| ANA Invests in New Domestic Customer Service Systems - next generation reservation, check-in and departure control system – |
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TOKYO April 21, 2006 - From 2007 ANA will migrate its domestic reservations, check-in, ticketing and departure system, known as able–d, to a next generation modular system developed by Unisys Corporation of the USA called Airline Core Systems Solutions, or AirCore. ANA has also signed a ten year co-operation agreement with Nihon Unisys Ltd. to ensure the smoothest possible changeover and develop the system according to ANA’s needs. AirCore will be introduced over 5 years to 2012. In the first total replacement for 27 years, the modular design of the new system will allow ANA to flexibly respond to changing customer needs with greater speed and ease, adding and changing specific modules – including those developed by third parties – as it keeps ahead of market trends. It facilitates more complete management of passenger history, allowing more personalised and precise service for customers. With the present software, USAS – also developed by Unisys Corporation – improvements, additions and changes have to be made to the entire system which incurs higher costs and requires considerably more time than with the newer, modular design. ANA estimates cost savings for the first ten years of operation of the new system at approximately ¥7 billion, or 20%. This is the second recent investment in infrastructure to better serve customers by ANA. Since April 1 this year, ANA has been using a new IP based telephone system to improve customer service and secure cost savings. The new system uses just one number – 0120-029-767 – and a voice guidance system to direct customer calls efficiently, rather than the four numbers currently required. Similarly, it distributes calls evenly across ANA’s four customer service centres (Tokyo, Sapporo, Osaka, Fukuoka), leading to fewer queues and waiting times for customers. |
| Contact: Rob Henderson, ANA Public Relations: r.henderson@ana.co.jp |