What's the Latest in TRAMS Training?

For new TRAMS Back Office users, the live TBO Overview WebEx class is used as a starting point to implement the program. This class is a prerequisite to attending the 2-day hands-on training at one of our training centers.

Need more instruction on ClientBase Plus Res Cards?

Learn about our 1-day hands-on Advanced Res Card training class at one of our training centers. If you can't attend the hands-on class, sign up for the 5 specially designed Res Card Live WebEx classes: Res Cards - Part 1, 2, 3; Inventory Manager: Overview and Setup, and Inventory Manager: Using Res Cards to Pull from Inventory.

Announcing TRAMS IC/Host Export Utility

The TRAMS IC/Host Export Utility is designed for independent contractors (IC) and host agencies to share data more efficiently. IC's using the host's GDS create invoices marked with their own IC code which are then interfaced by the host into the host's TRAMS Back-Office (TBO) database. This utility gives the Host the ability to transfer these interfaced invoices to the IC for importing into their IC copy of TRAMS Back Office. An IC must have a copy of TRAMS Back Office to receive records from a host agency using this utility. The utility also allows IC's, using ClientBase to create invoices, to export those invoices and share them with the host agency.

Employee News

This quarter we have two new employees: Danny Tran and Susan Diaz. Danny joined the TRAMS Testing Department in June. Susan started with TRAMS July 19th and will be our new receptionist. We welcome them both to the TRAMS family.

There many companies vying to be that new “Reservation System”, “Point of Sales Tool”, “Desktop”, “Travel Merchandizing System” or whatever name one choose. Their concept is to be the one place or “front end” that connects to a variety of places that agents wish to shop and book.

Why the migration? When an America West airline pays 5% commission for a Web based reservation, and 0% for a reservation booked through a traditional CRS, agents have incentive to use a source other than a CRS.

MARK travel with their VAX product provided various incentive and integration options for agents and went from 12% to over 65% Web-based reservations in just the last year! And, MARK Travel saves 6 phone calls per reservation due to the information available via their Website as compared to information available in a CRS or via the telephone.

Truly, suppliers are providing plenty of incentive for this migration from the traditional CRS (where everything was created and processed in the CRS) to a new environment.

Weather or not the migration leads to one “next generation GDS” that provides a common front end and shopping system that connects to many “content” or booking places, is yet to be determined. Agents may end up using a combination of sites and places for bookings. Personally, I feel that with the supplier incentives in place, we will migrate to a hybrid where agents use a few booking or reservation tools – perhaps a cruise one, primary tour one, a specialty tour one, air, and a couple of backups. Only time will tell where the migration really leads.

One part I am totally sure of, is each of these booking engines will integrate or “Live Connect” to the reservation card in ClientBase so that agents can quickly and easily process (print itineraries, invoice, link to the back office, report on, etc.) the reservation regardless of where it was made quickly and easily.

Thanks for reading. Thanks for working with us and being our client. And thanks for working with us on technology solutions for the future.

Lee

Shirley Sweeney and Paul Sonenshine from our Support Desk contribute to this newsletter with TRAMS Back Office and ClientBase tips that we’re confident you will find useful.

Shirley is an eight-year member of our Support Team, as well as, one of our instructors in Los Angeles, at TechU and Summer Camp. She explains the new features and look of the Deposit Screen in TRAMS Back Office.

Paul is a seven-year member of our team and our ClientBase expert on the desk. He is always willing to help and patiently takes the time to share his knowledge with his colleagues and our clients. Paul prepared a list of frequently asked questions along with the answers to those questions that you may find helpful. Thank you, Paul and Shirley for your contribution to our Support Team.

Joan McLeod
Office Manager

New Deposit Screen
(By Shirley Sweeney)

You’ve updated to 2.05.00, and notice that we’ve changed the Deposit screen (Payments|Deposit). This change is designed to assist your agency in making sure your receipts and deposits balance at the end of the month and you also now have the option of printing a deposit slip listing all the receipts for a deposit.

When you enter the payment date, the receipt date range automatically fills and you can now query for all receipts for the specified bank account by the date range. We still recommend entering the receipts on the same date as your deposit. If your receipt date range is for more than one day, your GL Reconciliation Report lists a warning that your receipts and deposits are different for each date. By default, all of the receipts in the date range are included in the total for the deposit. You do have the option to select and toggle the receipt so it is not included if are doing more than one deposit for that date.

You can print a copy of the receipts for this Deposit by clicking the Deposit Slip button. This slip includes your routing number and bank account if you have entered this information in Utilities|Setup|Bank Accounts. Several agencies have found that if you attach a blank copy of your bank’s deposit slip to this form, your bank may accept this for your deposit slip saving you manually filling out the bank’s deposit slip.

Since the receipt and the deposit are linked, you cannot void a receipt without voiding the deposit. If you right mouse click on a receipt, you can view the deposit to get a payment number, making it easier to query and void a deposit.

ClientBase Q&A
(By Paul Sonenshine)

Q. I'm doing a query for a marketing promotion and I want to exclude anyone that has a specific marketing code selected. How do I do this?

A. Do a Level 3 query. When you open the Marketing Tab, find the code you want to exclude and click it twice. The first click adds a check, the second click adds an exclude symbol. Any profiles containing this code are not included in your profile query result list.

Q. Why aren't the addresses moving across in Merge to PNR or when I create a new Res Card!

A. Check to be sure that you have an address designated with a Type of "Bill To" and/or "Ship To".

Q: I would like to do some e-mail marketing but just don't have enough e-mail addresses in my database? How can I build my database?

A: Targeted e-mail marketing can be your most effective and least expensive form of marketing. To take advantage of this opportunity, you just need to do two things:

1. Make a commitment to collect and maintain your customer's e-mail addresses.

2. Use the tool that ClientBase Plus provides. Using the Required Fields feature in the Global Default menu, set the E-mail Address field to "optional" for Leisure profiles and your agents automatically get a reminder each time they try to save a profile without an e-mail entry. Setting the Required Field Option to "Required" is not recommended, as you cannot save a profile or any change without entering an e-mail address and not all clients have them just yet.

Q: Whenever I try to use Live Connect, I get a script error when connecting to the provider’s website.

A. Check to be sure all the Live Connect Vendor Codes are in Upper Case.

Q: Where can I a get a list of all participating Live Connect providers and their vendor codes?

A. For the most current list, visit the TRAMS website and click on the link for participating Live Connect Providers.

Q: How do I get Vendor Lists to show up in my family/employee level travel preferences?

A. In the Employee/Family Member Profile Tab, you have the capability of identifying who your clients' preferred vendors are by travel category. For a listing of vendors to appear in the corresponding tab, you must first associate your Vendor profiles with the desired travel category. For instance, for Carnival to appear as an option within the "Cruise Prefs" tab, open Carnival's profile, click the arrow to the right of the travel category box, and check Cruise. Bet you a buck it shows up in the cruise preference list in the Family Member tab of the profile.

Q: How Do I Find my Past Customers with “No Business” for the Past Year?

A. Assuming you have travel history from TRAMS Back Office or imported from another system, use a Level 3 Query.

1. In General Tab, set Travel Type to Leisure
2. In Travel History Tab Filter Type=Does NOT Have Any Travel History Records with the following criteria

a. Set Invoice Issue Dates to: "=0,0,-1" to "=0,0,0"
b. Set Invoice Total Fare to: 1.00 to 100,000.00

Q: How Do I Delete Profiles with Activities

A: If you have tried to delete profiles with activities, you know you can't delete the profiles until you delete the activities. Here is a simple way to do it.

1. Change the profiles to Inactive.
2. In Activity Manager, using a level 2 query, find all the activities attached to the Inactive Profiles you just updated. You may also wish to use other profile criteria such as modify date.
3. Go to the Edit Menu at the top of the screen and click Select All and delete the Activities.
4. In Profile Manager, delete all the Profiles using the same criteria used in step 2.

Hope you find this helpful.

• If you have TRAMS Back Office you can easily find customers that haven’t booked with you recently by doing a Level 3 Query. First set the Profile Type to Leisure or Corporate, then click the Travel History tab and use the Invoice Issue Date From/To fields as your filter.
• If you want clients that haven’t booked with you in the last 2 years then set your Search Operator to “Exclude” and enter =0,0,-2 in the From and =0,0,0 in the To. The last digit in date formula entered in the From field reflects the number of years back that you want to search.
• From the results click on Merge to Letter and select a letter that you have customized from Global Defaults|Document Templates.

• Looking to take a baby step into e-mail marketing? AiPlus e-Postcards is a great place to begin. They do have a small annual subscription fee (less than $100) but provide you with a large variety of colorful, thematic, HTML postcards that you can easily personalize and blast from ClientBase.
• To take a look at what AiPlus has to offer, click the Internet Manager in ClientBase and then click the AiPlus link. On the login page enter Kenj in the User Name and trams1 in the Password. (Don’t send any actual e-mails using this login as the TRAMS information appears at the bottom of each postcard.)
• AiPlus has postcards targeted towards Leisure travelers, Corporate travelers, specific destinations or special occasions. Just pick a post card and the target audience you want to send it to and take the following steps.
• Using ClientBase Plus, create a Document Template including the merge fields you would like to include on the postcard and a very brief message (remember it’s a postcard). Copy the body of the template to your clipboard (Ctrl C) and then navigate to your Internet Manager.
• From the Internet Manager log into AiPlus and select the desired postcard. Paste your message into the body (Ctrl V) and then click on Display Message to get a clean view of the postcard.
• Click on the Profile Manager and query the desired profiles you would like to send the postcard to.
• Click on Merge to E-mail, set the Mode to Raw HTML and click the button “Copy from Manager”. All of the AiPlus HTML will be copied. Click the Preview button to verify how it will appear when sent and after entering a Subject and verifying your SMTP Settings, click Send All.

• Want to send out professional HTML promotions to your clients quickly and easily? Need more marketing content?
• TMA - Travel Marketing Associates provides turnkey HTML promotional content and support free to ClientBase users.
• Such vendors as Seabourn, Carnival, Trafalgar, Funjet and many more work with TMA to provide content and training enabling ClientBase agencies to send personalized and professional promotions to clients.
• TMA folks are professional marketing people that can also create individual marketing pieces for agencies at very reasonable prices.
• Click on E-mail Marketing with TMA in your Internet Manager for more information.

• Use the Sunday travel section of your local newspaper, or travel magazines such as Conde Nast Traveler, or the Internet to find unique travel articles targeted to niche markets.
• Query your database using the Level 2 Query and your Marketing Codes by Interest or Destination.
• Photocopy the article and attach a brief note.
• Use Merge to Label from the results of your query to print out labels.

• Nothing like a postcard from an exotic location to get you in the mood to travel.
• Next time you or an agent go on a fam trip, use the Level 2 Query to query for all clients who have an interest in the destination you are going to. For example, you or one of your agents is going to the Galapagos Islands. Query for all clients interested in the Galapagos Islands or Ecuador or South America depending on how you have your Marketing Codes setup.
• From the results click Columns and arrange your columns so that the name, full address fields and salutation field is included.
• Now that the necessary information is appearing in your query results print a listing by going to Reports|Profile|Current Query Results.
• If you have too many results to hand write the postcard addresses, use Merge to Label to print out labels.

• Only true travel professionals take their role as travel advisors seriously enough to send out Passport renewal reminders.
• First go to Global Defaults|Document Templates to load and customize the default Passport Expiration Letter.
• Next, use the Level 2 Query and click on the Family/Employee tab to enter your Passport Expiration Date From and To fields. Since these types of letters can probably be done on a quarterly basis, enter the upcoming 3 month time frame and click OK.
• From the results click on Merge to E-mail if you would like to e-mail the letter (Document Templates is one of the E-mail Modes) or click on Merge to Letter if you would like to print and mail the letter.

• If your agency has completed the QuickStart Training program then your agents have already been trained to create a new Res Card with each new leisure trip inquiry.
• This habit makes it possible for you to see how many trip inquiries came into your agency in a given day, week or month, a good indication on how well your marketing is doing. It also gives you the opportunity to see the current Reservation Cycle and statistics for closing percentages.
• From your Res Card Manager click on the Level 2 Query tab then click on Filter. Use the Res Card Create Date to query your new Res Cards. Use the following date formulas:

From =-1,0,0 To =-1,0,0 (Gives you yesterday’s inquiries)
From = -7,0,0 To = (Gives you inquiries for the last week)
From =-30,0,0 To = (Gives you inquiries for the last month)

• From your Query results use your File|Save Query As feature to create a default folder for the desired filters above.
• From your Query results click on Reports/Res Card Reports then Reservation Cycle Report to get statistics on the Reservation Cycles for the current query.
• From your Query results click on the Columns button and add RESCARD.Res Cycle to the “Fields in Columns” and then click the Sort By Columns tab sort on this field.
• Retrieve each Res Card that has not yet been booked and verify that the agent has a Reminder scheduled for future follow-up. If not, create one for her/him and set an Alarm so she/he is sure to see it.

Value Added #1:? Did you know that you can now add the "Login Username" and "Print Time" to the Check Writer Setup under Utilities | Setup | Checks. Now when printing your checks, the check stub will indicate which Back Office User printed the check and the 'Date' and 'Time' the check was printed.

Value Added #2:? You can now set up Bank, Branch and G/L Branch Groups and specify "Members" of the Groups for those Group Types. Under Utilities/Setup/Groups you can create the Bank, Branch & G/L Branch Groups as you do any other types of Groups. When the Group is created you then have access to a new "Members" button that allows you to add the specific Bank Accounts, Branches & G/L Branches from a side-by-side window of "Available" and "Included" items. Simply move the items to be part of the group from the left side to the right side to include them in the Group.

Value Added #3:? Do you ever need to filter vendor statements by amount, so you aren?t sending out statements to vendors for insignificant amounts not worth the postage to send them?? Now you can.? We have added a ?Minimum Total Open? field to both client and vendor statements so that you can filter what statements get generated. This field works for both Statement & Summary Report Types. The field is intended to sort through ALL Client or Vendor Profiles and only display those Client or Vendor Statements that "exceeds" the minimum amount entered into the "Minimum Total Open" Field.  The field has no effect on a query for a single Client/Vendor or a group of Clients/Vendors.  

Value Added #4:? The selection criteria on the Report Generator | Print Report Screen | General Tab, now has a ?Ck/CC No? field. Now you can enter either a check number or credit card number to only display invoices where the Client paid with the entered number. If a credit card number was the form of payment, only items using that credit card number appear in the report. The CC Number Field reads from Left to Right, so that entering a "4" will query for all credit card numbers beginning with 4. This allows you to run reports for all Invoices where the Client used Visa as the form of payment, for example.

Value Added #5:? In addition there is a new Client "Payment Method" field on the Report Generator Selection Criteria Screen. Now you can narrow your search by ?Payment Method? and only display those items where the client has paid by that selected payment method. This field coupled with the new "Ck/CC No" field allows you to run reports for all Invoices where the Client form of payment was by 'Credit Card' for either a specific credit card or for all credit cards beginning with a "4" (all VISA transactions).

Value Added #6:? A new ?Quick Add? feature was incorporated into the ?Create New Journal Entry? screen when creating a new Journal Entry from a payment.?? Just enter the Account Name or Account Number and click on "Add", or use the Hot Key "Alt-A", and the opposite Debit or Credit amount will be auto added.

Value Added #7:? Do you ever have a need for only a couple of Branches, to show in the Branch drop down window, on the 'Create New Payment Received' Screen??? Maybe you have ?inactive? branches or branches that only apply to certain users in your agency company based on their tasks.?? To set up only specific branches to appear in the drop down, go to Utilities/Setup/User Profile, while signed in with Admin rights.? Under the ?Permissions? Tab for each user you want to limit, select their correct Branches from the drop down ?Branch Permissions? field.?? Save the changes.  When each user logs into TBO they will only see their specific Branches in the drop down window, on the 'Create New Payment Received' Screen.

Value Added #8:? We have added the ability to reconcile ?old? 'Hotel' commissions through CommTrak Hotels, an outsource firm providing recovery services to travel agencies. Typically, an agency will use this company to chase unpaid hotel commissions over 16 to 18 months old.  These would be commissions that you have not been able to collect on through the normal Pegasus or NPC process. CommTrak Hotels splits the recovered commissions with your agency.  You will need to contact CommTrak Corp to set up an account with them.  mailto:rmiersch@verizon.net.

When you have established an account with CommTrak Corp you will need to send CommTrak a data file (extract) containing aged, unresolved records.  This "CommTrak Export" file is a Crystal Export and can be found at http://www.trams.com/prTcr/reports.thtml. Download the "CommTrak Export" under "Vendor Reports" and save to your desktop.  Run the export and forward the results to CommTrak. 

When CommTrak has reconciled the export you sent them, they will forward a file back to you that can then be reconciled to your open Back Office Hotel bookings.  Under Payments/Pegasus-NPC Reconciliation you will find a new drop down option for "CommTrak".  Click on "Import Filename" and locate the reconciled file you received from CommTrak and perform the reconciliation, as you would normally for a Pegasus or NPC file.

Value Added #9:? On the invoice screen, two new menu options have been added when right-clicking on a booking. Now you have a quick link to the original ticket or to the exchanged ticket on ARC/BSP transactions. Only the appropriate item for the type of booking you are viewing will be available, and the other link will be dimmed.

* Query Original Invoice (for exchanges)
* Query Exchange Invoice (for Sale tickets)

Value Added #10:? When making payment to Vendors, it would be helpful to know at the time of making the payment, that the Client has paid the agency and the payment has been reflected in Back Office.? To aid you we have added new ?Client Pay Status? and ?Vendor Pay Status? columns on the Create New Payment screen. You need to "add" the new items to the "Displayed Fields" side of the window under the "Columns" Button on each Payment Screen you want them to appear on. Now you will be able to see if the Client Payment has been received and posted before sending the check to the Vendor, or that the Vendor Refund has been received before sending the refund check to the Client.