Ferry operators
FerryRes provides reservation, check-in, and ticketing and administration capabilities specific to ferry operations. It also integrates with the @com eBusiness Suite, enabling operators to offer additional land-based services.
FerryRes is a modular and highly configurable solution, adaptable to the industry’s many different operational models, from passenger-only fast ferries through conventional passenger and vehicle operations to services including on-board accommodation.
An integrated solution covering all aspects of booking, ticketing, port processing, accounting and administration, FerryRes has been designed to be highly user friendly, with a choice of user interfaces enabling sale of an ever-increasing range of ferry products, through channels including call centres, travel agents and the web.
Pricing and yield management
FerryRes enables both enhanced customer service and management decisions based on price, capacity and yield. A highly flexible pricing mechanism links to a rules-based product set-up that also supports yield management. Pricing routines accommodate route, date and time-based tariffs according to vessel type and days of operation. Powerful inventory yield management controls prevent excessive sale of capacity at too low a price, and helps operators ‘upsell’ customers from promotional to higher yielding fares, maximising revenues.
Reservation
FerryRes reservation functionality handles both passengers and vehicles, is easy to use, and can be implemented through a range of channels. Point-to-point and multi-leg journeys can be booked, incorporating land-based accommodation and transfers via @comRES. Once a booking is made, FerryRes provides full support for invoicing, payment processing, ticketing, booking amendment and cancellation.
Ancillary services include:
- Customer recognition
- Cabins and seats
- Restaurants
- Meetings and conferences
- Arrangements ashore
- Connections and transfers
- Packages
- Shopping
Inventory control
Efficiency and productivity enhancements are achieved across the business by combining all saleable inventories (passenger, freight and ancillary services) within one unified system.
Ticketing and documentation
FerryRes provides a wide range of ticketing options, including paper tickets, bar coding or magnetic strip encoding, e-ticketing and ticketless travel. In addition to travel tickets, vouchers can be printed for additional on-board services. FerryRes also supports the production of boarding cards including optional magnetically encoded cabin entry keys. Layout and content of tickets, vouchers and boarding cards is entirely under the ferry operator’s control.
Customer database
The customer database is enterprise-wide, travel-oriented, and fully integrated with the reservation process. It is designed to manage customer booking and contact data, track direct marketing activities and handle questionnaire analysis and complaints from the customer relations system. Remote access using a secure browser interface via satellite enables easy, regular ship-to-shore communication.
Reporting
FerryRes provides a range of decision support tools, including management reporting extracts to aid operations and forecasting. Decision support via Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) enables in-house development of reports using standard tools such as Microsoft Excel or Crystal Reports. Our consultancy service can help identify reporting requirements and extract invaluable management information from data.
Check-in
FerryRes offers the option of a two-stage check-in, similar to that widely used at airports. Stage one allows retrieval of booking details and in the case of group or multiple vehicle bookings, check-in and boarding card printing for individual passengers and vehicles on arrival. The optional stage two can be used at embarkation, updating the system with details of checked-in passengers and vehicles as they board. The two stages can be combined into a single operation, with automated, self-service check-in facilities fully supported.
