WO2014032111A1 - Procédés et systèmes de facilitation d'une planification de trajet - Google Patents

Procédés et systèmes de facilitation d'une planification de trajet Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2014032111A1
WO2014032111A1 PCT/AU2013/000976 AU2013000976W WO2014032111A1 WO 2014032111 A1 WO2014032111 A1 WO 2014032111A1 AU 2013000976 W AU2013000976 W AU 2013000976W WO 2014032111 A1 WO2014032111 A1 WO 2014032111A1
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WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
travel
organization
proposed
approval
traveller
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PCT/AU2013/000976
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English (en)
Inventor
Ross FASTUCA
Original Assignee
Locomote Ip Pty Ltd
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Publication date
Priority claimed from AU2012903774A external-priority patent/AU2012903774A0/en
Application filed by Locomote Ip Pty Ltd filed Critical Locomote Ip Pty Ltd
Publication of WO2014032111A1 publication Critical patent/WO2014032111A1/fr

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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
    • G06Q10/02—Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
    • G06Q10/025—Coordination of plural reservations, e.g. plural trip segments, transportation combined with accommodation
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q50/00—Information and communication technology [ICT] specially adapted for implementation of business processes of specific business sectors, e.g. utilities or tourism
    • G06Q50/10—Services
    • G06Q50/14—Travel agencies

Definitions

  • the present invention is in the field of travel planning, particularly in the area of corporate travel planning.
  • the planning and implementation of a corporate travel itinerary is typically a shared task involving the traveller, personnel within the traveller's organization, and often also an external travel management company (TMC).
  • TMC travel management company
  • the organization typically is charged with the planning of travel, while the TMC is responsible more so with the implementation of the travel plan by arranging transport, accommodation, insurances and the like.
  • the traveller initiates a request to travel often by the submission of a form to relevant personnel within the organization.
  • This may be a manager having authority to approve, modify or decline the request.
  • security personnel participate in the approval process.
  • the manager/security personnel approves the request, the matter is often passed to travel-related personnel within the organization to prepare an itinerary, with further action possibly being undertaken by other personnel more directly charged with travel-related tasks.
  • further travel-related tasks may be passed to a TMC for execution.
  • Fig 1 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary workflow for a travel request, approval and booking. Elements in the light-grey regions relate to the travel authoriser within the organization , those in the mid-grey regions of the flow chart are those related to the traveller (or travel arranger) within the organization, and those in the dark-grey regions relate to the Travel Management Organization.
  • Fig 2. is a screenshot of an initial login page.
  • Fig 3 is a screenshot of a user dashboard.
  • Fig 4 is a screenshot of a user dashboard with notifications.
  • Fig 5 is a screenshot of an authoriser dashboard.
  • Fig 6 is a screenshot of user discussion thread.
  • Fig 7 is a screenshot of a page for approving a trip.
  • Fig 8 is a screenshot of a page confirming submission of travel request.
  • Fig 9 is a screenshot of a Travel Management Company dashboard.
  • Fig 10 is a screenshot of HART Airline Risk Calculator ratings.
  • Fig 11 is a screenshot of a contact page.
  • Fig 12 is a screenshot of a country risk rating request
  • Figs. 13 to 17 are exemplary workflows, and wherein actions shaded light-grey are traveller / travel arranger actions; actions shaded black are authoriser / super authoriser actions. System notifications are shaded mid-grey, and booking tools shown as light grey with a diagonal line. Travel management company actions are shown in white with a diagonal line.
  • 13 is a flow chart of a pre-trip and cost approval process where the consultant is offline.
  • Fig. 14 is a flow chart of a cost approval only process where the consultant is offline.
  • Fig. 15 is a flow chart of a pre-trip and cost approval process incorporating use of an online booking tool.
  • Fig. 16 is a flow chart of cost approval only process incorporating use of an online booking 100 tool.
  • Fig. 17 is a flow chart of a pre-trip approval only process, with online and offline configuration.
  • Figs. 18 to 20 are charts showing handling of traveller profile information by systems administered by (i) the traveller or travel arranger (ii) coordinating entity (iii) travel management company (iv) corporate employing the traveller and (v) online booking tool.
  • Fig. 18 is a chart showing the creation of a new traveller profile, the profile created within 110 the coordinating entity system.
  • the newly created profile is transferred to the online booking system by real time synchronization of the coordinating entity server and the online booking system server.
  • Fig. 19 is a chart showing the amendment of an existing traveller profile, the profile created 115 within the coordinating entity system.
  • the profile amendments are transferred to the online booking system by real time synchronization of the coordinating entity server and the online booking system server.
  • Fig. 19 is a chart showing the deletion of an existing traveller profile, the profile created 120 within the coordinating entity system.
  • the profile is deleted from the online booking system by real time synchronization of the coordinating entity server and the online booking system server.
  • the 145 present invention provides a computer-based system for facilitating personnel travel arrangements within an organization, the system comprising:
  • the proposed travel plan and/or proposed itinerary is/are created by reference to a travel-related policy of the organization, and/or by reference to information provided by 155 one or more entities external to the organization.
  • the present invention provides a method for facilitating personnel travel arrangements within an organization, the method comprising the steps of:
  • the proposed travel plan and/or proposed itinerary is/are created by reference to a travel-related policy of the organization, and/or by reference to information provided by one or more entities external to the organization.
  • Applicant proposes that travel arranging is made more efficient, or more simple, or more economical, or more accurate, or less prone to error, or is made otherwise advantageous 170 where structured, computer-based methods are used to generate a proposed travel plan, and reference the plan against internal organizational travel policies and externally- originating information such as health and safety information on a destination, visa information, and the like.
  • the present systems and methods are capable in some embodiments of improving the operational efficiency of the organization and/or TMC; and/or improving employee compliance with corporate governance of the organization; and/or reducing the overall cost of travel for the organization.
  • the term "computer-based” is intended to mean that the system is operable at least in part or even entirely on any processor-equipped device such as a server, personal computer, laptop, netbook, tablet, PDA, smart phone and other similar contrivances.
  • the system may be implemented on a single computer or across 200 multiple computers connected to a LAN, WAN or the Internet.
  • the term "computer-based system” is intended to include any necessary hardware and software components, as well as data transmission components (such as wired and wireless network infrastructure, as more fully described infra).
  • TMC Travel Management Company
  • TMCs commonly deal with the travel requirements of corporate entities, some also deal in recreational travel. Conversely, some companies which deal mainly in recreational travel also deal in corporate travel. All the aforementioned types company are considered a TMC.
  • the TMC deals predominantly or solely in corporate travel.
  • the term "organization” is intended to mean the organization within which the traveller is employed, operates or is otherwise associated with.
  • the organization may be a corporate entity (for profit, or not-for-profit), community group, government organization and the 215 like.
  • the present systems and methods require means for obtaining information by a guided method.
  • the skilled person is familiar with browser-based methods (for example) which are useful for presenting questions or options to an individual, and allowing the individual 220 means by which to enter the required input.
  • guided methods can be advantageous since information which is necessary and sufficient to create a proposed travel plan may be readily obtained.
  • irrelevant information is not sought and therefore not included in any review of the proposed travel plan.
  • the guided method for obtaining information presents questions or options to the user (who is typically the individual seeking approval to travel) that are related to organizational travel policy. For example, an initial question may relate to the countries to which the individual seeking approval wishes to travel. Organizational policy may dictate that travel is only allowed to countries having a minimal safety rating, or a
  • countries may be presented as radio buttons on a browser page, with only those countries being acceptable under current organizational policy being selectable.
  • the user may input a list of countries into a text box on the browser page, and then submit those options.
  • An error message will
  • policies may change over the course of time, with options being manually or automatically updated in some embodiments of the present systems.
  • the guided method may have consideration to one, several or a plurality of aspects of organizational policy including the following non-limiting examples: dates of travel, mode of 245 travel, class of travel, class of accommodation, overall cost of travel, length of time travelling, size of rental car, collision damage waiver for car rental, minimum level of travel insurance, maximum allowances for meals, maximal allowances for client entertainment, and the like.
  • a past answer or selection provided by the user influences a later question or option. For example, where the user indicates that travel to North America is planned, a further question or option may be raised relating to which city or cities within North America are required. It may be the case that a large country such as North America is divided into a number of territories for the purposes of organizational 255 policy, with elicitation of such information only being required where travel to North America is planned.
  • the guided method may be more simple than those described supra, and in some embodiments be an electronic form having questions and spaces reserved for the insertion 260 of answers. While generally effective, it is proposed that a more structured guided questioning improves the overall system or method by focussing the intentions of the user, and also guiding toward the elicitation of information that is useful to the reviewer when deciding to approve, deny or modify the proposed travel plan.
  • the system or method is implemented across two or more sites, or is implemented across two or more servers, or is adapted to allow access to both organizational and external personnel (such as TMC personnel), or by an external server.
  • Such embodiments allow for the integration of data input, organizational travel policy considerations, and external information such as safety information, travel and
  • the system comprises an organizational interface and a TMC interface.
  • the organizational interface allows the user to input a proposed travel plan and also for other personnel in the organization to enter various criteria related to travel policy. 275 Reference is made to the browser-based example described supra.
  • the result of the various inputs provided by the user at the organizational interface is a proposed travel plan.
  • This plan may then transmitted via the TMC interface, to a TMC server.
  • the data may be passed in a variety of
  • wired or wireless broadband connection such as long-range optical data communications, local area network based protocols, wide area networks, long-range wireless radio, local area wireless network such as 802.11 based protocols, wireless wide area network such as WiMax, and/or other similar applications; transmission of electric, electromagnetic, optical, and/or wireless signals and/or packets that carry digital data
  • Session Initiation Protocol SIP
  • Voice Over IP VOIP
  • WAP Wireless Application Protocol
  • MMS Multimedia Messaging Service
  • EMS Enhanced Messaging Service
  • SMS Short Message Service
  • GSM Global System for Mobile Communications
  • CDMA Code Division Multiple Access
  • Control Protocol/Internet (TCP/IP) Protocols 290 Control Protocol/Internet (TCP/IP) Protocols.
  • Other protocols and/or systems that are suitable for transmitting data include cabled network or telecom connections such as an Ethernet RJ45/Category 5 Ethernet connection, a fiber connection, a traditional telephone wireline connection, a cable connection or other wired network connection may also be used.
  • Data transmission between the organization and TMC or within the organization may
  • 295 be by use of standard wireless protocols including IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, etc., or via protocols for a wired connection, such as an IEEE Ethernet 802.3.
  • the system is embodied without the need to install dedicated software or database information on a user's computer.
  • the core software components 300 of the system may be embodied in a server remote form a user's computer, with data transmission between the computer and server being via the Internet, by way of a browser platform such as Microsoft Internet ExplorerTM, Google ChromeTM, Mozilla FirefoxTM or Apple SafariTM.
  • Dynamic pages can be programmed on the server or client side, but typically server-side web programming languages are used whereby code is run on the server and then transmits static information back to the web browser.
  • Suitable web programming languages may include PHP, ASP.NET, Ruby on Rails, Perl, ASP classic,
  • the skilled person is also familiar with various relational databases useful in the programming of dynamic web page content. Such databases allow for the storage, manipulation and retrieval of any required information such as user details, travel plan 315 details, organizational policy details, country safety information, passport and visa requirements for a country, preferred suppliers of transport and accommodation, et cetera.
  • a suitable relational database well understood by the skilled person is Microsoft SQL.
  • other database solutions such as Oracle and DB/2 may be useful, especially for larger implementations of the system.
  • the system is capable of interfacing with two, several, or a plurality of 325 TMCs.
  • This capability may be achieved by the incorporation of one more data interchange formats in the system.
  • the travel plan may be exported from the organization in a format that is readable by personnel and/or management software the TMC.
  • This capability may provide advantages in one or more aspects. For example, the ability to transmit a travel plan to several TMC's allows an organization to seek several itineraries 330 instantaneously. The selection of TMC for that particular travel plan may be taken on the basis of cost, the number and length of stop overs en route, the convenience of connections and the like.
  • a further potential advantage is that the system can be embodied in a vendible product which may be installed and be immediately substantially capable of interfacing with any TMC.
  • the organization and TMC may exchange travel plan data by electronic data exchange (EDI), which is the structured transmission of data between organizations by electronic means. It is used to transfer electronic documents or data from one computer system to another computer system without human intervention.
  • EDI electronic data exchange
  • OTA Open Travel Alliance
  • XML Open Travel Alliance
  • Many application programming interfaces (APIs) have been 345 developed for software developers to process XML data, and several schema systems exist to aid in the definition of XML-based languages such as RSS, Atom, SOAP, and XHTML.
  • APIs application programming interfaces
  • XML- based formats have become the default for many office-productivity tools, including Microsoft Office (Office Open XML), OpenOffice.org and LibreOffice (OpenDocument), and Apple's iWork.
  • XML has also been employed as the base language for communication 350 protocols, such as XMPP.
  • OpenTravel provides the de facto standard for the travel and leisure industry, and is used by 355 suppliers, resellers, global distributors and integrators globally. Due to the wide adoption of the specification, tens of thousands of OpenTravel message structures are in use, carrying tens of millions of messages every day.
  • OpenTravel Specification supports the following travel industry segments: 360 air, car rental, customer profiles, dynamic packages (air, car, hotel, extras), ground transportation, hotel, loyalty programs, and rail.
  • customization of the basic protocol could be implemented in order to accommodate other parameters.
  • GDS Global Distribution System
  • Another useful protocol may be Pegasus ODD (Online Distribution Database). Partner hotels easily keep
  • any of the above protocols may be used in the present systems to transmit data between the organization and the TMC, or the organization and any other entity external to the organization.
  • the data may be transmitted mono-directionally or bi- directionally.
  • Data interchange between the TMC and the corporate may be handled using a secure API (application programming interface) connection exposing the necessary data required by the TMC to enhance and streamline the booking and approval process.
  • XML feeds and API connectivity from the TMC to the corporate allow a synchronise link of travel and profile data.
  • data interchange protocols 385 and methods The skilled person is well versed in the implementation of data interchange protocols 385 and methods. Accordingly, further disclosure is not required, and for the sake of clarity and brevity is not provided herein.
  • the system provides that the proposed travel plan is created by reference to information provided by one or more entities external to the organization.
  • the external organization is a TMC.
  • the TMC may provide information either directly to the system (such as by an interface), or manually (such as by text document or verbal means which are manually entered into the system by the organization).
  • the information provided by the TMC may be any information that may be
  • the user may submit a travel plan at short notice requiring a flight on 25 June 2012 from Sydney to New York, with organizational policy dictating an economy fare.
  • the TMC automatically or manually enters flight availability into the system on a daily basis, with reference to that availability information by the system returning an error ,
  • An option may be provided by the system to allow for the user to select a business class seat (which is available on the required days), with a reviewer of the proposed travel plan capable of granting or denying the more expensive business class airfare.
  • the external organization is an organization that provides travel- related information that may be relevant to the approval of a proposed travel plan, or the implementation of a proposed itinerary.
  • the external organization may be a government department (such as the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs, the United 410 States of America Department of State, or the United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office).
  • Such organizations may provide information relating to safety issues that may affect a decision to approve travel within an organization. While the travel-related information may be imported automatically into the system, more typically the information will be entered manually into defined fields.
  • the safety information is structured as a 415 numerical rating, or some other quantifiable means such that a clear minimum safety level may be set for each country.
  • the external organization is an accommodation organization or a transport organization. Information provided by these organizations may be useful in 420 determining the availability of flights, hire cars, hotel rooms etc during the planning phase of the travel arrangements.
  • the external organization is a hotel rating organization that provides assessments of the quality of accommodation.
  • rating schemes 425 used by different organisations around the world, any of which may be useful in the present context. Many have a system involving stars, with a greater number of stars indicating greater luxury.
  • the American Automobile Association (AAA) and their affiliated bodies use diamonds instead of stars to express hotel ratings levels.
  • the external information may relate to a safety rating or other features of a hire car, airplane, bus or train proposed to be utilized in the travel arrangements.
  • HART Aviation Australia
  • IATA International Air Transport Association
  • the present systems and methods optionally comprise means or a step allowing for review
  • the means are provided by a browser page being viewable on the reviewer's personal computer.
  • the reviewer is enabled by the system to review the proposed travel plan (typically presented in textual form) and also optionally other information relevant to the approval process such as cost.
  • the system highlights to the reviewer any aspects of the plan 450 that may not be consistent with organizational travel policy, and optionally means for amending the plan and/or return the plan to the user for amendment.
  • the present systems and methods optionally comprise means or a step allowing for comparison of a proposed cost or a settled cost of travel against a budget of the
  • the traveller or travel arranger (and optionally the TMC) will be notified.
  • the early identification of a budget overrun is advantageous for the organization, and avoids the payment of penalties where bookings are cancelled due to inadequate funds being available.
  • the traveller or travel arranger is permitted to amend one or parameters (such as flight class, standard of
  • the reviewer approves the plan (typically by clicking a button on the browser page).
  • the system may at that point dispatch an email message to the user, advising that travel has been approved.
  • the system Upon approval by the reviewer, the system typically electronically transmits the plan to personnel responsible for actioning the plan. Where the entire system is executed internally (i.e. without the assistance of a TMC) the plan is dispatched to organizational personnel responsible for making the travel arrangements. More typically however, the 470 travel plan is dispatched electronically to a server of the TMC, optionally by an agreed data interchange protocol as described supra.
  • the system includes means for monitoring compliance with the 480 organization travel policy. This may be achieved by the user entering compliance-related information during the trip (for example, by way of a mobile-capable web browser (such as those executable on android or iOS). In addition or alternatively, the compliance-related information may be entered into the system by way of personal computer upon return of the user.
  • the compliance-related information may relate to expenses, time spent in a given location, time devoted to business, time devoted to recreation, entertainment venues visited, restaurants frequented, gratuities provided and the like.
  • the information may in some 'embodiments be validated against organization policy and any deviations reported by the 490 system to management personnel.
  • One embodiment of the system or method includes the step of validating the travel plan, or an itinerary created from the plan, against organizational policy. This may be achieved by comparing components of the trip (such as flight class, accommodation style, and costs) 495 against the policy as entered into the system by organizational personnel.
  • This validation step is advantageous in that it represents a final checking mechanism before the plan is transmitted to the TMC or is otherwise actioned within the organization.
  • the present invention provides processor-executable program 500 instructions for implementing a method as described herein.
  • the present invention provides a computer-readable memory containing processor-executable program instructions for implementing a method as described herein.
  • the proposed traveller clicks a travel link, which (using a single sign on) logs the user into a portal to begin the approval process. The user then clicks on the desired workflow to initiate the travel planning process.
  • the TMC receives notification of a trip and creates the itinerary which is uploaded into the system.
  • the TMC submitted itinerary is then checked to ensure organization policy is met.
  • the reviewer can then select and approve the itinerary. Where the travel is domestic only, the review process may not be required, with the plan 520 automatically approved pursuant to various criteria being met during the guided questioning process.
  • the traveller Upon authorisation the traveller is notified that their travel request is successful and they have the ability to view their itinerary.
  • FIG. 1 Screenshots of pages relevant to the input and output of the present systems are shown in Figs. 9tol2.
  • Traveller, travel arranger selects travel options based on loaded travel policy 84
  • TMC consultant generates itineraries/quotes
  • Travel Organiser Portal is an initial pre- trip landing page.
  • the Travel Organiser Portal is used by corporate travel managers and travellers to access the pre-trip travel management system and products therein that are 610 relevant to them.
  • the Travel Organiser Portal is developed for the traveller / authoriser / management and can be also be utilized to interface with the TMC.
  • the system enables these users to utilise the pre-trip workflow for travel authorization.
  • a TMC has access to technology relevant to them that will enable execution of their respective tasks and interact with other parts of the system necessary to them.
  • each section required for authorisation is created as a standalone module. By doing so, each pre-trip authorisation consists of both standard and custom modules to satisfy all required needs of the corporate.
  • Each module contains the necessary links to third party data sources in order to leverage off this data as part of the pre-trip approval process.
  • the authoriser has the ability to access personal and staff travel requests through a single user-friendly console (see Fig 5).
  • the major benefit of this for the authoriser is that it allows records to be held, thus removing the need to manage, transmit, read and file constant email communications.
  • the approval process consolidates all communication between the authoriser, traveller and TMC through a single portal, thereby reducing the amount of emails going back and forth (see Fig. 6). 670
  • All communication is stored and can be accessed via the portal at any time. This process is applied for all pre-trip approval.
  • the booking process in the pre-trip portal is TMC agnostic.
  • the preferred TMC consultant has the ability to log in to the system to view trips and notify that a booking has been placed.
  • the pre- 680 trip system builds an itinerary which is automatically sent by the corporate to the TMC for the TMC to then complete the booking with all the data of approved airlines, destination information along with all compliance checks and recommendations included to act as a purchase order with all required information to the travel consultant.
  • the technology runs a check that would recognise this (using the GDS) and automatically notifies the authoriser of 690 the change in trip; thus allowing intervention by the authoriser to cancel or modify the trip.
  • the post-trip reporting has the ability to consolidate all data captured allowing for a full analysis on all travel data.
  • Reports include (but are not limited to);
  • the systems are designed to create maximum interoperability between services.
  • the system architect is designed for maximum interoperability to allow the use of third- party data providers and to allow for future providers to be adapted into the system.
  • All areas of the travel process is connected to the central data store allowing for cross checks on data alerting of travel issues and making sure the traveller and authoriser are aware of all the issues associated with travel.
  • the Pre-Trip Solution supports the following processes/tasks for both domestic (local) and international pre-trip approval:
  • the portal also serves the functionalities of: Assist in the control and monitoring of travel authorisation;
  • a user friendly tool that can be used effectively without formal training and which has functionality that is apparent when first encountered;
  • a minimal number of keypad inputs and the optimal number of mouse-click selections The minimal number of screens to be accessed to undertake any task consistent with logical and readable presentation of information and a minimal need to scroll in 760 order to view information;
  • Traveller Profiles The system integrates with third party HR systems for profile management. In the event a 765 profile is missing, the in-built profile system can be used to house all data attaining to the pre-trip details.
  • the pre-trip portal provides the ability, if required, to store traveller and company data outside of the corporation's supplier host systems.
  • the solution includes easy to use online user functionality to allow any user to quickly identify how to complete a task.
  • the User help/advice and information enables the User to effectively use all the 780 functionality and understand the context of the use of the portal without recourse to external assistance.
  • Intuitive user interface design and tool tip guides are available to ensure the user can navigate through the site with little to no assistance.
  • the system includes:
  • the system stores and provides access to the full history of all trip authorisation requests, including:
  • Fig. 13 describes the process of a pre-trip cost and approval process with a travel consultant 820 .
  • a traveller (or travel arranger) may submit a proposed trip for approval.
  • the traveller / arranger selects a workflow to begin the trip request 300, and completes 302 an initial travel itinerary including trip details, purpose, cost centre responsible for travel expenses and (optionally) any group booking information where the traveller is part of a group.
  • the traveller / arranger may provide further travel requirements 304 which may be customized for the particular workflow.
  • the travel request is submitted 306 to an approver, the approver receiving details of the request by email 308.
  • the trip may require to be edited (for example to increase or 830 decrease duration for business reasons), in which case it is returned to the traveller / arranger for input of amended details 302.
  • the request is considered for approval. If approved, the traveller is notified 310 and the request considered for satisfying further criteria 312. If the 835 pre-trip request is declined the traveller is notified 314. Alternatively, the approver may need further information to make a decision in which case the approver enters a message 316 into a chat feed with the traveller, a notification 318 of the need for discussion being forwarded to the traveller.
  • the request may be checked to determine whether the proposed trip includes travel to a country having a high risk status 312. Where that check is negative, a further approval is gained and the traveller notified 320, and provided with an itinerary and travel authorization code.
  • the trip may be edited to avoid that country or the request cancelled.
  • the approver may nevertheless further consider the request and provide approval by, notification 320.
  • the request may be declined with the traveller receiving notification 324 and the traveller being permitted to amend the
  • the approver may enter a message into a chat feed 326, and the traveller notified 328 that discussion is required.
  • a travel management 855 company After approval, further editing of the trip may be allowed (typically minor changes, for example departure times), and the approved trip details are passed to a travel management 855 company.
  • the travel management company makes contact with the traveller to ensure that the itinerary is ideal (or at least acceptable) using TMP messages 330.
  • the travel management company then uploads 332 the itinerary to multiple travel providers to obtain quotes. 860
  • One or more quotes are then subject to cost approval 334, with an authorizer 336 receiving the quotes 342.
  • a cost centre authoriser 338 receives the quotes 346, as does a business unit authoriser 340, 348. Any of the authorizers 336, 348, 340 may require editing of the trip for reasons of cost.
  • the traveller is notified 352 of the approved itinerary and the travel management company is notified 354 of which quote to accept and place booking. Where all quotes are declined, the travel management company is notified 356. Where further discussion is required, the travel
  • a further alternative approval action is to select a new approver who may consider different parameters to any previous approver.
  • the trip may be further edited. Where no further edits are required, the travel management company 880 makes the required bookings 360. In doing so, alteration to the itinerary may require a trip edit. A required trip edit may force cancellation of the entire trip, in which case the travel management company is notified 362. Otherwise, the traveller is notified 364 of the final itinerary and the trip booked 366.
  • Fig. 14 shows a workflow for a cost approval only process. Potential barriers to travel such as country status and the like are not considered.
  • the traveller / arranger selects a workflow to begin the trip request 400, and completes 402 an initial travel itinerary including trip details, purpose, cost centre responsible for travel 890 expenses and (optionally) any group booking information where the traveller is part of a group.
  • the traveller / arranger may provide further travel requirements 404 which may be customized for the particular workflow.
  • the travel request is then submitted 406, and may 895 be subsequently edited.
  • the request is considered for approval. If approved, the traveller is notified 410 by the travel management company and the travel management company 412 the itinerary to multiple travel providers to obtain quotes.
  • Trip request is then sent to travel consultant and one or more quotes are then subject to cost approval 414, with an authorizer 416 receiving the quotes 442.
  • the travel consultant may add a new itinerary or remove an existing itinerary for authorisation.
  • This process can also be configured with integration into travel systems 905 automating the pushing itinerary data through to replace the need for any manual intervention.
  • a cost centre authoriser 418 receives the quotes 416, as does a business unit authoriser 420. Any of the authorizers 416, 418, 420 may require editing of the trip for reasons of cost.
  • a further alternative approval action is to select a new approver who may consider different parameters to any previous approver.
  • the trip may be further edited. Where no further edits are required, the travel management company makes the required bookings 436. In doing so, so alteration the itinerary may require a trip edit. A required trip edit may force cancellation of the entire trip, in which case the travel management company is notified 438. Otherwise, the traveller is notified 440 of the final 925 itinerary and the trip booked 442.
  • Fig. 15 The embodiment shown in Fig. 15 is similar to those of Figs: 13 and 14 except that an online booking tool is included in the workflow.
  • the traveller / arranger selects a workflow to begin the trip request 500, and completes 502 an initial travel itinerary including trip details, purpose, cost centre responsible for travel expenses and (optionally) any group booking information where the traveller is part of a group.
  • the traveller / arranger may provide further travel requirements 504 which may be customized for the particular workflow.
  • the travel request is submitted 506 to an approver, the approver receiving details of the request by email 508.
  • the trip may require to be edited (for example to increase or 940 decrease duration for business reasons), in which case it is returned to the traveller / arranger for input of amended details 502.
  • the request is considered for approval. If approved, the traveller is notified 510 and the request considering for satisfying further criteria 511. If the 945 pre-trip request is declined the traveller is notified 512. Alternatively, the approver may need further information to make a decision in which case the approver enters a message 514 into a chat feed with the traveller, a notification 516 of the need for discussion being forwarded to the traveller.
  • the request may be checked to determine whether the proposed trip includes travel to a country having a high risk status 511. Where that check is negative, a further approval is gained and the traveller notified 526, and the traveller clicks a link on the notification email to receive itinerary and travel authorization code. The traveller then clicks a link 528 on the email taking them to an online booking platform.
  • the approver receives a pre-trip 960 approval email 518, and the trip may be edited to avoid that country or the request cancelled. Where the trip is not edited, the approver may nevertheless further consider the request and provide approval by notification 526 also informing itinerary and travel authorization code. Where the trip is not edited, the request may be declined with the traveller receiving notification 520 and the traveller being permitted to amend the original 965 request. The approver may enter a message into a chat feed 522, and the traveller notified
  • booking tool 530 After approval, and upon being taken to the booking tool 530, it will be noted that multiple booking tools 532, 534, 536 are offered. Depending on the traveller's company office, 970 profile or configuration they will be routed to the appropriate booking tool.
  • Data from TMP is carried across 538 to the booking tool to automatically sign a user into the tool and begin searching based on the data entered by a traveller / travel arranger when building an itinerary.
  • the traveller / arranger may select 540 segment options. The booking is then checked for conformance with corporate policy 542. If it does not conform 544 the booking with itinerary is loaded into TMP automatically awaiting approval. A cost approval process 550 is then followed with review by an authorizer 552, cost centre authorizer 554 and business 980 unit authorizer 556 who each receive the quotes 558, 560, 562. Any of the authorizers 552, 554, 556 may require editing of the trip for reasons of cost.
  • details of the itinerary and cost are passed for approval action, or other action where the itinerary is not approved.
  • the traveller is 985 notified 564 of the approved itinerary and the booking tool books the tickets and the trip is marked as booked 570.
  • the booking tool cancels the booking 566 and the trip is cancelled. Discussion may be required in which case a notification 500 is issued to the traveller. Alternatively, a new approver may be selected.
  • the booking tool books tickets 570 and the trip is marked as booked.
  • the traveller is notified 572 of the booked itinerary. Further trip edits may be allowed before the trip is booked 576. Alternatively, the booking may be 995 cancelled 574.
  • Fig. 16 shows a work flow for a cost approval only process incorporating an online booking tool.
  • the traveller / arranger selects a workflow to begin the trip request 600, and completes 602 an initial travel itinerary including trip details, purpose, cost centre 1000 responsible for travel expenses and (optionally) any group booking information where the traveller is part of a group.
  • the traveller / arranger may provide further travel requirements 604 which may be customized for the particular workflow.
  • the travel request is submitted 606 to booking tool 608, it will be noted that multiple booking tools are offered. Depending on the traveller's company office, profile or configuration they will be routed to the appropriate booking tool.
  • TMP Data from TMP is carried across 610 to the booking tool to automatically sign a user into the tool and begin searching based on the data entered by a traveller / travel arranger when building an itinerary.
  • the traveller / arranger may select 612 segment options.
  • the booking is then checked for 1015 conformance with corporate policy 614. If it does not conform 616 the booking with itinerary is loaded into TMP automatically awaiting approval 620.
  • a cost approval process 622 is then followed with review by an authorizer 624, cost centre authorizer 626 and business unit authorizer 628 who each receive the quotes 630, 632, 634. Any of the authorizers 624, 626, 628 may require editing of the trip for reasons of cost.
  • details of the itinerary and cost are passed for approval action, or other action where the itinerary is not approved.
  • the traveller is notified 638 of the approved itinerary and the booking tool books the tickets and the trip is marked as booked 640.
  • the booking tool cancels the booking 644 and the 325 trip is cancelled. Discussion may be required in which case a notification 646 is issued to the traveller. Alternatively, a new approver may be selected.
  • the traveller is notified 642 of the booked itinerary. Further trip edits may be allowed before the trip is booked 648. Alternatively, the booking may be 330 cancelled 660.
  • Fig. 17 shows a work flow for a pre-trip approval only process, with both online and offline configurations.
  • the traveller / arranger selects a workflow to begin the trip request 700, and completes 702 an initial travel itinerary including trip details, purpose, cost centre responsible for travel expenses and (optionally) any group booking information where the traveller is part of a group.
  • the traveller / arranger may provide further travel requirements 704 which may be customized for the particular workflow.
  • the travel request is submitted 706 to an approver, the approver receiving details of the request by email 708.
  • the trip may require to be edited (for example to increase or 345 decrease duration for business reasons), in which case it is returned to the traveller / arranger for input of amended details 702. Where no editing is required, the request is considered for approval. If approved, the traveller is notified 710 of the approved pre-trip and an email providing the itinerary and travel authorization code is provided.
  • a notification 720 is forwarded to the traveller. Discussion may be required in which case the approver enters a message into chat feed 730 and a notification 740 is issued to the traveller. Alternatively, a new approver may be selected.
  • the request may be checked to determine whether the proposed trip includes travel to a country having a high risk status 722. Where that check is negative 722, a further approval is gained and the traveller notified 724, the notification email also including itinerary and travel authorization code.
  • the approver receives a pre-trip approval email and clicks to review the request 726.
  • the trip may be edited to avoid that country, and then sent for approval action.
  • the edited request may be declined with the traveller receiving notification 742 and the traveller being permitted to amend the original request.
  • the approver may enter a message into a chat feed 744, and the traveller notified 746 that discussion is required.
  • the present systems may comprise network connections between servers of any one or more of the traveller / travel arranger, a coordinating entity (such as LocomoteTM travel management platform), a travel management company, a corporate, and an online booking company.
  • a coordinating entity such as LocomoteTM travel management platform
  • a travel management company such as a travel management company
  • a corporate such as a corporate
  • an online booking company such as a hotel, a coordinating entity, a travel management company, a corporate, and an online booking company.
  • Figs. 18 to 20 show the various tasks carried out by the individual servers in the network for a range of activities viz; traveller profile creation (Fig. 18), profile amendment (Fig. 19) and profile deletion (Fig. 20).
  • Figs. 19 to 20 Central to the systems defined by Figs. 19 to 20 is the real time synchronization of servers of the coordinating entity and the online booking.

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Abstract

La présente invention concerne un système informatique, destiné à faciliter des arrangements de trajet personnel, au sein d'une organisation. Le système comprend : un moyen permettant d'obtenir des informations requises pour l'approbation d'un trajet par un procédé guidé, un moyen permettant de créer un plan de trajet proposé sur la base des informations requises pour l'approbation du trajet, en option, un moyen permettant l'examen du plan de trajet proposé par le personnel de l'organisation, ainsi qu'un moyen permettant de créer un itinéraire proposé. Le plan de trajet proposé et/ou l'itinéraire proposé sont créés par référence à une règle de l'organisation relative au trajet et/ou par référence aux informations fournies par une ou plusieurs entités externes à l'organisation.
PCT/AU2013/000976 2012-08-31 2013-08-30 Procédés et systèmes de facilitation d'une planification de trajet WO2014032111A1 (fr)

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AU2012903774A AU2012903774A0 (en) 2012-08-31 Methods and systems for facilitating travel planning

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Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN110992214A (zh) * 2019-11-29 2020-04-10 成都中科大旗软件股份有限公司 一种基于旅游名县和示范区的服务管理系统和方法

Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2003034179A2 (fr) * 2001-10-16 2003-04-24 Outtask, Inc. Systeme et procede de gestion des reservations et de l'offre de produits de voyage et de services
WO2006111411A1 (fr) * 2005-04-22 2006-10-26 Sap Ag Creation d'un itineraire de voyage au moyen d'un logiciel de groupe
US20080189148A1 (en) * 2007-02-07 2008-08-07 Jason Diaz Ground transportation booking
US20080201178A1 (en) * 2007-02-20 2008-08-21 Yuri Vizitei On-demand travel management service and platform

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2003034179A2 (fr) * 2001-10-16 2003-04-24 Outtask, Inc. Systeme et procede de gestion des reservations et de l'offre de produits de voyage et de services
WO2006111411A1 (fr) * 2005-04-22 2006-10-26 Sap Ag Creation d'un itineraire de voyage au moyen d'un logiciel de groupe
US20080189148A1 (en) * 2007-02-07 2008-08-07 Jason Diaz Ground transportation booking
US20080201178A1 (en) * 2007-02-20 2008-08-21 Yuri Vizitei On-demand travel management service and platform

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN110992214A (zh) * 2019-11-29 2020-04-10 成都中科大旗软件股份有限公司 一种基于旅游名县和示范区的服务管理系统和方法
CN110992214B (zh) * 2019-11-29 2022-08-16 成都中科大旗软件股份有限公司 一种基于旅游名县和示范区的服务管理系统和方法

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