Sabre Pacific hosted the Sydney leg of its Tech Summit tour yesterday, and didn’t scrimp on the announcements.

From virtual desktops to analytical data, Sabre rolled out a suite of new products for agents, keeping them on their toes in a static dynamic industry.

Head of product Karen McLeod said it was “changing consumer behaviour” that drove the latest developments, with “consumer demand” at the heart of agent strategy.

“I think historically agents have dealt with their GDS provider just for their GDS and some other applications but our partners are looking to us to be their total technology provider so we’re able to do that by bundling all our solutions, not just the GDS,” McLeod told Travel Weekly.

Singing the same tune, Sabre Pacific’s managing director Jeremy van de Klundert added that agents provide unparalleled services, and it’s Sabre’s job to continue to enable them to go above and beyond.

“Everyone thinks to do travel is easy, you just go to the website and that will give you all the tools, but agents actually provide a service to the consumer. The whole Sabre mantra is working with agencies, and we believe in the agency model.”

We’ve cut to the chase and unpacked the important stuff to give you the lowdown on what’s new at Sabre.

Sabre Vero

Marketed as the next evolution in computing infrastructure, Sabre’s newest toy allows travel consultants to access their agency applications as a virtual desktop, meaning you can work from anywhere, at any time.

But it’s not just the booking system that Vero is making available, with your entire office system accessible via cloud computing.

“Your whole office is mobile with you –  that’s the difference. You don’t have to dial up for office files or anything else, they’re just there with you,” van de Klundert told TW.

“Mobility is very important and the virtual desktop gives agencies the tools to make better decisions.”

This new service provides access to the agent desktop from multiple devices including Mac, PC, desktop, laptop, iPad, or smart devices, across multiple locations, with user controlled authentication for increased security.

The service gives consultants the flexibility to pick and choose which applications to include in their virtual desktop, with anything from Sabre Red and Sabre Pacific applications, to Microsoft Office 365, One drive, printing and agency web applications.

Ticketing Express

This solution essentially automates the manual work associated with ticketing.

Sabre research has identified that on average, consultants spend 14% of their time on manual ticketing tasks. By automating these processes with Ticketing Express, agencies reduce the risk of error, and consultants are freed up to concentrate on sales opportunities.

On top of this, Sabre has teamed up with Travel Automation, and kickstarted a series of automated services which address the manual work associated with processing Queues.

These include:

1. QBotic – a tool that automates the process of managing schedule changes, by monitoring schedule change queues, updating PNR’s and notifying customers or consultants of the change.
2. QBotic PRO – takes this one step further by fully automating the reissue of involuntary changes also.
3. KLeer – this solution automates the process involved with managing waitlists, continuously checking availability for specified flights and notifying consultants when a desired seat becomes available.

But that’s not all…

Travel Intelligence

In an initiative that seems to target the decision-making managers, Travel Intelligence is a tool that unearths important info from Sabre Agency Manager to provide meaningful insights for agents.

Basically, agencies can choose from a range of over 100 reports, and can opt to receive these reports via email on a regular basis, access the web application to create their own reports, or get their hands on customised reports, a tool that will greatly enhance corporate travel bookings.

Travel Intelligence provides agencies with insights such as business or travel spend; agent productivity; supplier information; data to manage risks and consumer trends, helping make better business decisions.

Sabre’s key focus is on ensuring the travel agent has everything they need to be a successful and sustainable industry.

“You’ve got the virtual desktop, you’ve got data, you’ve got automation tools that actually can boost efficiency, so travel agents can sell as opposed to being processors, and that’s why we’ve designed all these tools so that agencies can be here tomorrow,” van de Klundert told TW.

“At the end of the day, if you’re going to buy a car, you’re going to speak to someone who specialises in cars, if you’re going to travel, the best person really is the travel agent to book with.”

“Agencies need to keep analysing the trends and working with us to identify how they can change with the industry,” Mcleod added.