Videcom International Limited is a United Kingdom travel technology

Travel technology

Travel technology is a term used to describe applications of Information Technology , or Information and Communications Technology , in travel, tourism and hospitality industry...

 company based in Henley-on-Thames

Henley-on-Thames

Henley-on-Thames is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, about 10 miles downstream and north-east from Reading, 10 miles upstream and west from Maidenhead...

, it designs, develops and provides modern computer reservations system

Computer reservations system

A computer reservations system is a computerized system used to store and retrieve information and conduct transactions related to air travel. Originally designed and operated by airlines, CRSes were later extended for the use of travel agencies...

s to airline

Airline

An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...

s and the travel industry, specializing in the hosting and distribution of airline sales.

The system is connected to the Global Distribution Systems of Sabre

Sabre (computer system)

Sabre Global Distribution System , owned by Sabre Holdings, is used by more than 55,000 travel agencies around the world with more than 400 airlines, 88,000 hotels, 24 car rental brands, and 13 cruise lines...

, Amadeus, Galileo, Worldspan

Worldspan

Worldspan is a provider of travel technology and content and a part of the Travelport GDS business. It offers worldwide electronic distribution of travel information, Internet products and connectivity, and e-commerce capabilities for travel agencies, travel service providers and corporations...

 and Abacus

Abacus (GDS)

Abacus is a global distribution system with a primary focus on Asia/Pacific travel operated by Abacus International Pte, Ltd., which is headquartered in Singapore.- Airlines using Abacus :...

, which travel agents use to make airline bookings, and is also connected to other airline systems for interline bookings. The IATA airline designator for Videcom is U1.

History

Founded in 1972, the company originally manufactured computer terminals for many uses throughout the aviation and travel sectors including airline

Airline

An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...

 reservation centers, airport

Airport

An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

 operations and travel agency

Travel agency

A travel agency is a retail business that sells travel related products and services to customers on behalf of suppliers such as airlines, car rentals, cruise lines, hotels, railways, sightseeing tours and package holidays that combine several products...

 systems. Over 450,000 computer terminals were manufactured between 1972 and 2002 and although refurbishments are still supported today with many units still in use globally at airlines and airports, the company diversified into airline software development

Software development

Software development is the development of a software product...

 in 1987.

In 1976, Videcom International along with British Airways

British Airways

British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...

, British Caledonian

British Caledonian

British Caledonian was a private, British independentindependent from government-owned corporations airline, operating out of Gatwick Airport in the 1970s and 1980s...

 and CCL launched Travicom

Travicom

Travicom was the trading name of Travel Automation Services Ltd a travel technology company based in the United Kingdom providing a global distribution system between airlines and travel agencies....

, the world's first multi-access reservations system, (wholly based on Videcom technology), forming a network providing distribution for 49 subscribing international airlines (including British Airways

British Airways

British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...

, British Caledonian

British Caledonian

British Caledonian was a private, British independentindependent from government-owned corporations airline, operating out of Gatwick Airport in the 1970s and 1980s...

, TWA

Twa

The Twa are any of several hunting peoples of Africa who live interdependently with agricultural Bantu populations, and generally hold a socially subordinate position: They provide the farming population with game in exchange for agricultural products....

, Pan American World Airways

Pan American World Airways

Pan American World Airways, commonly known as Pan Am, was the principal and largest international air carrier in the United States from 1927 until its collapse on December 4, 1991...

, Qantas

Qantas

Qantas Airways Limited is the flag carrier of Australia. The name was originally "QANTAS", an initialism for "Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services". Nicknamed "The Flying Kangaroo", the airline is based in Sydney, with its main hub at Sydney Airport...

, Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines Limited is the flag carrier airline of Singapore. Singapore Airlines operates a hub at Changi Airport and has a strong presence in the Southeast Asia, East Asia, South Asia, and "Kangaroo Route" markets...

, Air France

Air France

Air France , stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the French flag carrier headquartered in Tremblay-en-France, , and is one of the world's largest airlines. It is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance...

, Lufthansa

Lufthansa

Deutsche Lufthansa AG is the flag carrier of Germany and the largest airline in Europe in terms of overall passengers carried. The name of the company is derived from Luft , and Hansa .The airline is the world's fourth-largest airline in terms of overall passengers carried, operating...

, SAS

Scandinavian Airlines System

Scandinavian Airlines or SAS, previously Scandinavian Airlines System, is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and the largest airline in Scandinavia....

, Air Canada

Air Canada

Air Canada is the flag carrier and largest airline of Canada. The airline, founded in 1936, provides scheduled and charter air transport for passengers and cargo to 178 destinations worldwide. It is the world's tenth largest passenger airline by number of destinations, and the airline is a...

, KLM, Alitalia

Alitalia

Alitalia - Linee Aeree Italiane S.p.A. , in its later stages known as Alitalia - Linee Aeree Italiane S.p.A. in Extraordinary Administration, was the former Italian flag carrier...

, Cathay Pacific

Cathay Pacific

Cathay Pacific is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport, although the airline's registered office is on the 33rd floor of One Pacific Place...

 and JAL

JAL

JAL or Jal can mean the following:* Japan Airlines, ICAO airline designator: JAL* El Lencero Airport in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico * JAL , a compiler for the PIC microcontroller* The state of Jalisco in México...

) to thousands of travel agents in the UK. It allowed agents and airlines to communicate via a common distribution language and network, handling 97% of UK airline business trade bookings by 1987.

The system went on to be replicated by Videcom in other areas of the world including the Middle East (DMARS), New Zealand, Kuwait (KMARS), Ireland, Caribbean, United States and Hong Kong. The Travicom

Travicom

Travicom was the trading name of Travel Automation Services Ltd a travel technology company based in the United Kingdom providing a global distribution system between airlines and travel agencies....

 multi access system was eventually replaced by Galileo

Galileo CRS

Galileo is a computer reservations system owned by Travelport. As of 2002, it had a 26.4% of worldwide CRS airline bookings.In addition to airline reservations, the Galileo CRS is also used to book train travel, cruises, car rental, and hotel rooms...

 in the UK and in 1988, Travel Automations Services Ltd (trading as Travicom) changed its trading name to Galileo UK and agents using Travicom were migrated to Galileo.

Since the late 1980s to the current day, Videcom has continued to develop products mostly related to airlines and airports, including terminal emulator

Terminal emulator

A terminal emulator, terminal application, term, or tty for short, is a program that emulates a video terminal within some other display architecture....

 software, airport check-in

Airport check-in

Airport check-in uses service counters found at commercial airports handling commercial air travel. The check-in is normally handled by an airline itself or a handling agent working on behalf of an airline...

 systems, Common Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE), Aircraft Weight and Balance systems, Unit Load Device

Unit Load Device

A unit load device , is a pallet or container used to load luggage, freight, and mail on wide-body aircraft and specific narrow-body aircraft. It allows a large quantity of cargo to be bundled into a single unit. Since this leads to fewer units to load, it saves ground crews time and effort and...

 management, and a modern Airline Reservations System

Airline Reservations System

An airline reservation system is part of the so-called passenger service systems , which are applications supporting the direct contact with the passenger....

, including an integrated Departure Control System.

In 2004, Videcom sold some of their standalone products, such as standalone DCS, Weight and Balance and the Common Use System, to Ultra Electronics in an effort to focus on a fully integrated hosted solution which could be used by larger airlines on a global scale.

The new product suite, which the company has provided to approximately 35 airlines since 2001, includes VRS, the Airline Reservations Systems and the new integrated Departure Control System and is used by regional and international airlines.

Products used by airlines today

Inventory Hosting

• Airline Hosting Platform
• Fare Distribution
• Flight Scheduling
• GDS
  GDS
  -Medicine:* Geriatric Depression Scale, a simple, self-administered assessment of depression among the elderly.* Global Deterioration Scale, a standardized system of evaluating the progression of dementia, specifically in Alzheimer's Disease.-Schools:...
  
   Distribution (Type A & Type B)
• IATA PNR's
• XML
  XML
  Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
  
   distribution

Internet Booking Engine

• Ancillary Sales
• Credit Card
  Credit card
  A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
  
  /Debit card
  Debit card
  A debit card is a plastic card that provides the cardholder electronic access to his or her bank account/s at a financial institution...
  
   transactions
• Customer profiling
• Low Fare Finder Calendar
• Online Check-in
• Seat Selection

Ticketing

• IATA Electronic Ticketing
• Paper Tickets
• Ticketless Travel

Global Distribution Systems
Connected to:

• Amadeus
• Galileo
• Sabre
  Sabre (computer system)
  Sabre Global Distribution System , owned by Sabre Holdings, is used by more than 55,000 travel agencies around the world with more than 400 airlines, 88,000 hotels, 24 car rental brands, and 13 cruise lines...
  
  
• Worldspan
  Worldspan
  Worldspan is a provider of travel technology and content and a part of the Travelport GDS business. It offers worldwide electronic distribution of travel information, Internet products and connectivity, and e-commerce capabilities for travel agencies, travel service providers and corporations...
  
  

Interline Sales

• Connected to other airlines
• IATA IET (Interline Eticket)

Reporting

• HTML, XML, CSV formats
• Management Information System
• Revenue Accounting*Revenue/Yield Management
• Sales Reports
• Ticketing data