A telecommunications network designed for a travel company that addresses their telecommunications deficiencies at reservation centers. This network design provides the travel company with increased data capacity, a new video conferencing solution, and a voice solution that increases customer satisfaction and allows for scalability to include increases or decreases in demand by its clients for its services.

1. Travel Inc.
Team 5 Proposal for an
Innovative Networking and
Telecommunication
Solution
By: Maryanne Devine
David Degenhart
Scott Dziwulski
Dave Samler

2. Executive Summary
Background Definition
Problem Definition
Requirements Definition
Network Design
Finding, Conclusions, and Recommendations
Implementation

3. • Recent Merger has left Travel Inc. with a mix of technologies
• Poor network performance and customer satisfaction needs to
be addressed
• Employee turnover rate needs attention
• Telecommuting and video conferencing technologies need to
be implemented
• Recommend closing data centers to streamline operation
• Recommend moving to common operating platform across
facilities
• Recommend use of hosted call center solution
• Introduction of Web based reservation option
• Results will be a streamlined scalable model

4. • Travel Inc. opened there door in September of 1995 in Kansas City, MO.
• Started with 14,000 travelers with to company to expand to 504,000
travelers in 2009
• Travel Inc. offers there services to 250 organizations.
• Provide business travelers with travel assistance with flights, hotel, and
rental car reservations.
• Since 2008, the economy in the US has taken a turn for the worst causing
the travel industry to decline.
• 2009 saw a 15% decline in U.S. Corporate travel (PhoCusWright, 2009)
• This caused the travel agencies across the country to try to become more
efficient and effective during the struggling economy.
• The first time since 2007, hotel occupancy will improve in 2011
(Baker,2009)

5. • Trend in the industry is going towards a more convenient methods of
booking business trips
• The internet is used to book travel tickets and is well accepted by the
industry today.
• 40% of business travel will be booked online (Starkov, 2010)
• With Travel Inc. providing travel services over the phone, the
organization will need to implement new innovative technologies to be
able to compete with the advancing industry.
• Mark Lomanno states that the hotel industry, "For the first time since
2007, occupancy will improve in 2011.”
• This means that travel agencies, such as Travel Inc., must have the
appropriate staff when the industry booms to handle the increase in
volume with the latest technology implemented in order to be
competitive in the travel industry.

6. • Competitors based their organizational strategy on the World Wide Web
• The top ten online travel websites according to Barbara E. Hernandez are
Expedia, Southwest Airlines, Travelocity, Priceline.com, TripAdvisor,
Orbitz, Delta Air Lines, Yahoo! Travel, Hotwire, and Cheapoair.com
(Hernandez, 2010)
• Concur is one of the leaders in business traveling services
• Concur provides different tools to help an organization become efficient
and effective in travel expenses.
• Web based application
• Booking
• Invoicing
• Auditing

7. • WBS will be used to help build risk management plan
• Risk management plan will prioritize high and low risk activities
• Contingency plans and risk mitigation will be major part of risk
management
• S.W.O.T analysis will be used to identify: Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, and Threats of Travel Inc.
• Information such as lessons learned from previous projects will also
be used.

8. • Cut cost to help the organization survive during the recession
• More efficient and effective WAN network
• Retain Employees
• Reduce the turn rate
• 45% for agents
• 15% for all other employees
• Old Technology
• Slow (calls take to long to be received by agents)
• Inefficient network

9. • Stay on Schedule (1 Year)
• The solution needs to provide future expansion
capabilities, maintainability, and meet the customer’s
expectations.
• Proper Risk Management plan put in place
• Gathering proper analysis to provide the proper
solution
• Communication between the design team and client.

10. • Monitor cost, quality, and schedule
• Maintain the goals set by the project
• Proper risk management thru mitigation and
contingency planning

11. Network capacity must be sufficient for current needs to
include scalability and flexibility to handle a surge in
reservation.
Travel Inc.’s manpower requirements must match the
organizations requirements for agents to handle
incoming call effectively

12. • 3 independent network
• Sprint network for Voice
• MCI WAN network (DS0)
• 56Kbps Data lines
• 9am-10am
• 5,443 calls receive
• DS0 Utilization Rate
• 75.6%
Client wants to
make a new
reservation
Client Calls
the Travel Inc.
1-800 #
Reservation
Agents
Answers the
phone on the
ACD system
Reservation Agent processes
client travel arrangements
(Ticket Request)
ACD System
Phone Coversation
The client’s travel arrangement
is stored on the data centers
IBM mainframe
Reservation Agent submits
the client’s travel
arrangements to Travel
Inc.’s nearest data centers
MCI WAN
Network
Ticket Request are received
at the clearinghouse/
brokerage centers
Reservation
Agent
receives
confirmation
Reservation
Agent sends
the ticket
request
confirmation
to client
Client
receives
confirmation
Data sent over
56Kbps data lines
Faxed
Client wants
to change a
reservation
Confirmation
are sent
Travel
Requests are
consolidate
then sent to
clearinghouse
/brokerage
centers
Reservation
Agent follow
up call
Changes to
reservations
Yes
No
Call
Ends
Figure 1: Flow Diagram

13. The Travel Inc. has offices in the
following locations:
• Kansas City, MO: Corporate Headquarters
• Atlanta, GA: Reservation Center and Data
Center
• Chicago, IL: Reservation Center
• Dallas, TX: Reservation Center
• Los Angeles, CA: Reservation Center
• New York, NY: Reservation Center
• Phoenix, AZ: Data Center
• Pittsburgh, PA: Data Center
• Atlanta, GA: Data Center

14. • Sprint 1-800 Network
• Lucent Definite ACDs
• Nortel Meridian ACDs
• MCI WAN Network (DS0 64Kbps data lines)
• Cisco 2501 Router with Firewall
• A/S 400 IBM Mainframes (Data Centers and Kansas City
• Windows NT OS (Chicago, New York, Atlanta)
• Novel OS (Los Angeles, Dallas)
• 56Kbps Data Lines
• Used to communicate to clearinghouse/brokerage centers

15. • Meet Employee Satisfaction
• Remote Access
• Voice over IP (VoIP)
• Virtual Private Network (VPN)
• Meet Customer Satisfaction
• Create a more efficient calling network
• Web based solution
• Corporate Requirements
• Increase capacity
• Video Conferencing
• 99.99% uptime

16. The design team will take no more than one year to
complete. The budget for the implementation of the new
network for Travel Inc. will be $1.5M for each year over the
next 3 years, includes costs for all labor, equipment,
maintenance, and outside services.

23. Current issues verses Alternative
Network B solutions
Current Travel Inc. issues
Alternative Network B
solutions
 Recent Merger has left Travel
Inc. with a mix of technologies
 Poor network performance and
customer satisfaction needs to
be addressed
 Employee turnover rate needs
attention
 Telecommuting and video
conferencing technologies need
to be implemented
 Uniformed technology
 High network scalability with
more customer control
 Decrease in phone call
volume and telecommuting
options for employees
 Improved video conferencing

27. Alternate Network B Strengths
 Flexibility and convenience of 24 hour, 7 days a week
availability for customers using the web-based
reservations, and reducing the call waiting times from
5 to 2 rings
 MPLS network which provides a point-to-point, fully
meshed and redundant topology including: high level
DRP, security, and backup
 IPsec VPN will be used for telecommuters and a third
T1 line for exclusive video conferencing between
executives

28. Alternate Network B Weaknesses
 Complicated network algorithms, strong dependence
on CSO, and complicated network traffic engineering
 Dependence on web access for client traffic
 Yearly cost for multiple network lines and additional
CSO, CCNP’s, and PC Support Specialist’s
 Small changes to current video conferencing
technology

29. • Increased capacity between facilities is needed
• Improved solution for current ACD performance is needed
• Web Reservations will decrease load on reservation agents and
provide for new means of travel reservations
• New Video Conferencing system will improve communications
between Travel Inc. facilities
• Group 5 has put together two alternative solutions that will
improve Travel Inc’s. performance, customer satisfaction, and
bottom line

30. • Both alternatives provide for improved capacity, security of the network,
common operating platforms across facilities, telecommuting options, and
new video conferencing systems
• Both solutions provide for consolidating facilities and streamlining
operations.
• Alternative A, offers a voice solution more in tune with Travel
Inc’s current business model, with added web reservations
• Alternative B, is a primarily web based solution
• Hosted call center solution proposed in alternative A will allow reservation
agents to work from anywhere that provides web service and a laptop or PC
that meets call center technical requirements
• Costs of both alternatives are similar, alternative A is estimated to cost
roughly $300k under the $1.5 million allocated for the project, leaving a
sizable buffer for unexpected expenses, with lower recurring costs than
alternative B

31. It is recommended that alternative A be considered for
implementation upon approval from the project sponsor. We are
confident that alternative A provides a solid solution for Travel Inc.’s
telecommunications needs. Being that both alternatives provide for
similar but different methods of resolving Travel Inc.’s needs,
alternative B remains a viable solution. There are risks involved with
any project, and if alternative A were to prove to incur unforeseen
unavoidable risks, we feel that we have a solid alternatives to fall back
on

32. Implementation Plan will include the following:
• Work Breakdown Structure
• Risk Matrix
• Roles and Responsibilities Matrix
• Communications Plan
• Gantt Chart to track milestones and dates
• Use of the Earned Value Method to track project
costs and schedule