InformationWeek

Also being tested are speech-technology systems that understand full sentences, and could convert a sentence like "I need to go to Washington on Tuesday morning" into a booking. Most of the carriers now let travelers check flight status, access their frequent-flyer balances, and even track their lost baggage through speech-enabled systems; United and Continental employees are testing voice-activated booking systems. Continental is already going bilingual, working on systems that understand Spanish.

New uses for voice technology are showing up in many places. MapQuest Inc., a Web site that provides maps, is speech-enabling its driving directions so travelers in rental cars will be able to phone in for electronic guidance. "When people call in for driving instructions, they're often already driving," says Charlie Rutledge, VP of solution services for SpeechWorks, the speech-recognition technology supplier for MapQuest and United. "That makes it difficult for them to look things up on their laptops."

Speech recognition and wireless are the two technologies on the top of customer focus-group lists, says Niru Shah, United's manager of E-commerce application development. "Studies show that 50% to 60% of our business travelers carry wireless devices, and our business-to-business customers have told us that mobile as they are, they need to talk to us directly, not through a travel agency," Shah says.

Indeed, technology is the cornerstone of the airlines' new vision of customer-relationship management. Today, a third party-a travel agent-is in on just about every deal and knows who is offering what to whom. But airlines can now go online and deal directly with customers, letting them market the right offer to the right customer on his or her own terms, in a way that's invisible to everyone else.

Northwest Airlines next week will roll out a new frequent-flyer database designed to "remember everything you've told us, recognize you at any point of contact, whether kiosk or face-to-face, and be able to do something for you," says Lenza. "It will remember that we lost your bag last time, and say, 'Thanks for coming back; we've just upgraded you.'"

Unlike earlier attempts at CRM, this database will track customers not just by the number of miles they have flown, but also by the revenue they generate. That will let Northwest identify the biggest spenders among its frequent flyers.

Continental is combining CRM technology with kiosk interfaces to let customers bypass one of the most annoying steps in any journey-the check-in line. Continental replaced its 170 E-Ticket kiosks in April with faster, sleeker, and bilingual eService Centers; it's adding new ones at customer offices as well. At the Continental kiosk at AT&T headquarters in Basking Ridge, N.J., for example, travelers now can pick their seats and check their mileage status-but soon they will be able to check in for flights and print out their baggage tags. Northwest, too, is testing Internet check-in with two business customers.

Some are going even further with new technology: American is teaming with MobileStar Network to roll out secure high-speed Internet access in its Admiral's Club lounges for travelers with mobile computers. Now deployed in 20 Admiral's Clubs around the country and in the gate areas in the San Jose airport and Dallas' Love Field, the MobileStar service is expanding to all 50 clubs, plus the three New York metropolitan-area airports, John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia, and Newark, as well as 500 hotels, convention centers, restaurant chains, and railroad stations, says president and CEO Mark Goode.

Still, the airline business is mostly about selling tickets. Northwest, in addition to selling close to $400 million online this year, has moved 65% of its tickets to a paperless electronic format. It has also rolled out kiosks that let E-ticketed travelers check themselves in at 35 airports.

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