Smartpoint Cloud Automation

Smartpoint Cloud will support multiple tools and systems to enable travel agencies, operators, and others to automate their processes in order to streamline and enhance their operations to improve efficiency, reduce manual work, and provide better service to customers.

Smartpoint Cloud automation strategy consists of:

  • Custom Shortcuts (custom commands and import 1GV PKeys and 1P macros)

  • Cloud Connector

  • Desktop Bridge “Thin Client”

  • Cloud Scripts

  • Native SDK

Here is a high-level architectural diagram depicting the implementation of the above-mentioned solutions:

 

Introduction

Smartpoint Cloud is an easy-to-use travel Point of Sale that focuses on putting people at the center of the experience. Travel advisers will love how simple it is to use, whether they’re a novice or an experienced agent personalizing the workspace to match their own preferences and working from any PC. Travel admins will love how easily it integrates with their own systems and with other Travelport products, without needing local deployment. Business owners will love how effectively it works to combine multiple sources of air and hospitality content into one place, maximizing agent efficiencies.

The current Smartpoint Cloud release supports a full booking and servicing workflow and is mainly based around a cryptic user interface. Releases throughout the alpha phase will add graphical interfaces. Travelport will continue this iterative release process until the product is commercially available. The early releases may not contain all features critical for your business; therefore, these early releases may not be suitable for all. However, the product will continue to evolve as features are added over time.

The key elements of Smartpoint Cloud are:

  • Delivered through the cloud. Smartpoint Cloud is accessed via a PC or Mac browser, needs no installation or maintenance, and will be updated without any downloading.

  • Multi-source content delivered into one convenient Point of Sale. Future development will incorporate content from ATPCo, NDC fares, hotel, car, and rail.

  • Focus around the user experience. Through repeated research prototyping and agent interviews, it reflects a set of design principles that will help existing users feel comfortable, reduce additional training, and enable both cryptic and graphical experiences to appeal to both the experienced and novice agent.

  • More capabilities and features will be unlocked as the product matures.

Important: Smartpoint Cloud is designed to work on Chrome browsers.

Connect your standalone desktop application with Smartpoint Cloud using Connector

The connector library provides capability to regional Travelport teams, agencies and third-party developers to be able to perform two-way communication with Smartpoint Cloud. This includes the following capabilities:

  • Sending actions to Smartpoint Cloud, such as sending terminal entries including silently or a pre-populated search screen

  • Sending GWS XML and KLR transactions

  • Intercepting any terminal commands

  • Sending commands, such as moving the cursor, entering tab stops, clearing the terminal, and inserting mode toggle

  • Receiving events, such as terminal response, search performed, and PNR retrieved

  • Retrieving content, such as terminal text, TP+SessionId, available work area, and last terminal entry

  • Toggling ticketing ability

Support existing Smartpoint Desktop apps and scripts using Desktop Bridge

Allows Travelport to guide existing Smartpoint Desktop customers in the transition to full Smartpoint Cloud without disrupting bespoke/coded/developed technologies that they require to transact.​ Customers using the Desktop bridge can immediately take advantage of what Cloud has to offer – a superior NDC experience, new graphical capabilities, and continuous enhancements delivered seamlessly though each new release.

No immediate re-development of scripts or apps is therefore required.

Automate workflow using Cloud Scripts

Cloud Scripts provides a scripting solution in Smartpoint Cloud so that agency customers can improve, automate, and customize their workflows to increase efficiency and quality control processes. A Cloud scripts user can introduce and configure steps that prompt the users for input, displays messages to the user, interacts with the terminal, and runs JavaScript snippets.

Customize Smartpoint Cloud using the SDK

Travelport will be offering customers access to the Smartpoint Cloud SDK API so that third-party developers can build their own custom plug-ins for Smartpoint Cloud. These plug-ins can be used to extend Smartpoint's capabilities by creating new business opportunities or enhancing an agency's workflow. For example, plug-ins could be developed to provide the following:

  • Fulfill regional or agency-specific business needs

  • Offer non-GDS, ancillary services

  • Integrate third-party applications with Smartpoint

  • Integrate back- and mid-office systems

This is still in development.