PHOENIX, Ariz., May 2, 2000 (PRIMEZONE) -- Peragis, Inc. today announced that the complete and fully interactive version of its technology, Peragis Professional, will be available at Travel Weekly Conference 2000, taking place May 3rd through May 5th in Chicago, Illinois. Peragis is a business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce company for the travel industry and a wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian parent company Points North Digital Technologies (CDNX:PNS).
"The Peragis B2B technology platform is the product of a collective vision at Peragis, Inc. to revolutionize the industry and bring the travel agency into the 21st century," said Glen Kerby, CEO of Peragis, Inc. "Peragis achieves this by combining the facility of a user-friendly interface with easy to use, robust applications and the efficiency of an Internet network connection. The result is an open platform that connects customers, agents and suppliers, offers booking engines, interacts with leading GDS systems and provides an end-to-end solution for every need of the travel agent."
The Peragis solution is designed by travel agents, agency owners and technology professionals with years of experience in the industry, and brings all the advantages of a complex IT network to agencies without heavy infrastructure investment. The platform integrates seamlessly with leading GDS systems, merging critical booking functions with applications for account management, marketing, website publishing, e-mail, e-fax and a host of additional features into a solution that sits on the agent's desktop.
"The front end of the technology, essentially the layout and interface for Peragis, was designed by a seasoned team experienced in booking through legacy systems," said Mr. Kerby. "Subsequently, the back end was constructed using reverse engineering by professionals experienced in travel booking technology. The result is a flawless system that covers every critical agency function while providing a host of value-added features."
The features of the Peragis suite of products are categorized according to their function under trademarked names used to differentiate the many tools and applications that make up the platform. A brief summary follows:
Peragis Professional is a unique Internet-based travel reservation system designed by travel agents, agency owners and technology professionals with years of experience in the industry. Peragis Professional integrates seamlessly with standard GDS systems and combines critical booking functions such as e-mail, e-fax, website publishing, account management and marketing tools to create a complete and comprehensive software platform that sits on the agent's desktop. When combined with other Peragis solutions, Peragis Professional offers an agency all the advantages of a complex IT network with virtually no infrastructure investment.
Peragis Remote provides full remote access to all Peragis system features allowing agents to book from their home, hotel room or even from a client's home or office. With Peragis Remote, travel agencies can expand their business regionally, nationally and even internationally without the bricks and mortar costs, resulting in decreased overhead costs.
Peragis SiteWizard lets agencies create, build and modify their customized website right from their own computer in just a few minutes - without consultants, web designers, computer experts and the significant costs that normally accompany site creation and design. Agencies can change and update content as often as they like without the added costs. Peragis SiteWizard features include some of the following customer service enhancements:
-- Weather and airport delay advisories -- Destination guides, maps and driving directions -- Contests, prizes and travel specials -- Currency converter and world time clocks -- A Cruise database & reviews (itineraries) -- A condo database -- Ski reports -- World festivals database
Peragis ClientWizard combines unique, automated marketing programs with client data that increases customer loyalty and drives sales. Agents can identify customer habits and preferences for preemptive marketing, create customized direct e-mail promotions and send clients relevant information right from their desktop. Just a few of the Peragis ClientWizard features include:
-- E-Postcards -- Booking history and client profiles -- Customizable client event calendar -- Advanced database search functions -- Group email
Peragis Online will offer live air, car and hotel bookings. Transactions booked through Peragis Online are queued directly to the agency's GDS for fulfillment. Peragis Online lets agencies give their customers the choice: hands-on convenience of Internet booking with all the travel information resources of the Internet, traditional agency services, or any combination that suits the customer's needs.
Peragis TravelSource is a database of suppliers not found in leading GDS systems, integrated into the agent's Peragis Professional desktop. This will allow agents to offer a wider selection of products and services to their customers, increasing the agency's competitive advantage through customer service.
About Peragis, Inc.
Peragis Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Points North Digital Technologies, Inc. (CDNX:PNS), a Canadian public company specializing in the development and implementation of technology systems designed for the travel industry. The Peragis travel solution offers buyers and sellers of travel products unique real-time, business-to-business e-commerce solutions. Peragis, Inc. has formed strategic alliances and business relationships with leading reservations systems and travel suppliers such as Sabre, Galileo, Sprint Canada, Inc., Compaq Financial Services Canada and EDS Innovations, Inc.
This release contains forward-looking statements including discussions on Peragis' position, growth opportunities and strategies. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, which may cause our actual results and performance to be materially different from the future results and performance stated or implied by the forward looking statements. Some of the risks you should consider include Peragis' ability to negotiate and enter into new client engagements and whether those engagements will be on terms favorable to Peragis' ability to realize its anticipated growth rates, and how Peragis manages its growth and integration of acquired businesses and personnel.
The Canadian Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.