Travel Smartly
Digital technology has made road travel fast and convenient, removing many bottlenecks. Amit K Singh, CDO & Head, Products, E-commerce & Digital Marketing, Mantis Technologies discusses some of the details of this technology. Excerpts
AMIT KUMAR SINGH Chief Digital Officer, Head Products, Ecommerce & Digital Marketing, Mantis Technologies
What is the digital equipment for bus operators?
Bus operators leverage multiple digital solutions for their various needs such as GPS tracking of buses, printing tickets, collecting ticket bills, in-bus entertainment systems, safety and security systems, etc. All of this requires a comprehensive smart software architecture that can seamlessly cater to these needs. This is where Mantis’s Bus ERP product BUSCRS and mobility solution Maven come into the picture. They offer the following –
Automated vehicle tracking & logistics
Smart card / closed loop / open loop digital payment in both offline & online modes
Demand-supply optimizations
In-bus customer support & amenities
Describe the Maven App and UPI system
Maven is a mobile ERP platform that enables an An
droid-based smart device to turn into a full-fledged Bus Customer Reservation System with inbuilt features such as bus-scheduling, inventory management, ticketing, pricing, reporting, cargo-luggage booking, and more. When combined with our recommended hardware it can also help in GPS tracking, digital payments and tickets printing.
UPI is the NPCI driven innovative payment system which enables peer to peer/merchant payment in real time. This is fully integrate-able as one of the payment collection methods on our Maven devices. We have also enabled the UPI based payment system on most of the websites/apps we run for our 2000+ operator partners as well as our proprietary e- commerce solution.
What is the digital system for simplifying the onground inventory support for bus operators?
Our SaaS/.exe-based product BusCRS is a onestop-solution for all problems that an on- ground bus operator might face. This is combined with GDS systems which help distribute these inventories to various OTAs and travel agents. Bus operators can use bookbustickets.com, our online solution for their own travel agents & branches for the same. Our customer support team then provides a 24x7 OMS (operator management system) support for all Mantis operators to ensure that scheduled buses are running on time and as per schedule.
Discuss some of the latest product developments
We are currently working on several products that will potentially increase the economic value of the bus & logistics industry. Our immediate focus is on developing product solutions for government-led smart city projects. On the other hand, we are adding advanced features such as automated vehicle logistics & tracking systems, cargo module and dynamic pricing to our BusCRS platform. We are also bringing in new AI/ML capabilities, and building loyalty programmes and personalized itineraries for our end- consumers, i.e. bus travellers. Additionally, we are scaling up our technological infrastructure to handle larger volumes of transactional requests. In fact, Mantis already boasts of being one of the industry leaders in terms of RMP volumes.
Tell us about the Smart card access for operators
As explained earlier, Mantis is already harnessing the power of “Smart card” technologies to develop an innovative solution that can be used by bus travellers across the country. Through the smart card, they can pay for their daily bus trips, transit needs, etc. This will make the lives of frequent bus travellers easy by providing a ‘tap and go’ experience.
Our solution also provides full support for both online and offline modes of transactions. This feature comes in handy in a moving vehicle where network connectivity may not be strong.