HOW IS IT FREE?

There is no gimmick here. OTC is supported by supplier advertising.

OTC is the first in the travel industry to take this bold and visionary step to fundamentally improve travel agent businesses. OTC generates supporting revenue from supplier advertising much like a Google advertising model. The use of the customer contact database, itinerary builder, commission tracking, invoicing, and campaign and newsletter building functions are available without any charge. There are optional and add-on services that we do charge for. Optional services are not required to use the system, and you are not required to buy any optional services . Of course, we would love for you buy a few and help contribute to keeping OpenTravel CRM successful.

Here is an example of an Option Service:
Did you know you can get and track Air Flight Information for your clients without using a GDS? Just put their flight itinerary info into the OTC itinerary and we do the rest! It costs only $4.99 a month!

CONFIDENTIAL DATA

We know how important your business and customer is to your business, and understand that the information is yours only.

• Only You Own Your Data and We Can’t Use it. Your data is confidential and may not be used by us or shared with any other party. We do not use your customer data or information for direct marketing or give it to any suppliers. We encourage anybody with a concern to read our Privacy Policy. It specifically states that we will not use your customer information.
• Your Customer Data is Only Available to You – Your customer and business data is not mixed with other users. Every user account is logically and securely partitioned into a secure data environment. No other user of the system is permitted access to your information. OTC also uses advanced online information security features, including using encrypted transmission and storage. See, also, “Your Security”.
• Your Data is Always Accessible – In OpenTravel CRM there is no restriction on your access to your information, and there are utilities in OpenTravel CRM that allow you to export your data down to your computer at anytime. Simply use the export to Excel button found throughout the application, and you can save off your information to your local computer.

YOUR SECURITY

We know that the security and protection of your business and customers' information is vitally important to you.

Information security is an essential aspect of any high quality, modern software solution, and we have implemented best practices security procedures to help ensure that your data is kept safe from loss and/or unauthorized use.

Security considerations occur at many levels, and we have addressed them.

Over the Wire Security

We employ 128 Bit encryption over Secure Socket Layer (SSL) when any sensitive data is transferred or transmitted. This method ensures that third parties cannot intercept or eavesdrop on transmissions and decode them.

Database Security

Security is applied to the database (the place where your information is physically stored). Database security includes data encryption within the database for sensitive data so that should any one obtain unauthorized access, the encrypted information could not be read. Additional security layers are also present that are designed to ensure that your data is logically partitioned from other users’ data and that only authorized users with valid credentials can access your data through the application. Finally, physical access to the database server is limited to only authorized parties and it is maintained in a secure, locked and pass code protected network environment.

In order to protect against data loss due to an unforeseen casualty, all information is backed-up and copied nightly and then stored in a separate back-up database at a separate physical location.

Network Security

Advanced firewall protection is provided to block unauthorized access into the network which hosts the OpenTravel CRM database and application server. This prevents third parties from gaining unauthorized access from a remote location via the internet or other communications mechanism.

Application Level Security

The OpenTravel CRM application also has built in security layers. This includes password protected access, and user level security with access permissions which can be set by the account owner. These user permissions include read, write and view level permissions.

In the case of very sensitive information like credit cards, only partial numbers are viewable on the screen, and another layer of password authenticated access is required to view the full account information. We further secure the information by stopping any mass copying or downloading by a user. In OpenTravel CRM, users who do have permission to view full credit card information can only view one record at a time, and there is no method for user initiated export.

Trusted Internal Party Security

A final step which is often not considered, but is also important is trusted internal party security. This relates to administrative access to systems from inside people. Many of the reported credit card “security breaches” have occurred from the inside by persons who have been given access to systems. While outsourcing is popular, we believe it represents a substantial security risk which cannot be controlled. At OpenTravel CRM only authorized employees of our company have access to the database system, and access is logged and monitored. Our employees are all located in our facilities within the United States.

Privacy Protection

In addition to the computer level security, OpenTravel CRM does not sell or share any of your customer information with any other third parties. You retain all rights to your business information.

Security Realities – Good User Practices

While we have implemented a variety of security measures to protect your data, the reality is no system, whether it is internet based or locally stored on your computer, is fool proof. And, it would be impossible to guarantee that your information is perfectly secure from theft. There are many things that users should do to maximize their protection. These include the following:

• Change Passwords – Changing password frequently, while it is a real pain in the neck, is a powerful way to protect yourself. The most common way for thieves to steal data is by stealing or hacking passwords. They will try multiple combinations of obvious passwords and user names to gain unauthorized access. Changing your password frustrates that process.
• Use Hard Passwords – Using a strong password is another way to stop access by providing an unlikely combination of characters that can be guessed. As you can imagine, one of the most common and notorious security lapses is when you use the word “password” as your password. This is the very first thing a hacker tries, preying on a user’s carelessness. Other weak passwords to avoid are: your first name, last name, birth date, spouse’s name, telephone number, pet’s name, or street address. What do these things have in common? Anybody can find that information on the internet and then use the information to guess what your password is.
• Keep Your System Up to Date – Make sure you keep your operating system up to date. If you are a Windows users, Microsoft is continually providing a variety of security patched and updates that should be downloaded and installed. You can set your computer to automatically receive them and they will down load in the background. These updates close up “holes” that unsavory people have tried to exploit to gain access to your computer.
• Spyware Blocker - Using a spyware blocking program is important because it will block any attempts to download programs to your computer in the background without you knowing it. These programs are often installed surreptitiously when you visit untrustworthy sites. Of course, it is hard to know what an untrustworthy site is sometimes, and that is why spyware blockers are important to use. Spyware is dangerous because these sneaky programs are loaded and they often provides the crooks with a way to watch or log what key strokes you make (which then gives them password information), or provide a way for them to remotely access your computer and search through your files, etc..
• Antivirus Protection – You must have an anti-virus software program running. This can be Norton or Symantec or another popular antivirus program. If you don’t want to pay the price for expensive commercial antivirus software, you might want to check out ClamWin Antivirus, which is free software provided by a community of great people. It is kept up to date and automatically downloads new virus signatures, etc. It’s the best kept secret around! (http://www.clamwin.com/content/view/18/46/)
• Keep Your Firewall On – If you are an individual with a computer hooked up to the internet, you should have a firewall. Firewalls block external people from accessing your system remotely. In the old days, creating and maintaining a firewall was some pretty heading stuff and required a battery of geeks to maintain it. Today, Windows has a built in firewall. You just have to make sure you have it turned on. It’s easy to check for Windows users. Just click “Control Panel” in your menu. Then look for the “Windows Firewall” icon and click on it. It will tell you if it is on or off. If it is off turn it on. It’s that simple.

EMAIL MARKETING

OTC has an integrated marketing campaign builder and manager. It is free to use.

You can send marketing emails to your customers 2 ways:

1. Free Email Sending – This uses your own email account which OTC automatically integrates with your existing email! When you send out a campaign you can choose this option.
2. Bulk Email Service – Using our “bulk email” service for a small charge similar to Constant Contact, if you are familiar with that product.

What’s the Difference? Our bulk email service uses a high volume email server using a separate Internet Protocol (IP) address that is different from your standard email, but it still looks like it comes from your regular email.

Using a bulk email service protects your business email address from being accidently reported by a recipient as a spam source, which can then result in your business email being blocked and your business badly impacted.

If you are sending more than 50 emails out at a time, we believe it is best to use a bulk email service. That’s our 2 cents, and we feel it’s worth the 2 cents you pay. Many of you may already use a similar service like Constant Contact. We’ve made it better because it integrates back into your CRM and customer profiles. When you send offers and someone calls back, you can see what you sent when you look them up. That is the essence of real customer service, personalization and selling!

What About “Free Bulk Emailing Marketing like Passport Online or MailPound?” These solutions work allow you to send supplier offers by email under your name to your clients. This “clip and send offer service” works because the free email sender is getting paid by the supplier to have you send emails to your customers with the supplier’s offers! We will make a similar “clip and send offer” service available soon for free. Read more about our new “Supplier Offers” Program.

But, this is not the only bulk email marketing you should be doing! It is not really a complete campaign email solution. Also, it is not the most effective way to build your business or relationships with customers. It is essential that you have the ability to send out your own email newsletters, updates and campaign offers with your own content and ideas in order to promote your business. Finally, you need reports on how many people open them up and click through to view them. So, we believe having your own email campaign capability with a top notch bulk email sending service is important.

SUPPLIER OFFERS - Coming Soon. Something Really Cool.

OTC is offering a new intelligent supplier offers and specials program. Supplier offers and specials (as well as Fams) will be send to you by email just like other services. But, they also will be automatically stored in your OTC CRM for easy reference and look-up. This way, when clients or prospects call you you can easily find offers that might be of interest to them. OTC also does some other work for you.

It will check your customer preferences and match them with offers and make recommendations. Outbound campaigns are ready to go in a simple 3 step process! Pretty cool, right?

No SPAMMING

Our email marketing solutions may only be used for lawful and responsible marketers. Please click here to learn more about your responsibilities.

HOW IS IT FREE?

There is no gimmick here. OTC is supported by supplier advertising.

OTC is the first in the travel industry to take this bold and visionary step to fundamentally improve travel agent businesses. OTC generates supporting revenue from supplier advertising much like a Google advertising model. The use of the customer contact database, itinerary builder, commission tracking, invoicing, and campaign and newsletter building functions are available without any charge. There are optional and add-on services that we do charge for. Optional services are not required to use the system, and you are not required to buy any optional services . Of course, we would love for you buy a few and help contribute to keeping OpenTravel CRM successful.

Here is an example of an Option Service:
Did you know you can get and track Air Flight Information for your clients without using a GDS? Just put their flight itinerary info into the OTC itinerary and we do the rest! It costs only $4.99 a month!

Vendors & Booking

Unlike other programs or providers you may encounter, there are no restrictions on what suppliers or products you may book. You are free to use whoever you want.

Within OTC there are 3 ways to book and record booking transactions:

1. Web Connect Booking
   We have a established “Live-Connect” type connections with several travel partner booking sites. There are Icons on the OTC desktop that will link you out to a Web Connect supplier booking site. When you make a booking, it is automatically captured and recorded in your Customer’s Itinerary (which is associated with the Customer’s Profile). It is also recorded in your back-office accounting system.

   Booking Fees:None. This is a free service. There are no booking or segment fees when you book through a Web Connect supplier.

   Commission: 100%. You will use your travel credentials when you log into a travel partner site, and they will you commission directly. If you are not signed up as a travel partner with one or more Web Connect suppliers, you must do that first. Many require that you have recognized travel credentials such as an IATA #, TRUE #, CLIA# or other seller of travel identification.

   ** Special Feature – Earn Money on Air! – We figured out a way for you to get commissions on booked air! We have hooked up Web Connect with Travelocity (Orbitz and Expedia coming soon). When you book through these sites for your clients, they pay a $5.00 affiliate commission.

2. Electronic Booking Engines
   We have provided you will electronic search and booking capability for Hotels, Cruise and Air. As we continue to grow we will add more connections. You are not required to use these services. When you use them, you will be using OTC’s booking credentials, and commissions will be paid to us and the passed on to you. We do charge a small booking fee to help cover the cost of maintaining these connections – certain suppliers even charge us for access (go figure).

   Booking Fees: 99 Cents. If you use our cruise or hotel booking engine, there is a 99 Cent fee per booking per night. We have you pay this low, low fee instead of pretending its free and then reducing your commissions. We’d much rather just pass it all on to you. If there is a supplier that costs us more, we will let you know before you book it so you know what its costs us and why we much charge more in that rare case.

   Commission: 100%. Current commission rates are 10% on Hotel and Cruise through OTC. These are the rates we received and they are passed on at 100%. If volume increases and we get higher commissions for our users, we will pass them on to you.

3. Manual Booking
   We have provided you with the flexibility to record and manually book travel items. These would be items that you book over the phone for your client or exchange emails with a vendor. Manually booked items are recorded in the Client’s Itinerary and also stored off in the back office for you.

   Booking Fees:None. This is a free service. There are no booking or segment fees when you book manually.

   Commission: 100%. You will use your travel credentials when you book manually with a travel supplier, and they will directly pay you commission at the rates you and the supplier agreed upon. If you are not signed up as a travel partner with a supplier that you wish to book with, you should first make sure you have a commission agreement with them or are recognized as a valid travel seller under one or more of the supplier’s commission programs. Many require that you have recognized travel credentials such as an IATA #, TRUE #, CLIA# or other seller of travel identification.

Your Commissions

We do not share in or keep part of your commissions. You get 100%. We are not a host agency and do not compete with or interfere with your host agency, consortia or other vendor relationships.

In all circumstances other than electronic booking tools, you will be paid directly from the supplier using your credentials. If you use our electronic search and booking tools, which are optional, then you will be using OTC credentials and commissions will be passed on to you when we receive them from a vendor you booked with. We are not responsible for making collection calls or paying and commissions if the vendor fails to make a payment. In the future we ma also have connections that will allow you to input your travel seller credentials directly and then you will also be dealing with the supplier directly as well.

Please refer to the "Vendors and Booking" section for more information.

GDS Connections

We can arrange for GDS connections.

Galileo - Currently we have Galileo/Apollo access and you can book through a web based terminal direct from OTC. In order for your pseudo city to work inside of OTC, a special third party host agreement is required with Galileo. Once that is set-up even if you want to use a Galileo terminal directly, the booking PNR information will be captured and stored into OTC. If you are interested in that service, please contact us.

Sabre, Worldspan and Amadeus - We are currently working on “MIR” record integration. An MIR is a machine interface record, for whatever that is worth. Once it is done, when you book through your GDS terminal, the bookings you do will be able to be imported into OTC and will be stored in your client’s Itinerary and also stored in your back-office. This will be available for a modest fee soon.

If you are interested, please contact us and we will keep advised of its availability. Let me know when you are hooked up.

NOT A HOST AGENCY

We are not a host agency (not is there anything wrong with that). OTC is designed to be your free business tool. We do not compete or want to compete with host agencies or consortia. We want to work with them and compliment what they do.

HOST AGENCIES & CONSORTIA

There is nothing in OTC that prevents you from being a member of a host agency or consortia of your choice. These types of organizations can offer enhanced commission and compensation arrangements with their select or preferred suppliers. They also can offer sales and marketing advice and other valuable services that can assist your business.

If you are a member of a host agency or consortia, we kindly encourage you to speak with the leaders of that organization to contact us so we can provide an optimized solution for members. This usually means some integration and reporting with the home office.

TRAVEL SELLER REQUIREMENTS

Moreover, OTC is a business tool for travel professionals and, as stated in other places, is not a host agency. As good citizens of the professional travel industry, OTC is not a tool to enable "card mills" and we reserve the right to deny access to individuals or organizations that are merely enabling consumers to act as agents for their own personal discounts.

All users of OpenTravel CRM are strongly encouraged, but not required, to obtain and maintain valid travel seller credentials. These are available from key industry organizations. You can also achieve that status by joining a host agency. If you use our direct electronic booking tools you will be booking using our travel credentials. As noted we will pass on 100% of the commission paid by the supplier to you, but we will only do so if we receive a valid travel seller registration such as an IATA #, TRUE #, Seller of Travel # or CLIA#. The cost to obtain one these credentials vary. You need not obtain more than one.

TAKING CARE OF YOUR BUSINESS

Liability Insurance - We maintain general liability and error and omissions insurance for ourselves and our employees. You are not an agent of OpenTravel CRM or Travel Sciences, Inc. You are your own independent business, and you are merely being given a license to use our business software to support your business activities. You are strongly encouraged to make sure you obtain all necessary professional and liability insurance coverage for your business activities.

State Registrations and Bonding - If you operate or conduct business in certain states and sell consumer travel, you may be required to register and obtain a state travel seller registration number and/or obtain a bond. States such as California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia and Washington have laws and regulations dealing with sellers of travel. The foregoing list is not necessarily exhaustive and is for general reference purposes only. We are not responsible for checking to see if you are following the law and are maintaining your information. That is one of the joys of owing or running a business.

No SPAMMING - You may not use our marketing solutions and bulk email services for SPAMMING. This means you cannot send unsolicited email to individuals you don’t know. All emails that you send must be to individuals that have either opted in to your email sending list, or have previously done business with you. There are both Federal and State laws that prohibit SPAMMING. You must comply with these laws at all times.

You are advised to review the U.S. - CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act). It established penalties for violations of the law. Here is summary of its main requirements:

• It bans false or misleading header information. Your email's "From," "To," and routing information – including the originating domain name and email address – must be accurate and identify the person who initiated the email.
• It prohibits deceptive subject lines. The subject line cannot mislead the recipient about the contents or subject matter of the message.
• It requires that your email give recipients an opt-out method. You must provide a return email address or another Internet-based response mechanism that allows a recipient to ask you not to send future email messages to that email address, and you must honor the requests. You may create a "menu" of choices to allow a recipient to opt out of certain types of messages, but you must include the option to end any commercial messages from the sender.
  
  Any opt-out mechanism you offer must be able to process opt-out requests for at least 30 days after you send your commercial email. When you receive an opt-out request, the law gives you 10 business days to stop sending email to the requestor's email address. You cannot help another entity send email to that address, or have another entity send email on your behalf to that address. Finally, it's illegal for you to sell or transfer the email addresses of people who choose not to receive your email, even in the form of a mailing list, unless you transfer the addresses so another entity can comply with the law.
• It requires that commercial email be identified as an advertisement and include the sender's valid physical postal address. Your message must contain clear and conspicuous notice that the message is an advertisement or solicitation and that the recipient can opt out of receiving more commercial email from you. It also must include your valid physical postal address

We have provided a link to the Federal Trade Commission Site which has a copy of the law and other useful information.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/canspam.shtm

Please note that our commercial bulk email service provides the tools for opt-out selection and recording of the selection in your database.

Moving From ClientBase

If you are using Clientbase, you can import your client records directly into your new OTC client profile database. There are built in utilities and instructions on how to do that. If you have any trouble moving them, we offer free technical assistance to help make your move as smooth and trouble free as possible.

Importing Outlook Contacts

If your client contacts are being stored in Outlook, you can import your client records directly into your new OTC client profile database. There are built in utilities and instructions on how to do that. If you have any trouble moving them, we offer free technical assistance to help make your move as smooth and trouble free as possible.

Import from a CSV (or Excel File)

If your client contacts are being stored in Excel or other database format, you can import your client records directly into your new OTC client profile database from a CSV file format. This is a popular format. There are field mapping instructions that will help to label properly so information will be imported correctly into OTC.

If you have any trouble moving them, we offer free technical assistance to help make your move as smooth and trouble free as possible.

Other Contact Formats/Not Sure

If you have ACT, Goldmine or ar using some other general business contact management system, or you are just not sure what is going on and how they are stored, we are happy to help you move your contacts into a system that is designed for your travel business needs.