TravelMessenger update
A goodly while back (I don't remember when, but when I move my blog I'll have search…) I wrote about TravelMessenger. I seem to remember thinking it was a pretty darn cool idea. I wasn't able to try it then, but Riaan van Schoor left a comment on my blog that there was updated information on TravelMessenger. Geez how could I pass that up? Okay so first off here are the updates from Riann:
About TM:
- MSN approved it! It’s difficult to get an exact “Yes it’s ok” from Microsoft but they have extended a contract for deployment on the MSN network. If it’s not the first (I’m waiting for confirmation on this) it’s certainly one of the first. They called it “an interesting product”. J (Yahoo refused to respond to my request and I’m waiting for the AOL guys to get back to me.)
- Loads of the beta users commented on the layout. I’ve fixed spacing in-between results, and also now allow the user to set font (of the response) to Arial, Verdana, or if they really want, Freestyle. Changed the default font to Arial. It was Courier!
- Stabilized the system, and implemented a much awaited “Ok, please wait I’m searching” line. That took ages. Funny how the small things take a long time.
- Originally developed for the leisure market, it seems it’s rather ideal for corporate users who wanna book point to point. I am now actively pitching this to corporate users, and it’s looking good.
About the rest:
- Started a blog on things relating to IM robotics, travel tech etc on www.insidec.com
- Changed the www.travelmessenger.co.uk website. Most users told me it was “horrible” 🙂
It’s officially the first travel robotic on IM in the world. It talks realtime to Galileo in Denver and the low-cost carriers on the web, and is basically ready for implementing at customers (agents who want to use this as a consumer facing tool.)
Riann gave me a MSN id to try out and I did. I was extremely impressed. Granted its still in beta and such, the results (when it was working) were concise and accurate. I did a search for Vancouver to RDU in N.C. and then checked both Destina and Travelocity. The results matched up. I didn't book any flights, because I don't have anywhere to go right now. When it goes online and in production, I will definitely have it as a first stop when planning travel. I didn't think about it then, but am now wondering about currencies. I think my results were in Canadian dollars…if they were then that's even cooler.