Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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TRAVEL ROSTERING TOOL, SYSTEM AND METHOD
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to rostering of travel for
individuals.
[0002] In particular, the present invention relates to rostering of travel
so that
a travelling workforce is managed to meet organisational priorities.
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
[0003] Managing the complexity of a large workforce commuting by aircraft
to
distant worksites/work accommodation is a challenging and time consuming
operation, particularly when such operations are often spread across several
days and using different flights from several locations.
[0004] Disruptive events add to this complexity. Significant events, such
as
cyclones, fires, worksite/installation shutdowns or other disruptions produce
rapid
changes to required manpower on site and flight requirements, putting enormous
strain on flight administrators and travel management companies and the
booking
systems they use.
[0005] Furthermore, often any workforce management rostering/destination
worksite management systems have a disconnect with the travel management
systems used by travel management companies for booking, ticketing and billing
for workforce travel.
[0006] A problem occurs where flight administrators, of necessity, have to
create a workforce roster of people required for travel in a future period
ahead of
when the people are needed on site, then match those people with flight
availability from various flights, taking into account departure and arrival
locations,
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type of flight (e.g. scheduled or chartered flights) and flight times, to
correspond
with the worksite shift roster requirements.
[0007] It is known that there already exist interfaces to travel booking
systems
in order to book flights online and to update traveller profiles.
[0008] For example, international (PCT) patent publication number WO
2013/187778 in the name of Mercatus Ltd describes a method for semi-automatic
booking of travel and accommodation for travellers from any origin travelling
to
any destination with any number of flights and varying itineraries. A bulk
file of
traveller requirements is matched to current flight availability.
[0009] Such a booking system compiles a plan of who requires travel, where
and when that travel is required, but it doesn't know available capacity and
booking policy. It needs to know when flights are required but not available,
or
bookings requested but no longer required.
[0010] It has been realised that what is preferred is a systematic means
or
methodology of creating a roster of flights required in the future without
prior
knowledge of flight availability and schedule.
[0011] With the aforementioned problem(s) in view, it has been found
desirable to create a system or methodology configured to manage the process
of
prioritising flight bookings so that the travelling workforce is booked to
meet
organisational priorities.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] With the aforementioned in mind, an aspect of the present invention
provides a method of rostering travel for a number of individuals, including:
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creating a roster plan of required travel for the number of individuals, the
roster
plan including:
a period of time covered by the roster plan;
profile data for each individual;
required travel departure and arrival locations for each individual
details of travel mode availability within the period of time covered by the
roster plan matching travel requirements of the individual(s) to travel;
and
providing travel booking requirements to a booking provider using the roster
plan.
[0013] A further aspect of the present invention provides a travel
rostering
system for a number of individuals, the system including:
access to a record of profiles for the number of individuals;
access to a travel booking provider;
a roster plan compiler arranged to create a roster plan including details
from the record of profiles of the individuals to travel, travel departure and
arrival locations for each individual, travel mode availability details, and
date and time of travel; and
the compiler providing the created roster plan to the booking provider to
book required travel for the individuals consistent with the roster plan.
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[0014] A further aspect of the present invention provides a data management
tool functionally linking a workforce logistics management system and a travel
booking system for use in rostering travel for workforce personnel in a work
roster
travel pattern, the data management tool:
compiles a roster plan of required travel in a travel administration system
for each
workforce personnel traveller, the roster plan including:
a period of time covered by the roster plan;
profile data for each said workforce personnel traveller;
required travel departure and arrival date(s) and locations for each said
workforce personnel traveller;
workforce personnel traveller flight requirements;
and
provides workforce personnel traveller travel booking requirements to a
booking
provider based on the compiled roster plan; and
when confirmation of booking of the traveller travel booking requirements are
returned by the booking provider to the data management tool, the data
management tool provides the booking confirmations to the workforce logistics
management system, and
the data management tool synchronises changes to traveller personal data
stored
in records in the workforce logistics management system with the personal
profile
details of the respective traveller stored in the travel booking system by
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automatically updating with the changes the personal profile details of the
respective traveller that are stored in the travel booking system.
[0015] Preferably, a work status code may be assigned to each day in the
period, whereby, the work status code(s) that require a travel booking may
nominate one or more of a time of day travel is required for an individual,
the
travel departure location for the individual and a work site destination of
the
individual.
[0016] The profile data of each individual may be synchronised between a
travel booking engine and workforce details maintained in workforce records to
ensure consistency of records between the two. The workforce records are
preferably a master version of common information exchanged between the travel
booking engine and the workforce records.
[0017] Profile data of an individual preferably includes one or more of a
traveller/individual(s) ID, traveller/individual(s) name, roster ID, flight
preferences,
frequent flyer ID(s), passport number and expiry, booking priority and default
cost
code.
[0018] Preferably the traveller personal data includes one or more of a
traveller ID, traveller name, roster ID, flight preferences, frequent flyer
ID(s),
passport number and expiry, booking priority and default cost code.
[0019] In one or more embodiments of the present invention, the tool
functionally distinguishing between charter flights and scheduled flights and
prioritising travel for the workforce personnel traveller(s) on a charter
flight ahead
of a scheduled flight.
[0020] The data management tool may preferably include, enable or provide
updates the travel administration system with flight changes for one or more
of
the workforce personnel travellers, the roster plan is updated the flight
changes
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and workforce personnel affected by the flight changes are notified by the
data
management tool of the flight changes affecting their travel.
[0021] The data management tool may be utilised to provide one or more
notifications by SMS text, email or telephone call each said traveler affected
by
changes, such as the flight changes.
[0022] The roster plan compiler may incorporate details of the travel mode,
being a charter flight, commercial flight or scheduled flight.
[0023] Preferably the roster plan compiler may be utilized to distinguish
between charter flights, commercial flights and scheduled flights, and
preferably
prioritises travel for an individual on a charter flight or commercial flight
ahead of
a scheduled flight.
[0024] The roster plan compiler may be provided to enact cancellation of a
booking on a scheduled flight for an individual if a charter or commercial
flight is
found to be available and fits within the roster plan for that individual.
[0025] If charter or commercial flights are to be used for travel, the
compiler
may create a schedule of charter and/or actual or placeholder commercial
flights
by rolling a standing weekly flight schedule forward within a roster plan
period.
[0026] If the schedule includes charter flights, the booking system may
preferably unbook previous charter bookings in the roster plan period for that
individual, then book the individual onto the required charter flights,
preferably
doing so for a number of said individuals until available capacity is reached
on the
charter flight.
[0027] If the schedule includes actual commercial flights or placeholder
commercial flights, the system may preferably display or provide a list of
flights
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required to meet the travel requirements of the roster plan, to allow release
of all
or selected flights for booking.
[0028] The methodology or system of at least one form of the present
invention provides booking from within the workforce management system with
flight details constantly maintained for changes within the workforce system
or the
airline booking system.
[0029] A precursor to the booking is the preference that the traveller
details
held by the booking engine are synchronised with the workforce details
maintained by the workforce logistics system, typically where the workforce
logistics system is the master version of common information.
[0030] The methodology of the present invention preferably includes
creating
a roster for a future period and releasing a set of required flights via a
real-time
data connection to a booking engine which would choose appropriate flights,
make the bookings and return booking details to the workforce logistics
system.
Details are maintained by advising any change to the booking, including
rescheduling or cancellation.
[0031] Advantageously, one or more forms of the present invention provides
a
methodology for creating, maintaining and synchronising traveller profile
information, and creating the rostered flights data for an organisation
running fly-
in fly-out operations, communication of flights required to a booking engine,
retrieving booking information and routing that information back to the
originating
system.
[0032] It has been realized in at least one embodiment of the present
invention that what is required is a seamless integration/connection between
workforce logistics systems and commercial travel booking engines.
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[0033] A yet further aspect of the present invention provides functional
interfacing between a workforce logistics management system and a travel
booking system, the workforce logistics system handling work and travel
rostering
of personnel within a workforce, the travel booking system maintaining a
personal
profile record of each person to travel and handling booking of travel for the
personnel, wherein the workforce logistics management system provides a travel
roster for each of a number of personnel, and the interface communicates at
least
one travel request to the travel booking system based on the travel roster for
each of the number of personnel.
[0034] The interface may receive from the travel booking system travel
confirmations that travel is booked for each person, and communicate the
confirmations to the workforce logistics management system.
[0035] Preferably, the interface may communicate updated personal profile
data from the workforce logistics management system to the travel booking
system to update the personal profile records.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0036] One or more embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be
described with reference to the accompanying Figure(s), in which:
[0037] Figure 1 shows a flow chart relating to an embodiment of the present
invention.
[0038] Figure 2 shows a general arrangement of functional components in a
travel rostering system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0039] Figure 3 shows a flow chart relating to a further embodiment of the
present invention.
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DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0040] Figure 1 depicts a flow chart of a system employed by a data
management tool embodiment of the present invention.
[0041] A request is received 10 by the system to arrange travel for a
number
of individuals. Travel is typically between a home port, such as the nearest
allowed airport to the individual, and a worksite or accommodation site
associated
with work.
[0042] A compiler determines 12 or is provided with a period of time over
which a roster plan for scheduling travel for the individuals.
[0043] The roster plan includes creating 14 a work status code for each
day
within the period of time covered by the roster plan.
[0044] A personal profile for each individual to be rostered into the plan
is
checked and data obtained 16.
[0045] Details of available flights within the roster plan period are
obtained 18,
including flight times, flight departure and arrival locations matching with
the
individual's flight departure and arrival locations.
[0046] The type of flight is identified: charter or commercial. Commercial
flights can include actual scheduled flights that have a flight code applied
by the
operating airline, or can be a placeholder flight. A placeholder flight is not
a
specific flight (with a flight code), rather, a placeholder flight can have a
general
range of potential flight times (am, pm) on a particular day from a particular
departure port to a particular destination port. Charter flights may be given
priority.
[0047] Flight details are matched to the travelling individual 20.
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[0048] When the roster plan is complete, a booking order is forwarded 22 to
the booking agent to book the flights.
[0049] Confirmations are returned 24 to the system/administrator
originating
the roster plan and booking order.
[0050] According to at least one embodiment of the present invention,
profile
details of each member of the workforce are created and maintained within the
system.
[0051] For the avoidance of doubt, the term 'workforce' is deemed within
this
specification to mean not only employees but also contractors and visitors
scheduled to travel to attend a worksite destination.
[0052] The profile for each individual contains all of the data required by
a
flight booking system, such as an individual's identification (traveller ID),
individual's/traveller's name, roster identification (roster ID),
individual's/traveller's
flight preferences, individual's/traveller frequent flyer identification
(frequent flyer
ID - usually the individual's/traveller's own frequent flyer reward program
reference/membership number), individual's/traveller's passport number and
expiry date, booking priority, and default cost code for accounting purposes.
[0053] Any changes made to an individual's profile within the system are
preferably sent via a secured link to the booking engine profile update
interface.
Receipt of a change is acknowledged back to the system, and includes the
date/time last synchronised.
[0054] On request by a travel administrator, the system will run a roster
build
process to create a roster plan for the required period in the future.
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[0055] A work status code is assigned by the tool or operator using the
tool to
each day in the period. Work status codes that require a travel booking will
nominate:
a) the time of day travel is required,
b) the home 'port' (airport) of the individual will nominate the departure
point, and
c) the work site of the individual will nominate the destination.
[0056] If commercial or charter flights are used to service workforce
logistics,
by rolling a standing weekly flight schedule forward for the roster build
period, the
roster build will also be used to create:
a) a schedule of charter and/or
b) actual or placeholder commercial flights
[0057] If the schedule includes charter flights, the system will:
a) unbook all previous charter bookings in the period for that traveller;
then
b) book the individual onto the required charter flights until the charter
flight capacity is reached.
[0058] If the schedule includes actual commercial flights or placeholder
commercial flights, the system will display a list of flights required to meet
the
travel requirements of the roster so that the workforce travel administrator
can
release all or selected flights for booking.
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[0059] If commercial booking exist that are no longer required they will
be
displayed to the travel administrator for manual cancellation.
[0060] Released flight requests are sent via a secured link to the booking
engine including one or more of travellers/individual's ID, departure port ID,
destination port ID, preferred travel time, travel booking time slot length in
hours,
preference for early or late flight in slot, booking priority, cost code and
optional
preferred flight.
[0061] The booking engine will attempt to book a preferred flight. If
specified
otherwise, the booking engine will use the individual's details, booking slot
and
preferences to find the first available seat within policy and make the
booking.
[0062] Booking and cancellation details are sent to the travel management
company for billing and back to the system to update the travel details to
confirm
the transaction.
[0063] Subsequent changes to the booking will be sent via the secured link
to
the system to ensure the details are always synchronised.
[0064] The system can highlight flights required but not able to be booked
to
the workforce travel administrator so alternate arrangements can be made.
[0065] Beneficially, the present invention requires no travel agent
intervention
where travel capacity is available within a reasonable time of the required
travel.
[0066] Travel administrators can define the priority between workforce
travellers so that organisational priorities are incorporated into booking
decisions.
[0067] Traveller profiles can be maintained and can be synchronised with
the
travel booking engine.
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[0068] Bookings, when made, updated or cancelled, can be communicated
automatically back to the workforce travel administrator via the workforce
management system.
[0069] The methodology or system of one or more forms of the present
invention preferably calculates and maintains future flight requirements for
the
workforce and tracks met and unmet requirements.
[0070] It will be appreciated that the method or system of the present
invention avoids the need for travel agent intervention where travel capacity
is
available within a reasonable time of the required travel.
[0071] Travel administrators are enabled to define the priority between
travelling workforce individuals so that organisational priorities are
incorporated
into booking decisions.
[0072] Bookings when made, updated or cancelled can be communicated
automatically back to the workforce travel administrator via a workforce
management system.
[0073] The method or system provides for calculation and maintenance of
future flight requirements for the workforce and tracks met and unmet
requirements.
[0074] A general arrangement of functional elements of an embodiment of
the
present invention is shown in figure 2.
[0075] A data management tool 102 provides a functional interface between
a
workforce logistics management system 104 and a travel booking system 106.
[0076] It will be appreciated that the data management tool 102 creates an
integrated personnel travel rostering and booking system by functionally
linking
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together the workforce logistics management system 104 and the travel booking
system 106.
[0077] Changes to personal data stored in records 120 in the workforce
logistics management system 104 automatically update the personal profile
details 116 of a traveller that are stored in the booking system 106. Such
integration overcomes the problem of incorrect data remaining in the booking
system when personal data is updated in the workforce logistics management
system.
[0078] A further benefit of such an integrated system is that changes to
flights
after booking are conveyed to the workforce logistics management system 104 so
that the travel roster 110 (and if necessary, the work roster 108) for the
affected
individual traveller(s) are updated.
[0079] Thus, the data management tool 102 provides a two way interface 114
with the booking system 106, sending booking requests 112 from the workforce
logistics management system 104 to the booking system 106, and also receiving
any booking confirmations and/or changes to requested or actual bookings and
providing the workforce logistics management system with the updated data 118
in order to update travel/roster records.
[0080] Any changes to personal data held in the workforce logistics
management system are efficiently conveyed to the booking system for updating
personal profile information held in the booking system.
[0081] A further embodiment of the present invention is represented in the
flow chart of Figure 3.
[0082] Within a travel rostering and booking system 200, a travel and
personnel records data management tool 202 interfaces between a workforce
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logistics management system 204 (e.g. of an employer) and a travel booking
system 206.
[0083] The data management tool 202 coordinates 208 updating 210 of
traveller personal profile data held within traveller profile records 212. If
a new
traveller personal profile is to be created or if data in a current traveller
personal
profile is to be updated, the data management tool 202 interfaces between the
updating 214 of personnel records 216 within the workforce logistics
management
system 204 and the traveller profile records 212 and ensures that personal
profile
data is consistent between the two systems.
[0084] When changes are made to personnel data records 216, the data
management tool 202 ensures that such changes are mirrored in the traveller
profile records so that future travel bookings reflect the correct personal
data for a
traveller.
[0085] A roster 218 of personnel travel requirements is created based on
work
roster requirements and personnel availability. The roster 218 identifies
particular
personnel to be travelling, and from their personal profiles held in personnel
records 216 also includes travel information, such as travel departure point
(home
port) and destination (work port).
[0086] Travel requirements created by the roster are matched with
availability
of modes of transport allowed by the system. For example, travel by aircraft
for
each of the travellers can be selected from chartered or scheduled (standing)
flights.
[0087] Placeholder flights can be established, which typically do not have
specific flight times or flight numbers associated with them; rather, general
flight
times within a range of preferred times are put into the system in order to
flag that
a flight booking is required and subsequently a particular flight can be
assigned to
a traveller on a placeholder flight once flight type and availability is
established.
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[0088] Once the roster and travel requirements 220 are established, the
personnel records data management tool 202 sends a travel booking request 222
for a number of travellers to the travel booking system 206.
[0089] The travel booking request identifies each traveller by a unique
personal identification code. Each code is matched 224 to the traveller's
personal
profile held in the traveller profile records 212 and with the required travel
timing,
destination and departure ports for each traveller e.g. flight details.
[0090] Travel is then booked 226 and booking confirmations 228 are
returned
to the personnel records data management tool 202 which forwards 230 the
booking confirmations to the workforce logistics management system 204.
[0091] The workforce logistics management system 204 receives the booking
confirmations and updates 232 travel data for each travel booked to travel.
The
updates are recorded for each traveller in the personnel data records 216.
[0092] Flights booked via the data management tool 202 interfacing with
the
travel booking system 206 are recorded in a global distribution system (GDS)
234, the GDS being a common user system for booking flights with airlines.
[0093] If changes to flights, such as availability or timing of flights,
occur after
the booking request is submitted from the personnel records data management
tool 202 to the travel booking system 206 and thence to the GDS 234, details
236
of such flight changes are provided to the travel booking system from the GDS.
D
[0094] Details of flight changes can originate from the airlines who then
update flight details (such as delays to scheduled flying times, points of
departure
or arrival, type of aircraft etc.).
[0095] The changes to bookings are extracted 238 and provided to the data
management tool 202, which then provides 240 the booking changes to update
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242 the roster details held in the personnel data records 216 for each
affected
traveller. Each traveller can then be notified of the flight changes, such as
by
SMS text, email or telephone call.
[0096] It will be appreciated that the data management tool synchronizes
personnel personal records and travel bookings between the personnel data
records and rostering maintained in-house by the employer/contractor and the
booking agency that holds personal travel profile data and actually books the
flights.
[0097] Such systems are normally stand-alone, and any change of personal
data in the employer's/contractor's records or in the personal profile data
held by
the booking agency does not get updated by the other. Thus, records can often
be inaccurate between these entities/information holders.
[0098] Where specific flight details are known, such as a flight number
associated with a commercial or charter flight, that specific flight can be
booked
for the traveller in their roster. This is typically used where known travel
departure and arrival points and times are available.
[0099] Where non-specific travel times are only available, such as a
specific
day and only morning (AM) or afternoon/evening (PM) and the departure and
arrival destinations, a generic flight time can be put as a placeholder flight
for a
particular traveller. Thus, a range of potential flying times can be
scheduled, and
when a particular flight becomes available or is identified for that
traveller, that
specific flight can be booked. This arrangement provides flexibility and
allows
flight prioritisation for some travellers over others.
[00100] For example, travellers who do not need to know much in advance
which exact flight they will be travelling on, a placeholder flight can
provide a
general range of expected flying times e.g. AM on a particular day, or PM on a
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return flight. Once the actual flight is known and booked, the traveller
receives
confirmation.
[00101] Placeholder flights can be for single or multiple leg bookings. For
example, a placeholder flight may encompass a single journey direct from one
departure port straight to an arrival port.
[00102] A multiple leg journey may encompass a change of flights in travelling
from a departure port via an intermediate port to arrive at the final
destination
port.
[00103] Alternatively, a multiple leg journey may include the outward travel
from the 'home' (or 'point of origin') departure port to the final work
destination
and then the return journey from the work destination to the home departure
location. Preferably multiple leg return journeys are booked
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