Travelyst Mobile Update
March 31st, 2016 | by ViaDataWebAdmin |
There are currently no platforms available in which travellers and travel consultants communicate directly with each other to manage a traveller’s documentation, itinerary and other information. Therefore, ViaData came up with the idea of making a mobile application for the front end of their Travelyst Tour Operator Software to achieve this goal. With this in mind, ViaData approached the University of Cape Town as they have supported software related student projects for many years.
The project was born so that ViaData and the students could learn while exploring the possibility of a mobile application for Travelyst. A bi-product of this exercise may be a very usable mobile application that ViaData can ‘productionise‘ or have a good proof-of-concept that can be used as a prototype for a final mobile product in the future.
Project Background
The Travelyst mobile application will allow for the traveller to receive all their travelling documentation electronically and any changes made to their itinerary will be shown immediately via the Travelyst mobile app. It will also enable direct communication between a traveller and a travel consultant. This will be done on a single platform and will be instantaneous. The traveller will no longer have to communicate via email or multiple platforms to achieve a task.
The Keystroke Team
Some of the hurdles the team will have to overcome will include time management. They are involved in tutoring at UCT, community service as well as other courses. Therefore, they will be pressed for time which can be overcome with good planning. The team want to develop the mobile application using Phonegap software which could be a potential hurdle. None of the team has worked with this technology before and there is not much assistance available, other than the internet. They are very motivated however and determined to learn so that they feel confident using Phonegap. One of the last hurdles is integration. The team need to integrate the app with the current ViaData Travelyst backend system as well as integrating it into social media.
What the Team is Currently Working on
The UCT Keystroke Team are currently working on the Web Service call. The Web Service call is necessary in order to connect to ViaData’s Travelyst database. ViaData has started doing the initial work on the Web Service call and the team are starting to configure the architecture from their side so they can retrieve data from the Travelyst database. The database is hosted in the cloud by Internet Solutions and has a guaranteed uptime to ensure that travellers will always have instant access to the information they require.
As part of ViaData’s “Improving Every Day” ethic, we’ll be updating you as the students progress in developing the mobile front end to ViaData’s Travelyst Tour Operator Software. We hope you’ll enjoy the ride!