CHICAGO -- Amadeus, a leading travel technology partner and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry, announced that Travel Leaders Corporate, a leading U.S. travel professional network, started processing live travel bookings this week using its Amadeus One point-of-sale desktop, the next-generation IT solution designed specifically to help agencies boost productivity, streamline operations, optimize procurement and enhance the traveler experience.

"Our agents are now making live bookings for our customers using the Amadeus One desktop," said David Holyoke, President of Travel Leaders Corporate. "We couldn't be more pleased with the progress of the Amadeus One pilot. This initiative will further enable our travel agents to leverage their experience and transform our clients' needs into quality travel options that ensure maximum value."

Moving through the desktop development phase and into production has been a true collaboration between Travel Leaders Corporate and Amadeus, according to Vic Pynn, Executive Vice President, who heads up corporate travel IT for Amadeus in the Americas region.

"From the beginning, Amadeus' intention was to pilot the Amadeus One desktop with agency launch partners like Travel Leaders Corporate. Our goal is to hone the solution under real business conditions to assure maximum benefit and value upon rollout to the marketplace," said Pynn. "I am pleased to say we are on track, on target and on time with Amadeus One and look forward to moving into full market availability."

The Amadeus One desktop prototype was unveiled at last year's NBTA Conference. Travel Leaders Corporate signed on as the first launch partner in November, and the development project was kicked-off in February 2010.

Pynn said the pilot with Travel Leaders Corporate will continue for a few months. However, as a result of the efforts to date, new features and enhancements already have been added to the next-generation desktop.

The Amadeus One desktop evolves

New enhancements and features added to the Amadeus One desktop since the prototype phase include:

• Amadeus Cryptic Magic -- addition of more commands and functionality in Amadeus' proprietary, patent-pending "translation" feature that enables an agent to enter GDS cryptic commands at the point of sale and obtain the same rich policy compliant results as an agent operating in a graphical environment.
  
  
• Flexible Agent Air Flow -- another patent-pending exclusive feature of Amadeus One, providing the flexibility of cryptic air shopping and the power of the graphical user interface.
  
  
• Quick Find -- new functionality to search for profiles and PNRs simultaneously, improving agent efficiency and productivity.
  
  
• Trip Builder Workspace -- patent-pending feature set that includes agent-driven segment select, deconstruction of fared itineraries, and full service exchange capabilities.
  
  
• Robust Rules Engine -- enhanced functionality that brings quality control and mid-office automation to the point of sale.
  
  
• Amadeus One Booking File -- new functionality enabling the delivery of exceptional data services and availability.

The Amadeus One agency desktop is the flagship offering of the Amadeus One IT portfolio, the next-generation suite of IT solutions and services designed specifically to serve the needs of the U.S. business travel marketplace. The Amadeus One solution was conceived and built by Amadeus' Boston development team in conjunction with the Chicago-based Amadeus Travel Technology Consulting group. The Amadeus Travel Technology Consulting team is a dedicated, cross-functional team of sales engineers, functional specialists and consultants representing a broad array of expertise and experience in the travel industry and beyond. The scope of the organization covers sales, account management and travel technology, working in tandem with Amadeus' existing local and global commercial organizations.

For more information on Amadeus IT solutions and services for the corporate travel marketplace, visit www.amadeus.com/businesstravelIT or contact businesstravelit@amadeus.com, 1-866-AMADEUS or an Amadeus sales representative.