ECS Promises Usable Data for Agents
by Michele McDonald /It seems everyone is talking about Big Data these days, but they don’t always talk about a clear path to making use of it. Certainly not for travel agents.
Now New York-based eCommission Solutions, or ECS, is launching a business intelligence product that promises to give its travel agency customers usable Big Data.
ECS has been amassing – and sitting on – a treasure trove of data for years, as it chases hotel and car rental commissions for its travel agency clients.
Its new product, called ECS IQ, ties together all the systems it works with to extract data that not only makes sense to agency managers but is actionable.
A clear view
“It really gives the agency a clear, crystallized view of things so it can better manage its business,” Paul Hoffman, founder, president and chief executive officer, said.
“We’ve built a very well-defined data repository,” he said. “With the addition of a business intelligence layer, we can identify any particular bit of data.”
Actionable data
Here are a few of the areas in which the new product, dubbed ECS IQ, can help travel agencies:
• Travel policy compliance: Is the agency providing the best available rates to its corporate clients?
• Maximizing revenues: Is the agency using preferred properties?
• Performance: How much business is the agency giving a property?
• Pay performance: One preferred property might pay every 75 days, while its competitor pays monthly. The agency might want to switch for faster payment.
• Pain factor: Which hotels have to be chased for commission payment? Are they worth the hassle?
• Agent productivity: Managers can see how individual agents are performing.
Real data
ECS assembles the data from a variety of sources, including GDSs, payment consolidators and agency accounting systems.
“And it’s real data, not assumptions,” said Hoffman, whose background includes stints at American Airlines and Sabre.
“A lot of people trying to work with data make a lot of assumptions and end up with incorrect data.”
Part of the problem is that PNRs are very air-centric, and non-air segments that are booked don’t always make it to the agency’s back office, he said.
“We ask agents, ‘How many times do you get a check and there’s nothing to post it to?’ They tell us it happens all the time. Payments come in, and we know the reservation was made and consumed, but it’s not in the back office.”
By capturing every data element and reconciling it with the other information ECS has collected, the company can make sense of such idiosyncrasies.
Available to all clients
Hoffman said ECS IQ, currently in beta testing, is “easy to use and powerful.”
All ECS clients will have access to ECS IQ and will receive a basic set of reports.
Clients also can upgrade for a fee and receive dozens more reports, as well as the ability to build custom reports with the ECS team.