PRODUCTS & SERVICES

LUTE for Suppliers.

LUTE has partnered with several companies to provide access directly into the supply chain. The challenges of quality of supply now have a much greater importance than ever before. Suppliers and intermediaries are therefore facing a greater challenge to quickly adapt to a changing world. Pressure to differentiate your product offering is exceeded only by the urgent need to cut costs and streamline operations.
A growing number of suppliers are now realizing that in order to face these challenges, the rules of the game must change. This means taking a fresh and critical look at today’s distribution model and technologies, and finding ways to improve and optimize.  LUTE determined early on that the partnership with leading players to provide the full infrastructure was critical. Our decision to form a close partnership with Farelogix was a natural one. Two companies who understand the breadth and depth of the services required.
Farelogix and LUTE provide a broad distribution service to Airline partners. Through this arrangement all Farelogix airlines are available to any LUTE customer. This includes providing the F1 BSP ticket or an airline direct ticket in all markets where Farelogix has achieved BSP certification.
LUTE also provides integration into other supply systems for low cost airlines and other direct connect options or even access to a user’s GDS environment. LUTE is authorized by certain GDSs to offer access to GDS content.

Immediate Cost Saving
LUTE’s implementation of the supply chain access reduces significantly the cost of distribution for suppliers. .
Custom Content and Channel Control
Supplier adapters are typically customized to offer value-added features requested by individual suppliers and their customers. Through integration with the Farelogix FLX™ Platform, suppliers make these special functions (or content, or fares) available only to preferred intermediary partners, and/or through only certain sales channels. This provides the suppliers with unprecedented levels of channel control as well as new opportunities for custom content delivery.
Flight Merchandising
Farelogix offers end-to-end solutions for airlines who seek to quickly implement flight merchandising, without suffering the delay and cost outlay of multi-year internal development projects.

• Shopping and Booking
The advanced solution incorporates complete pricing capabilities to address optional services; up-selling and discounting of airline fares (based on a variety of selling attributes, such as seat assignment; seat location; equipment; baggage checking; origin and destination (O&D); zones; flight numbers, and more).  Dynamic rules allow for unlimited content control, including by corporate ID or frequent traveler number.

• Ticketing and Reporting
LUTE provides a customized version of the Farelogix ticketing system, which provides a complete stock management and storage (hub) solution for Electronic Miscellaneous Documents (EMD’s). Designed for rapid and seamless integration with existing airline systems, E-FLX offers airlines with a low-risk, low-cost fast-track to implementing and ticketing unbundled services.

Point of Sale Solutions
The LUTE Platform (inclusive of supplier direct content from Farelogix), can be accessed using a variety of point-of-sale applications, depending on what best suits the agency or airline call center environment.  
Below is a sampling of point-of-sale applications that are fully integrated with the LUTE Platform, including full support for multi-source content and back office integration:


• LUTE SPRK™ Model Office Platform
SPRK is a turnkey travel agency solution designed specifically for global multi-source direct channel distribution. The SPRK platform provides travel agencies with a best of breed point of sale solution inclusive of web-based (Hawkeye) and native command line based (FLX Commando) user interfaces, complemented by a multi-source PNR and integrated back-office reporting (MIR-FLX).

• Project Hawkeye™ (Open Source Development Platform)
Hawkeye is the travel industry’s first open-source, web-based travel management point of sale application. Built using Microsoft .NET and C# technology, Hawkeye supports a rich (and constantly growing!) set of functionality for shopping, booking, ticketing, PNR servicing, profile management, exchange, refund…and more. Users are able to build their own OpenSource applications.

• LUTE CommandPRO(sm)
CommandPRO is a new user interface solution that looks and acts like the GDS cryptic entries…but that is where the similarities end! Designed to handle multiple reservations format options, CommandPRO simulates cryptic GDS command line functions, allowing the seasoned travel agent to continue using these commands while behind the user interface, any type of content source is accessed through the LUTE platform set.

• Third Party UI/UE interfaces
LUTE supports a number of different third party user interfaces. For example VTO is a powerful agent user interface available from PASS Consulting. VTO supports a wide range of air, car, and hotel shopping, booking and ticketing capabilities for the corporate or leisure travel management company. In addition, the LUTE platform is also integrated (via web services API) with a number of proprietary travel agent, corporate, and consumer point-of-sale (POS) applications. Already certified are applications from Maxviva and Ypsilon. For back and mid office several different applications have already been certified including Softconex.

Profile Solutions
LUTE also provides the Farelogix FLX Files™ which gives independent profile solution for management and storage of traveler and corporate profiles. Using FLX-Files, corporations and travel management companies can lower the costs and inefficiencies associated with maintaining travel profiles in multiple places, and also supports application of profile information for multi-source environments. The solution ensures independent profile data ownership not tied to Farelogix or any other third party or Distribution Company. LUTE’s implementation includes custom fields for different implementations.

Implementation Options
LUTE offers multiple options for suppliers seeking to market and distribute content using the various Supplier Content Adapter (direct connect). These include:

Supplier XML
In this model, LUTE provides supplier with a white label Web Service XML Link (Direct Connect to the supplier host system). The supplier then distributes the XML Link to its own customers and prospects, who then work to integrate the XML with their own point of sale or web-based booking applications.

LUTE Open Office Platform (LOOP)
In this program, Supplier distributes or otherwise participates in a Program with turnkey delivery of a licensed point of sale application that is fully integrated with the LOOP including back-office integration (via MIR-FLX).
LUTE is able to offer full integration into the client environment or partial where the target platform does the integration of content.

LUTE/Farelogix FLX Network
In this model, the Supplier Content Adapter (direct connect) is made available to Farelogix agency customers, as another “type of source” within their Farelogix platform.  This is commonly referred to as the Standard Distribution Agreement (or PCA in common GDS terms).

User Services
LUTE Technologies will also be deploying private label solutions for Customers to interact with their reservations. Coming soon are www.DisplayItin.com and the iWok applications for mobile users.
LUTE Technologies provides a low cost private network capability for suppliers to connect to their dealers. These white label solutions can offer significant savings over traditional directly or loosely connected user communities.