CTM technology highlights 2019

CTM is committed to providing customers with solutions that better serve their travel needs. To demonstrate this commitment, we are continually developing and enhancing our own suite of leading travel technology.

In a 12-month period, the CTM tech team launched a range of features and enhancements to our travel technology. The highlights of developments to our online booking tools, that directly benefit clients are detailed below.

Building our own proprietary technology allows us to fully control our development roadmap. Using continual feedback loops and CTM User Labs coupled with an agile approach to technology development, we can respond quickly to user and market demand, within an everchanging technology landscape; developing technology and enhancements to existing features that our users have asked for.

CTM User Labs

Through feedback loops and CTM User Labs, we gain invaluable insights from the people who use our products, allowing us to deliver enhancements to our technology that directly benefit the user when they need it.

Agile Development

At CTM our UK-based technology teams operate on a development ‘sprint’ every two weeks. The focus of each sprint is based on captured feedback and emerging trends within the industry or our client base that demand attention. This iteration approach allows us to continually improve the solution.

Below we list some of the key updates to our CTM travel technology suite from the last 12 months.

 

Split ticketing for rail

Split ticketing allows users to purchase two or more single rail tickets for one journey, rather than one ‘return’ ticket. This can result in significant rail savings for our clients.

Get Me There

When the user searches for a trip – from London to Paris, say – Lightning uses information from stored traveller profiles to recommend an end to end journey solution that may include, for example, taxi from home to St Pancras, Eurostar options, taxi and hotel recommendations at the other end plus the return journey options. All the user has to do then, is simply click on the options they want and hit ‘book’, saving time and hassle.

Online hotel amends

The ability to amend and cancel hotels within Lightning.

Fully customisable approval controls

Approval rules based on active or passive, product types and product associated rate caps, all configurable to the traveller’s policy rules.

Air versus rail

The ability to compare air and rail bookings simultaneously, resulting in savings.

Enhanced reporting templates

Clients can run their own reports and create customised templates to pull the data.

Hotel Tagging

Lightning now includes hotel tagging such as preferred/recent etc. This contributes to the driving of preferred hotel programmes to maximise benefits to clients and travellers.

Certified for visually impaired users

Lightning has been certified for WCAG, allowing visually impaired bookers and travellers to use the platform independently. When the user hovers the mouse over the screen, they receive verbal instructions.

Configurable content

Clients can configure Lightning around their travel policy (product/location/required approval, etc), as well as the role of the person making the booking.