Pentland Ferries WebRes

01 April 2002

Summary 
Pentland Ferries is a low cost start up ferry operation providing a non-subsidised lifeline passenger and freight/cargo service between St Margaret's Hope on Orkney and Gills Bay on the Scottish mainland. The service commenced in the summer of 2001 and initially tried to operate a bespoke reservation system developed by a local software house. After the first few months of operation, it became obvious that the reservation system did not meet the reservation or operational needs of Pentland Ferries nor was it possible to accept real-time bookings through the Internet. Following a number of meetings and presentations from alternative suppliers, the full hosted Entee WebRes for Ferries service was selected by Pentland Ferries.  
 
Results 
Work on the implementation began in February 2002 and the system was installed on Good Friday 2002 three days ahead of schedule. In addition to meeting all the reservation requirements, additional functionality has been provided for passenger, car and freight/cargo check-in and web site bookings. No specialist hardware was required to operate the system just sufficient PCs with Internet access which is provided via ISDN in St Margaret's Hope and a dial up connection in Gills Bay. Since the successful installation real-time travel packaging for customers wishing to travel and stay in the best hotels Orkney can offer has also been added to the web site. Chief Executive Andrew Banks says "the quality of Entee's technology and support has allowed us to concentrate on the provision of a reliable value for money service whilst keeping overheads to a minimum".