33 Britannia Hotels Get Their ‘Fax’ Right with A2iA DocumentReader™

Britannia Hotels Group increases productivity, decreases processing time, and reduces operating costs with A2iA DocumentReader™ and Eptica Fax-Letter-SMS™

A2iA (Artificial Intelligence and Image Analysis), a leading provider of tools for document analysis and handwritten data extraction, announced that Britannia Hotels, the largest privately owned hotel chain in the United Kingdom, has streamlined its reservation process with an integrated solution containing A2iA DocumentReader and Eptica Fax-Letter-SMS. A2iA DocumentReader, a document classification and data extraction API, is capable of processing any document-type (unstructured, semi-structured, or structured) or writing-type (cursive, handprinted, machine printed), and Eptica Fax-Letter-SMS is a solution dedicated to managing customer inquiries sent by fax, mail or SMS. Together, this integrated solution automatically converts faxed hotel reservations into inbound emails for faster, more accurate processing.

Deployed to 33 hotels in December, Britannia Hotels has already seen a 16% increase in productivity and cut the cost of operating its reservation center. A2iA and Eptica have also reduced the time it takes to process approximately 2,000 daily bookings from 3 minutes to 2.5 minutes per reservation.

“The new system is simple to use, easy to maintain and the workflow is prioritized,” said Karen Pownall, Call Center Manager for Britannia Hotels. “Staff can achieve a greater level of productivity, which is linked to their bonus scheme, increasing their earning potential. We’ve even seen a drop in sick days and we have a much more focused team, delivering excellent results. Eptica and A2iA have also allowed us to free up valuable management time, which moves managers away from time-consuming administrative tasks to focus on the training and coaching of our team.”

The new workflow allows faxed hotel reservations to be automatically read by A2iA DocumentReader and with customized recognition templates, then locates, recognizes and extracts the following information:
Booking number
Guest’s first name and last name
Arrival date
Number of rooms reserved.

Once the information is extracted, A2iA DocumentReader transmits the data to Eptica Fax-Letter-SMS, which converts the faxed bookings into emails. These emails are prioritized in the reservation systems’ email queue according to the guests’ arrival date and guests arriving at Britannia Hotels, regardless of when they made their booking, can be assured that their reservation will be processed.

“The Eptica/A2iA solution has been a win-win investment for us; they have delivered exactly what they specified at the onset of the project. We’re a cost conscious organization and the project fit into our price bracket, resulting in significant operational cost and service improvements,” said Pownall.

This year, Britannia Hotels has experienced an increase in hotel bookings. By improving efficiency and cutting the time it takes to process reservations by approximately 120 hours a week, the Eptica/A2iA solution has resulted in significant operational cost savings for the Group.

About A2iA

A2iA, Artificial Intelligence and Image Analysis, is a software company that operates one of the world’s largest research centers focusing on ways to extract information from everyday paper documents that contain handwritten information. A2iA’s Document Classification, OCR, ICR and IWR technologies have been reducing data-entry costs and improving business process automation for nearly 20 years. A2iA recognition engines are used to enhance the forms-processing, transaction-processing, content management, document management, and knowledge management systems from leading vendors. For more information: www.a2ia.com.

About Eptica

Eptica is the leading European provider of multi-channel customer interaction software and is ranked on the 2008 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA. Thanks to its in-house or on-demand SaaS solutions, Eptica allows more than 200 companies to deliver consistent, managed service across all channels (web, email, chat, fax, letter and SMS). These web based applications enable dramatically improved customer experience and business effectiveness. Eptica has many clients, including: Confused.com, Hotels.com, South East Water, Brent Council, Societe Generale, La Redoute, ING, Barclays and DatingDirect.com. Eptica has offices in the UK, France and Spain and operates worldwide through its network of partners. For more information: www.eptica.com.

Contacts

A2iA
Wendi A. Klein, +1-917-237-0390 x4034
Marketing Communications Manager, North America
wendi.klein {at} a2ia(.)com