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To all of our Friends and Colleagues:
I understand there is some concern regarding our privacy policy. To help clarify things, please know that the policy does not permit us to use an agent's customer information and it is our strict policy to keep all information confidential. The whole purpose of the software is to provide agents with a powerful customer relationship management and back office tool for free. The tool is designed to be supported by supplier advertisers, similar to Google. The very last thing we would want to do is undermine the business value that agents have created in building a customer base.
This issue was brought to my attention at the OSSN tradeshow in Atlantic City. I was shocked and asked the agent to show me where there was a problem, because it is exactly opposite of what we are about. We were able to identify the source of confusion, and she agreed that the policy was fine but leads to confusion. The privacy policy uses a defined term "Customer". This term refers to the OpenTravel CRM subscriber (i.e, meaning you are our customer). Some people are reading it to mean the agent's customers. But, it does not refer to your customers. It refers to the software user. So, it appears that the confusion is with a poorly chosen reference term which is generating the confusion. Our plan is to change the word to another term like "OTC Subscriber" to avoid any possible misunderstanding. We will also put in a clear statement that it does not apply to agent customer information. If you substitute the word Customer with OTC Subscriber and read the policy, you will see we are very protective of information.
Here is the source of confusion. I have bolded the relevant part of our Privacy Policy:
"Introduction. We at Travel Sciences, Inc. and its affiliated companies (collectively referred to as “TS,” “We,” “US,” or “Our”) recognize the importance of protecting the privacy of individual-specific (personally identifiable) information or data collected about Our users ("Customers"). Examples of individual-specific information ("Information") are described in the Section, “What is Individual Specific Information?” We have adopted this Customer Privacy Policy (“Policy”) to guide how We utilize Information about Our Customers. This Policy applies to residents of the United States only. We do not accept the jurisdiction of any other laws over our activities in the United States."
So, I would like to thank everyone for bringing this to our attention, and we wish to emphasize that we are totally committed to you and your business success, and will always respect the confidentiality of your business information. You are at all times the sole owner of your information with OpenTravel CRM.
If you have any issues or questions, please feel free to us at any time.
From:
Joe Mazzarella
President & CEO
860-543-6061
jmazz@travelsciences.com
Website: www.opentravelcrm.com
How many times have you used a product or service and wished that someone would listen to your ideas?
Opentravel CRM is a totally revolutionary offering in the travel industry. Its ultimate success depends on you in many ways. OTC is open and free, and is based on a simple idea.. free software for your business. Now, in order to make OTC great, you must agree that it is great. In order for that to happen, we need your input and ideas so we can make it better and better. Simply put, your opinions matter because you are the expert!.
But there is even more you can do to make your software successful. We need your help. Your business software is provided for free because we believe your suppliers should advertise in OTC. If they advertise they are showing their support for you by helping support a valuable tool for your business. It also is a great place to to advertise their products too.
You can do the following things to help the OTC revolution:
1. If suppliers advertise, please send them an email or note to supplier's marketing department telling them how much you appreciate and value their support of OTC. It only takes a minute, and it has amazing impact.
2, If you deal with suppliers that you don't see advertising, kindly ask them to support OpenTravel CRM. Let them know how important it is to you to see them supporting your software. Again, if you deal with a sales channel or travel partner representative, let them know you would like them to advertise and support OTC.
Thank You or better said "Thanks to you"
Joe
Opentravel CRM is an innovative new customer relationship management (CRM) and back office solution which is FREE!
Opentravel CRM offers enterprise software level features to travel agents and agencies using an innovative travel supplier based advertising model. Opentravel CRM will have a major impact on the travel industry. It ushers in a new software delivery model that has been increasingly and successfully employed in other industry segments, particularly with the widespread penetration and accessibility of Web 2.0 based services.
Opentravel CRM(or "OTC") is also innovative in embedding Web 2.0 features into its core business software solution fabric. It essentially has evolved the concept of CRM from its traditional passive interaction mode, which was focused on data collection, data analysis and subsequent target marketing to a healthier community based social network participant approach. Relationships are built on conversations and communication. Enabling travel agents to engage in ongoing communications and conversation which have value, enable agents to reach out and create meaningful relationships that create business opportunities.
I love OpenTravel CRM. It is really innovative at many levels.