna Billera,
AcuFlight’s executive vice president for client development.
In
addition to these new applications, Cornerstone is expanding its ability to interact with other third party technology companies.
Currently, Cornerstone customers can leverage their Cornerstone technology investment to take advantage of the valuable products
and service offered by companies such as Control Risks, e-Travel Advisories, Prism, AcuFlight, Infotriever, Travel GPA, FlightStats
and eCommission Solutions. "As third party proprietary technologies evolve, especially those that offer process improvement
and that deliver measurable results to the end user, corporations and TMCs are quickly realizing a significant and positive
impact on their bottom line. The ability to integrate those technologies with established platforms such as Cornerstone's
greatly enhances our product and services offerings. I have had the good fortune to work with the Cornerstone team for
over a decade now and as our technologies continue to evolve in concert, so does the value and revenue potential to our mutual
customers,” explained Paul Hoffmann, CEO of eCommission Solutions
“Being
an innovative technology company means focusing on your core competencies in order to deliver exceptional value. It
also means partnering with other quality companies to deliver affordable applications and services that improve performance,
lower costs and deliver value,” added Orrego. “By following this methodology we are able to have a greater
impact on the business of travel. Stay tuned for more partnership and product release announcements this year.”
About Cornerstone
Cornerstone Information Systems is a technology and
professional services company helping travel management companies, corporate travel departments, airlines and global distribution
systems work more efficiently and more profitably. Founded in 1992, Cornerstone Information Systems is a privately held
company based in Bloomington, Indiana with personnel in eight locations worldwide. Further information about the company is
available at www.ciswired.com or by calling Alan Minton at (812) 269-0014.
Contact:
Alan Minton
Cornerstone Information Systems
(812) 269-0014; aminton@ciswired.com
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AcuFlight A HIT WITH BUSINESS TRAVELERS
Unique System Enables Reservations Processes with No Customer Button-Pushing April 11, 2006; Santa Monica, CA: Unquestionably the biggest complaint
of those seeking customer service by telephone these days is ubiquitous use of menus by interactive voice response (IVR) systems.
Then, when a menu finally, but obliquely, describes your topic, you inevitably push the “2” instead of the “3,”
obligating a fresh start.
AcuFlight, a patent-pending IVR solution conceived by Donna Billera, uniquely satisfies travelers
who can’t waste time waiting for service or plowing through menus and button-pushing options. Ms. Billera once
needed to reschedule an air trip promptly when her flight unexpectedly canceled. All airport phones were in use but
nobody was talking because lines to airlines or agencies were obviously busy or on hold. She visualized an automated
phone service that would make bookings for multiple airlines, just like theatre tickets for multiple Broadway shows, without
human intervention. After two years of development, during which she surfed the Web for resources that might help her
realize her vision, AcuFlight was born.
The Eastman Group, producers of innovations AQUA and Auto-Link, assisted Ms.
Billera in bringing her concept to reality. AcuFlight, using Auto-Link and “best-in-class” speech telephony
and telecommunications, could bypass expensive live agent handling of reservations, cancellations, and numerous other services
related to passenger name record creation and processing, and do it with no busy signals or long waiting times.
Most
users become quickly disgusted with every IVR system they encounter because each supplier copies its competitors and ends
up requiring use of hierarchical multiple-choice menus, each with button-pushing numbers, to select among options. AcuFlight
users, after being connected to a 7-24-365 never-busy 800 telephone number, can literally make air reservations, total trip
reservations, cancellations, and generate copies of itineraries, or be informed by phone or voice message of updated information
on trips, and even supply flight progress information to alert traveler families or colleagues, without any button-pushing
or post-connection menus. AcuFlight, when presenting flight schedules, for example, offers only one available flight
that comes closest to a traveler's (or corporation's) preferences in time of departure and airline; if that selection is not
satisfactory in price or convenience, the traveler can request another quote by responding "other" instead of "reserve."
Anytime a traveler wishes to talk to a live agent, he or she can say "Agent" and be transferred to his/her agency
queue where an agent will, when available, see the reservation in progress. However, AcuFlight is designed to minimize
those "bail-outs" because it fulfills so easily and comprehensively a traveler's needs.
Before a user
places a call to AcuFlight, he/she must memorize or consult a cheat-sheet with a brief list (8 items) of one-word prompts
to cover a variety of needs. Example: "schedule" secures availability; "reserve" places a reservation
for a chosen flight (only available flights are quoted); "cancel" will erase a record. Standard options are
time and date; all other variables are covered by a traveler's profile information. As soon as a reservation has been
made, AcuFlight sends an itinerary to that traveler's email address, or it can be transmitted by voice message to any specified
phone number. Any stored trip model that includes other types of reservations – hotel, car rental, etc. - can
also be booked in less than two minutes.
Other functions performed by AcuFlight include traveler notification by voice
mail and email of schedule changes and cancellations, credit card verification, and trip progress reports to colleagues or
family. AcuFlight generates valuable reports to assist travel management executives in comparing costs of AcuFlight
vs. other processing functions, and can even record average duration of contact, an important measure of traveler time costs.
Under most conditions, AcuFlight reduces transaction times to five minutes or less and at fees to subscribers that are sharply
lower than either online booking or agent-assisted reservations. Most consumers detest customer service IVR contacts because they are prone to make button-pushing
mistakes, or they cannot remember complicated menus so worded that a user doesn't know when his or her needs are apt to be
resolved. AcuFlight avoids that complexity and replaces it with simplicity.
In lengthy tests, a large travel agency
used AcuFlight to simplify fulfillment tasks for its clients (at that time), a major US bank and major accounting firm.
Travelers and travel arrangers liked using it because it saved time and was user-friendlier than any other IVR transaction
system and because the function was now currently available on a corporate website. AcuFlight.has also served customers
of other travel agencies. A broad contract with a regional airline will begin this summer, and a new startup airline
has committed to using AcuFlight as its first reservations system. AcuFlight also is commencing its consumer service by offering
cellular subscribers and cellular content providers the ability to access flight information for any airline using one easy-to-remember
toll-free number.
Key to AcuFlight’s acceptance is time saved. Its apt slogan, “What is your
time worth?” applies to users themselves, to intermediaries, and to corporate organizations eager to improve traveler
productivity.
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ALOHA AIRLINES SIGNS UP FOR ACUFLIGHT’S PRODUCTIVITY TOOL December 2006 Aloha Airlines, using AcuFlight's schedule change notification feature, expects to achieve productivity gains
in excess of $500,000 next year. Exhibit One demonstrates that, using real current cost data for typical airlines,
travel management companies, and corporate travel departments, AcuFlight’s APM will save close to 80% of payroll costs
when performed by live agents. AcuFlight’s other functional applications related to customer service have successfully
generated productivity gains for both travel agency and corporate clients.
Schedule change notification is typically
a time-consuming manual process: sorting of reservations, changing booking status, and generating multiple phone calls to
ensure that airline passengers are informed of any revised flight number, departure time, or arrival time prior to dates of
travel.
David Banmiller, CEO of Aloha Airlines, praised his company's technical staff for investing in AcuFlight's
functionality. "Aloha knows that its competitive advantage, in part, depends on using tools that can release employees
from burdensome tasks that contribute no new revenues. AcuFlight's dependable functionality will reduce Aloha's schedule
change notification costs in 2007 by a substantial margin."
AcuFlight 's hosted patent-pending process
uses best-in-class IVR (interactive voice recognition) and proprietary technologies to perform at significantly lower cost
almost any activity that currently involves live telephone conversations and manual fulfillment. Not only does an airline,
travel agent or corporate travel department save money, but also travelers and their administrative support whose time to
complete a transaction is reduced sharply when compared to live phone conversations, self-booking tools and email.
AcuFlight,
headquartered in Santa Monica, CA has a pertinent logo:
"What is your time worth?"
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