Improving Service to Passengers and Back Office Efficiency
LONDON - SchlumbergerSema, the Information Technology (IT) business segment of Schlumberger Limited, today announced that South West Trains, the largest commuter train operating company in the UK, has selected AVANTIX Mobile, the SchlumbergerSema mobile ticketing solution, to replace its entire fleet of mobile ticket issuing machines. This brings the total number of AVANTIX Mobile devices in use to 2450, making it the number one mobile ticketing solution across the UK rail network.
Roll-out begins this October, following a successful field trial, with SchlumbergerSema providing the consulting and systems integration services to implement the infrastructure across the South West Trains network to support more than 500 devices over the next nine months.
Passengers will benefit from improved on-train information as AVANTIX Mobile provides train staff with fast, easy access to up-to-date fare and timetable information for the entire UK rail network. Purchasing tickets, once aboard the train, will also be more convenient as the AVANTIX Mobile can issue tickets from anywhere to anywhere including weekly season tickets. All tickets are magnetically encoded so that they can open the barriers at stations and on the London Underground.
"AVANTIX Mobile clearly demonstrates innovation" said Elizabeth de Jong, Head of Retail Development at South West Trains. "It is the only solution in the market that enables us to improve our on-train service to our passengers, better manage our back office accounting function and ensure that we are ready for the introduction of Chip & PIN in 2005."
A key reason for choosing AVANTIX Mobile is that it will enable South West Trains to automate its back office accounting process, a largely paper driven process today. This is estimated to result in significant cost savings as well as increased efficiency. Shift sheets are automatically generated from the data collected by AVANTIX Mobile during its use and then sent electronically to a central South West Trains accounting system for consolidation, reconciliation and reporting.
"AVANTIX Mobile is a solution that SchlumbergerSema has developed, using its systems integration expertise and strong understanding of the transport industry, to meet the specific needs of the market," said Dominic Arcari, director for Transport, SchlumbergerSema. "It provides South West Trains with a system that can be efficiently configured and controlled from a central location and which feeds data back to South West Trains locations enabling effective management of the total retail cycle."
SchlumbergerSema has over 35 years proven expertise implementing and managing the complex IT systems that underpin the transport industry and is at the forefront in the development of complete solutions for integrated, multi-modal transport. Through the implementation of technology enabled solutions, consulting, systems integration and managed services, SchlumbergerSema delivers end-to-end services across the whole business process, enabling passengers to buy tickets, make seamless connections, travel faster, and above all, receive accurate and reliable information for the entire journey.
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About Schlumberger
Schlumberger is a global oilfield and information services company with major activity in the energy industry. The company employs 78,000 people of more than 140 nationalities working in 100 countries and comprises three primary business segments. Schlumberger Oilfield Services is the world's premier oilfield services company supplying a wide range of technology services and solutions to the international oil and gas industry. WesternGeco, jointly owned with Baker Hughes, is the world's largest and most advanced surface seismic company. SchlumbergerSema is a leading supplier of IT consulting, systems integration, and network and infrastructure services to the energy industry, as well as to the public sector, telecommunications and finance markets. In 2002, Schlumberger operating revenue was $13.2 billion. For more information, visit www.slb.com
For further information, contact:
Caroline Crouch
media relations manager
Tel: +44 20 7830 4233
Mobile: +44 7733 310 086
ccrouch@slb.com
© Press Release 2006
