The Distinctive Systems Tour Booking System is a complete management solution for individual passenger reservations on extended tours, day excursions and express services. In addition to handling bookings made in person or by telephone, the system provides operators with a fully automated data driven website capable of handling online bookings from both agents and direct clients. Although designed specifically for coach operators, the system is also ideal for tours that aren't coach based with elements such as seating plans, tour vehicles and pick-up points being entirely optional.

Developed using Microsoft SQL Server, TBS has been designed from the ground up to be a fully fledged client/server system. This not only guarantees a state-of-the-art basis for an in-house reservation system, but also, for the first time ever, provides operators with a proper foundation for hosting their tour programme on the Internet and taking online bookings.

In addition to the facilities that make up the in-house reservation system, TBS includes as standard a further set of facilities that automatically creates a data driven website. This allows operators to create and maintain a professional website without the expense of employing a specialist web design company.

Against every tour in TBS, in addition to the information relating to dates and prices needed by the in-house reservation system, there is an area where operators can enter the information they would like to present to clients on the TBS website. This information essentially mirrors the details that would go into a printed brochure and includes a brief overview, a detailed overview, a day by day itinerary, a further information area and a selection of pictures. Since this information is destined to be presented on a website it also includes an area for useful links to other related websites such as the destination hotel or tourist office.

The TBS website accesses all the information that has been entered into TBS and assembles it to create a separate page for each tour, in effect creating an online brochure, except that for efficiency a page isn't actually created until someone asks to see it.

The website comes with a customisable front page that displays welcome information and provides a means of navigating through the available tours. Clients can browse through the tours and check prices and availability before either telephoning or requesting a call back. They can also place an online order for a brochure.

The TBS website makes extensive use of Google Maps to display pick-up points, home pick-up areas and agent locations. In conjuction with Postcode Anywhere it also uses Google Maps to check if the postcode for a specified home address falls within a valid home pick-up area.

A totally unique feature of TBS is that all the content required to build the TBS website is entered into the in-house reservation system in nothing more complicated than plain English text. Behind the scenes TBS converts this into the HTLM required by the end-user's web browser. To fully appreciate just how powerful this feature is please see our Website Setup Walkthrough.

Operators who would like to take things a stage further by allowing clients to make their own bookings can add the optional TBS online booking facility. This allows clients to create an account, enter passenger names, select their seats, choose pick-up points, select their preferred accommodation along with any supplements, accept or decline insurance and pay either a deposit or in full as appropriate.

The online booking facility includes a secure login facility that allows existing clients to view their current bookings, make online balance payments and update their contact details.

The facility also provides a secure login for agents allowing them to enter bookings directly into TBS. This completely eliminates the need for agents to phone in, thereby offering considerable savings in reservation staff costs. Agents are also able to view their existing bookings online and maintain their own authorised operators.

Hosting the TBS website on the Internet requires just one PC and two low cost firewalls over and above the equipment that would be required for an in-house reservation system. The efficiency of the TBS SQL Server database design allows excellent response times to be achieved with an ordinary low cost broadband connection to the Internet.

TBS includes utilities that allow pictures to be uploaded to an ISP and managed over the Internet just as easily as if they were stored locally. This means pictures used in the TBS website are downloaded directly from the ISP rather than from the site hosting TBS itself. Freed of this traffic the broadband connection is capable of delivering a first rate booking experience even while serving multiple clients.

All the client websites featured on our Client Sites page are hosted in-house as described above. Should a client prefer it, both the TBS SQL Server database and website can be hosted at a remote data centre or ISP with an ultra high speed link to the Internet.

TBS is fully integrated with Coach Manager our market leading private hire and contract booking system which is in turn fully integrated with our VOSA approved Vehicle Maintenance System.

SQL Server is part of the Microsoft .NET Platform and is an industrial strength database engine designed to handle hundreds of simultaneous users. It delivers stunning performance with unparalleled reliability and security. It is designed for systems that are in constant use under the most demanding circumstances.

TBS can be used with Microsoft SQL Server 2005 or 2000 (Workgroup, Standard or Enterprise Editions) or with Microsoft Small Business Server† 2003 or 2000. Alternatively all but the largest operators can use it with the royalty free Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition or the earlier Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine (MSDE 2000).

TBS runs on Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP and Windows 2000.

TBS was launched in June 2006 and is already in use with over 50 operators. It replaced our market leading Microsoft Access based Coach Manager PBS for Windows which was adopted by over 250 operators during its eight year life. In addition to the enormous benefits that the change to the SQL Server database engine offers, the system has been completely rewritten to take advantage of the very latest technologies and development tools and achieves major improvements in every area of operation.

For further details, or to arrange a no obligation demonstration at your own offices, please phone us on 01904 692269 or email sales@distinctive-systems.com.

For a full working demonstration of the TBS website and online booking facility please click here.

A portfolio of live client sites created using TBS is available here.

A PDF of our latest brochure is available here.

† The Microsoft Small Business Server per user licensing model makes it unsuitable for use with the TBS website and the TBS online booking facility.

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