Cellsys simplifies ticketing for Unitrans Passenger

E-ticketing is big news for carriers, offering benefits like simplifying the booking process, saving time for both the carrier and the traveller, and allowing substantial cost savings to be passed on to customers.

Booking takes place online or over the phone and once payment has been confirmed, the customer is supplied with a booking reference number, which must be presented to the check-in clerk, who will generate a ticket or boarding pass for the customer at check-in time.

While on the outset this seems simple enough, the only problem is that these booking reference numbers are not easy to remember and travellers resort to writing them down on a scrap of paper, which more often than not are forgotten at home or copied down incorrectly.

SMS Cellular Services' Cellsys Application Server has assisted Unitrans Passenger, which operates the Greyhound, Magic Bus, Mega Tours and Mega Bus services in SA, in solving this issue, by enabling the carrier to send the booking reference number to the customer's mobile phone in the form of an SMS.

"If we look at the market penetration of cellular telephony in SA and how reliant the public is on mobile phones, the one thing a customer is unlikely to leave behind is their cellphone," says Barry Prinsloo, sales director of SMS Cellular Services. "Add to this the fact that SMS is the perfect format for this kind of application and the fact that our solution guarantees the delivery of text messages and you have a truly reliable method of ensuring that customers have the correct reference number and will have it with them when they arrive at the bus terminal."

From a technical point of view, the Cellsys Application server runs on a Windows 2000 back-end and Unitrans has chosen to use a thin-client solution at its call centre, which eases management and reduces downtime.

In terms of the SMS service, this means that regardless of whether the thin-client is located on the local LAN (local area network) or remotely, across a WAN (wide area network) Unitrans is afforded the ability to completely manage the service from a central point. It also allows text messages to be sent from a single point through a gateway to the cellular provider, saving on infrastructure costs substantially.

"Because the SMS application system is ActiveDirectory and LDAP aware, policies can be used on Unitrans' thin-clients to ensure that staff members only have access to the functionality they require and are limited to a preset list of messages they can use in their interactions with customers," says Prinsloo. "This integration also means that the solution also allows for a complete audit trail, so administrators and managers can pull detailed reports on what volume of messages call centre agents are sending and monitor the effectiveness of set text messages.

"What really adds value to the solution is the fact that the Cellsys Application Server supports two way communications, allowing customers to reply to the initial SMS from the carrier with queries, saving them the cost of a phone call to the call centre and allowing Unitrans to reduce the resource allocated to its call centre," says Prinsloo.

Mark Venter, ICT manager at Unitrans Passenger, says: "After investigating the offerings on the market thoroughly, Cellsys was found to be the perfect enterprise SMS enablement platform that will cater for all current and future requirements."

The solution still has massive potential to offer more value, Prinsloo explains. "Future plans include being able to send barcode images to customers' cellphones, allowing check in clerks to simply scan the code from the phone's screen, further simplifying the process for both parties," he concludes.