Product Overview Amadeus Pro Printeramadeusproprinter.com/PP_UserInterface/Doc/Amadeus Pro Printer... · Product Overview Amadeus Pro Printer March 2005 Version 1.0 Reference PP0503

Product Overview

Amadeus Pro Printer

March 2005

Version 1.0

Reference PP0503

Amadeus Pro Printer Product Overview

Copyright © 2005 Amadeus Global Travel Distribution Page 2/9

Copyright © 2005 Amadeus Global Travel Distribution All Rights Reserved. This document is the property of Amadeus global Travel Distribution. It is an Amadeus confidential document. As such, it is the proprietary information of the Amadeus Company and should not be duplicated, in whole or in part, distributed outside of this company without the written consent of Amadeus.

Authors: Michel de Vathaire

Published by: Amadeus sas 485, route du Pin Montard Les Bouillides BP 69 06902 Sophia-Antipolis Cedex France



Document Change History and Approval

Version Date Changed Chapters Nature of Change

1.0 March 2005 Initial version

This document cannot be considered as contractual and is subject to further changes reflecting product implementation, enhancements and market feedback.



Table of Contents

1 - Introduction.......................................................................................................... 5

2 - Design overview and main functions................................................................. 6

3 - Product Features and Benefits........................................................................... 7

3.1 - Main Features .............................................................................................................................. 7

3.2 - User Interface for verification and trouble shooting...................................................................... 8

3.3 - Product Benefits ........................................................................................................................... 8

4 - Deployment and support .................................................................................... 9

5 - Bundling and Pricing........................................................................................... 9



1 - Introduction

Amadeus Pro Printer is a mandatory component for customers that use Amadeus Central Ticketing on Amadeus platforms and require host data to be driven to or received from a remote device or application such as a printer, a back-office software or a virtual device. It is also mandatory for A.I.R. data capture.

The main role Amadeus Pro Printer is to print Tickets and Documents:

• Tickets (Air, Rails, etc…) can be printed on ATB and OPTAT printers.

• Documents (Invoices, Itineraries, Vouchers, Hardcopies) can be printed on generic/broadcast printers.

Amadeus Pro Printer may be associated with Amadeus Vista and other Front Office disk based products (Tempo and Concerto). Pro Printer may also be used as a stand alone product for following reason:

• API clients: for the A.I.R transmission and integration in client back office applications

• STP: to handle Satellite Ticket Printers in offices of Travel Agencies’ Customers.



2 - Design overview and main functions

The left side boxes are the “input” components which allow Pro Printer to receive data from external applications that may be located either on Amadeus Central System (via the front ends) or on other Provider’s hosts (e.g. SNCB, Eurostar, SBB). The right side boxes are the “output” components which allow Pro Printer to send data to connected devices (e.g. ATB or OPTAT printers) or applications. In case of Tickets and documents generated by Amadeus Central System, they are sent as printing messages form the Central Ticketing application and then transmitted to Pro Printer via a DDIP server (Document Distribution over IP). The Pro Printer software gives the print message to the document printer. After print out a response message is send back to Central system. Note that in case of ATB2 or OPTAT 2 ways, stock control is handled by Pro Printer before sending the print message. Pro Printer is most commonly used with the Amadeus Pro front office products but may be installed as a “stand alone” product, for example in a Travel Agency back office to receive AIRs or in the offices of a Client of a Travel Agency to offer an STP standard solution.



3 - Product Features and Benefits

3.1 - Main Features

To achieve it’s essential function: printing of all Tickets and Documents delivered by Amadeus Central Systems, Amadeus Pro Printer features are:

• Support of all printer types commonly used to print Tickets and other documents, i.e. ATB1, ATB2, OPTAT 1 or 2 ways, broadcast printers.

• Object oriented model for easy add-on of new connections to servers (D.D.IP, TN3270, SNA), and devices.

• Standard API for easy developments of new devices.

• Optimized secured protocol for communication with D.D.IP.

• Transmission of accounting information to mid and back offices with the A.I.R (Amadeus Interface Record) and I.M.R

• Support of FTP transmission to exchange files.

• Graphical user interface for installation, configuration, and troubleshooting

• Modular design to allow flexible implementation of new network protocols and new data storage types

• Distribution and deployment by Web Config.

• Connectivity to D.D.IP server over Intranet or Internet.

• High security with data encryption with 40 or 128 bit keys and strong authentication, using one digital certificate per printer.



3.2 - User Interface for verification and trouble shooting

Pro Printer is automatically launched, as a service (or an application, depending on Operating system) in the background, when the PC on which it is installed is started and it remains running transparently (i.e. without any necessary user interaction). When Amadeus Pro Printer is working, several icons appear in the Windows taskbar:

for the Amadeus Pro Printer Communication Adapter. The Communication Adapter icon indicates the current status of the Network TCP/IP connection with the Central System:

• Green: the connection to the Central System is operational. The terminal is ready to receive data.

• Red: the connection to the Central System is out of order. It is impossible to print any document as long as this icon remains red.

• Blue: data are currently exchanged with the Central System. When clicking on the icon, the user accesses to the Communication Adapter window. It provides detailled information on the connection to the Central System.

for each Amadeus Pro Printer instance (i.e. each Amadeus printer or A.I.R. transfer) The following colour code is used for Pro Printer icons:

• Green stands for ready: everything is OK

• Red stands for not ready: there is a problem

• Blue stands for “data processing” When clicking on an icon, the related process window is opened and provides detailed information on the instance.

3.3 - Product Benefits

Pro Printer is free of charge when bundled with an associated Front Office product. The association of Amadeus Vista and Pro Printer allows to propose a standard offer to Travel Agencies for all their need of printing, capturing and exchanging data in relation with Amadeus Central Ticketing or other Provider host. This association also allows to answer some specific needs like STP (Satellite Ticket Printing). Pro Printer may support up to 32 devices (including printers, file transfer, AIRs. etc.) either directly connected to the workstation where Pro Printer is installed or on the same LAN. As Pro Printer has been In production since early 1997, it is now widely know by NMC and internal technical support, but as it is based on an open architecture, it remains open for future evolution and customization.



4 - Deployment and support Like other Amadeus Front Office products, Pro Printer may be configured, distributed to markets and then deployed and activated at a chosen date thanks to Web Config System. This system not only allows NMCs to control the deployment of Pro Printer but also to automatically upgrade from one version to a new one, thanks to the Automatic Update mechanism provided with Web Config. Currently there are one “generic” and 2 “market” versions of Pro Printer (for France and Germany) These different versions will soon converge to an unified version that will be adaptable to different market needs thanks to additional options selectable via Web Config. To get a first version of “generic” Pro Printer, the user must order to EUM one dedicated CID (in addition to the one ordered for Vista). Support of Pro Printer is offered through the usual escalation process, i.e. NMCs, Help Desk then 1A Customer Support at 2d level, then 1A Regional Technical support at 3d level. The technical support is facilitated and accelerated thanks to a powerful remote control tool wich allows trouble shooting at client (PC) or server (DDIP) level.

5 - Bundling and Pricing Pro Printer has been historically bundled (from a price point of view) with the Front Office Systems to which it is associated, i.e. Tempo, Concerto, Pro Web in the past and now Amadeus Vista. Pro Printer may be billed separately when it is not associated with a Front Office products i.e. when installed as a standalone product, for example to transfer AIR to back offices like SAP or others.