Reporter’s Diary: A Look Inside Travelport’s Smartpoint App

At the heart of Travelport’s controversial Agility package is a piece of technology called Smartpoint – an add-on application for the Galileo Desktop that blends graphical, point-and-click technology with the Focalpoint cryptic environment and allows agents to use commands from any GDS.

Last week, Travelport gave reporters a live look at Smartpoint during a media event at its North American headquarters in Atlanta. Here’s what we saw.

Smartpoint splits the agency screen in half. The left side of the screen provides the “big picture” of the passenger name record, a running tally of what has been done so far.

The right side of the screen is where agents work with their customers.

Popup flight info
The right side shows the familiar flight listings, but there’s a plus – elements of the listings are color-coded. If an agent mouses over those elements, a popup window will appear with answers to the most frequently asked questions about the flight and its services.

A flight can be added to the PNR with a click, and it will appear on the left side of the screen.

Everything that is part of the Focalpoint desktop is still there, but Smartpoint “makes it better,” said Steve Bassett, a Travelport training consultant who demonstrated the application.

Calendar functions
Below the left PNR portion is a few months’ worth of calendars. As agents book flights, the dates are highlighted. Conversely, if an agent highlights a range of dates in the calendar via a simple click-and-drag, the system will search the departure and return dates for flights.

An agent who is more comfortable working in Sabre or Amadeus can switch to those command languages using a drop-down menu. That makes it easier for the agency to hire new employees or to acquire another agency, Bassett said.

Automatic queue monitor
Among the niftiest features is a queue monitor at the bottom of the screen.

Generally, agents must check queues throughout the day to ensure that necessary tasks are completed by the end of the day.

The queue monitor eliminates that need – it checks the queues automatically.

Efficiency gains
At its introduction, Travelport said the Smartpoint App “substantially” reduces overall keystrokes by 15% and reduces them by up to 72% when searching for the best fare.

Overall, Bassett said, “We’ve seen 20% to 30% efficiency gains.”

Bassett demonstrated only the Smartpoint App for Apollo/Galileo agents, but he said the Worldspan Go! Translator feature is identical.