Orbitz 2009 Annual Report Download - page 8

hotels and other travel products and allows them to assemble a customized vacation package that is generally
more flexible and less expensive than booking each travel product separately.
We are in the process of developing and implementing our new technology platform. Our new platform
currently supports our brand portfolio in Europe. In 2007, we launched the new platform for our ebookers
brand in the U.K. and Ireland, and in 2008, we launched our remaining ebookers websites onto the platform.
We have technology operations teams dedicated to ensuring that our websites operate efficiently. These
teams monitor our websites as well as the performance and availability of our third party service providers. In
addition, they coordinate major releases of new functionality on our websites as well as the development and
implementation of our new technology platform.
Customer Support
Our customer support platform includes OrbitzTLC, a proactive customer care service for our travelers.
Our OrbitzTLC team is based in Chicago, Illinois, and monitors Federal Aviation Administration, National
Weather Service and other data to send customers real-time updates on information that may affect their travel
plans. Our customer support platform also includes call centers and customer service centers that utilize
intelligent voice routing and intelligent call management technology to connect customers with the appropriate
center to assist them with their particular needs. We utilize a variety of third party vendors, domestically and
internationally, to manage these call centers and customer service centers.
Fraud System
We have an internally-developed fraud system that enables us to reduce our fraud rates and the costs
associated with fraud detection and prosecution. The system automates many of the manual functions of a
fraud prevention agent while prioritizing suspicious transactions for review.
Marketing
We utilize a combination of online and traditional offline marketing. Our sales and marketing efforts
primarily focus on increasing brand awareness and driving visitors to our websites. Our long-term success will
depend on our ability to continue to increase the overall number of booked transactions in a cost-effective
manner.
We use various forms of online marketing to drive traffic to our websites, including search engine
marketing, display advertising, affiliate programs and email marketing. We also generate traffic and
transactions from certain meta-search travel websites. We are actively pursuing tactics to optimize the results
of our online marketing efforts by increasing the value from existing traffic and by acquiring additional traffic
that is more targeted and cost effective. These tactics include pay-per-click optimization and search engine
optimization initiatives, loyalty programs and email marketing that target customers with specific offers that
correspond to their particular interests. We also use traditional broadcast advertising to focus on brand
differentiation and to emphasize certain distinct features of our businesses that we believe are valuable to our
customers.
We also have a dedicated marketing team that focuses on generating leads and building relationships with
corporate travel managers. Our sales team includes experienced corporate travel managers and is qualified to
assist corporations in choosing between the variety of corporate booking products that are offered under our
Orbitz for Business brand.
Intellectual Property
We regard our technology and other intellectual property, including our brands, as a critical part of our
business. We protect our intellectual property rights through a combination of copyright, trademark and patent
laws and trade secret and confidentiality procedures. We have a number of trademarks, service marks and
trade names that are registered or for which we have pending registration applications or common law rights.
These include Orbitz, Orbitz Matrix, Flex Search, OrbitzTLC, OrbitzTLC Mobile Access, the Orbitz design
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