AMGiNE, provider of the leading AI automation platform for managed business travel, and modern customer service platform, Front, have expanded their partnership to service travel management companies (TMCs) in the UK now that AMGiNE is GDPR compliant. The companies also announced today the completion of their technology integration, which delivers feature-rich capabilities that make it easier for corporate travel agencies to service multiple booking channels and achieve significant agent efficiencies.
Front and AMGiNE both serve the needs of travel agents that handle corporate travel bookings over email. Front’s customer service platform is used by over 100 global TMCs – including Reed & Mackay, Options Travel, Cain Travel, Executive Travel, and Good Travel Management – to solve email management and workflow automation challenges such as agent collisions, slow response times, missed messages, and duplicate replies. TMCs rely on AMGINE and benefit from its use of artificial intelligence (AI) and email automation to pre-process emailed travel requests and route GDS search results to agents or directly to a traveler via its automated booking tool.
Technology Integration Streamlines How Emailed Travel Requests are Handled
Following a technology integration between AMGiNE and Front, the way TMC agents process travel requests is now significantly streamlined. Historically, emailed travel requests are delivered to a shared email inbox and agents select the emails they will tackle. They then undertake a manual search and extract travel booking data from the GDS. Fast forward to today, with the completed technology integration between the two platforms, the entire travel booking process is automated. Push notifications are sent to an agent, alerting them that a request is ready to be serviced. Then, all the manual effort previously required by an agent to read an email, search for content in the GDS, and cut and paste selections into an email is fully automated.
The Front workflow seamlessly routes emailed requests to different groups of agents using structured notifications. AMGiNE then monitors incoming travel requests via webhooks and uses the Front API to automate actions. For example, if AMGiNE detects an in-scope travel request email, the application will either assign emails to an agent or automatically initiate a GDS search and return results to the agent or directly to the traveler with recommendations that they can then shop.
Agents are also able to submit rapid itinerary requests connected to a specific corporate account and traveler in Front. In real-time, with an agent on the phone servicing a traveler booking request, AMGiNE returns content instantly and allows the agent to select flights and proceed to booking, or send the selected options to the traveler. A webform powered by AMGiNE is now also available to the agent while they are servicing a travel request. This enables the agent to do a GDS search according to policy and traveler profile information, and generate responses to the traveler instantly, including via email.
“Front offers best-in-class inbox workflow management and customer service capabilities for TMCs and we intend to continue to grow our joint list of customers here in North America and now in the UK market,” says Greg Apple, CEO of AMGiNE.
When combined with Front’s customer service SLAs and processing metrics, AMGiNE’s ability to parse emails and orchestrate with other systems like the GDS gives TMCs far greater insight into inbound requests. Plus, with AMGiNE’s new automated classification capabilities, TMCs now also gain insights into the types of emails routed through Front to agents. AMGiNE identifies all incoming emails and classifies the type of request – including invoice requests, change requests, or initial booking requests – and intelligently routes it through Front via a queue to a specific group of agents to service.
“Front is deepening our investment in the corporate travel management industry. Our expanded partnership with AMGiNE adds even more efficiency to the travel planning experience for our current and future customers,” says Craig Klemp, VP of Partnerships and Global Business Development at Front. “AMGiNE and Front’s integration will offer best-in-class efficiency gains for TMCs looking to streamline their serviceability in their offline channels.”
Industry-leading TMCs to benefit from the expanded partnership between AMGiNE and Front
Several TMCs that are currently rolling out AMGiNE and Front share their perspectives on the integration between the two platforms:
“Adding AMGiNE to our Front platform is going to drive significantly more efficiency into our customer support teams,” said Michael Cain, President of Cain Travel. “AMGiNE’s ability to seamlessly integrate with our agents’ Front mailboxes, and its direct integration with our meeting tools, promise to reduce a large amount of our booking workload, enhance the response time of our travel consultants, and position our team to leverage the AI tools in both Front and AMGiNE to deliver a smarter travel experience to our clients.”
“AMGiNE and Front bridge the gap between theory and execution,” said Josh Cameron, Chief Strategy Officer at Christopherson Business Travel. “Christopherson loves how forward thinking both companies are at immediately pairing GDS technology with operational systems. With both of them, the future is now.”
“Working with Amgine is eye-opening and presents National Travel a roadmap to the future,” said Joe Lambert, VP of Finance and Director of IT at National Travel. “Their innovative and creative thinking has opened up a new gateway to enhanced productivity and customer satisfaction.”
About AMGiNE
AMGiNE is a next generation AI Automation Platform designed specifically for travel management companies (TMCs). Through its API-first capabilities, AMGiNE automates travel requests and streamlines serviceability for TMCs across online and offline booking channels. AMGiNE has 25 issued and allowed patents and is constantly exploring new use cases to service for its TMC partners. Additional information is available at amgine.ai.
About Front
Front is the modern customer service platform that helps companies delight their customers, engage their teams, and build stronger businesses. We’ve reimagined the help desk for real-time team collaboration across every customer communication channel, then powered it up with AI and automation to resolve issues and help teams work faster. Customers get exceptional service whether they’re looking for a simple, instant answer, or personalized help on their most complex issues — and you get the analytics and insights your business needs to optimize your customer experience. Over 8,500 businesses of all shapes and sizes, from ClickUp to Branch Insurance, Echo Global Logistics to Reed & Mackay rely on Front to deliver game-changing service that wins and retains customers for life. https://front.com/
Written by Front Team
Originally Published: 20 June 2024