| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 22/05/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 10 |
| Copyright: Other |
Agents must look at ways to axe high bills
AS information technology consultants to the travel trade, we find phone bills are one of the key business issues in the industry today. It’s not just tour operators who use nationalpremium-rate telephone numbers, many other industry suppliers do as well.Agents should contact their consortia or ABTA to apply pressure to reduce costs. They can do this by getting tour operators, etc to:
a) Replace premium-rate numbers with low-call (0345, 0845) numbers for agents – using premium rates only for clients underlines their commitment to the trade!
b) Immediately reduce call costs by switching off automatic call-answering systems and only answering when a member of staff is available.
A long wait is just as annoying in either case but it is better to listen to a ringing tone than pay a fortune for minutes of piped music or pre-recorded voice messages.
There are huge savings to be made in call charges by making better use of a very competitive telecommunications market.
Agents should spend a little time evaluating the available options and make more use of Internet and viewdata booking systems to reduce their overheads.
Richard Bristow
Partner
Travel Systems Associates
Horsham