A glossary of travel technology terms

Core platform terms

Travel operating system. A single system that runs the full life of a business trip: policy, approvals, booking, ticketing, spend reporting and duty of care, on one record. GTOS is built as a travel operating system, not as a stand-alone booking widget. See what a travel operating system covers and how a travel operating system works.

Corporate travel management software (or platform). The broad category name used by companies looking for software to run employee travel. It can refer to a booking tool, an expense suite, or a full operating system. When we use it for GTOS, we mean the full programme: Client Portal, My Mobility and Control Tower.

Online booking tool (OBT). A tool travellers use to search and book flights, hotels and related services, usually inside policy. An OBT may or may not include approvals, a live finance view, duty of care or a desk. Compare this with a TMC platform in OBT versus TMC platform.

TMC platform. Software used by a travel management company to run client programmes, often with a mid-office, a servicing desk and reporting. GTOS can be the platform a TMC and its clients share, because the desk works in Control Tower on the same record the client already sees.

Managed travel. A model where travellers can book in policy themselves, and a specialist desk handles exceptions, complex itineraries, groups, visas and changes. GTOS supports this model with auto-issue for approved, in-policy bookings and a desk for complex trips. See managed travel.

Policy, booking and finance

Travel policy engine. Rules, taken from a written policy, that are applied while the traveller searches. In GTOS, rules can be set by designation, department and destination, and each option shows whether it is within policy. Out-of-policy choices are flagged and routed. See travel policy.

Approval workflow (or approval chain). The path a request follows before a trip is ticketed. Chains in GTOS are taken from the organisation chart and can follow role and limit. Managers can approve in one tap, including in My Mobility. A full audit trail records who decided what. See approvals.

Auto-issue. Automatic ticketing and confirmation of bookings that are already approved and within policy. In GTOS, complex trips still go to a specialist desk rather than being forced through a fully automatic path. See auto-issue.

One trip record. The principle that search, policy check, approval, ticket, hotel, receipt, invoice and duty-of-care status all attach to the same booking. This is the core of the GTOS platform.

Spend reporting and CFO dashboards. Live views of travel spend and compliance, by department, traveller, supplier and policy. USD is the main currency on this site; GTOS can record spend in more than one currency. See spend reporting and CFO reports.

Budgets and commitments. Approved amounts and committed costs by cost centre or project, recorded against the same bookings finance already sees. See budgets.

Duty of care and documents

Duty of care. The company's responsibility to know where travellers are, to confirm they are ready to travel, and to reach them when plans change. In GTOS this includes a live traveller map, passport and visa checks, and documents on the trip record. It is not a legal opinion. See duty of care and the checklist.

Traveller map (traveler tracking). A live map of requested and booked trips so the company can see where people are. See traveller map.

Travel readiness. Passport validity, visa status and related documents, checked before departure. Visa decisions rest with the authorities. See visas.

Portals and agency terms

Client Portal. The GTOS portal for admins, approvers, finance and leadership: organisation charts, policy, approval chains, budgets, invoices and spend dashboards. See Client Portal.

My Mobility. The GTOS traveller portal for search, booking, documents, confirmations, readiness checks and approvals when the user is a manager. Available on the web and on a phone. See My Mobility.

Control Tower. The operations view used by the travel team behind every client: every trip and request, VIP, visa, group and meetings cases, and response-time tracking, on the same record. See Control Tower.

Mid-office. The agency layer that sits between a booking and the back office: ticketing, quality checks, changes, supplier messages and the handover to accounting. See mid-office for travel agencies.

Rezencia. Voraal's reservations and travel-tech platform, so travel and hospitality businesses manage bookings and sales in one system.

Avunzo. A B2B travel API from Voraal, designed to connect travel content and booking flows to a business's own channels. Not yet live on production. Early access is available on request.

Folio6. Accounting and revenue intelligence software from Voraal for travel businesses.

This glossary will grow as more term pages are added. For narrative guides, go back to resources and guides.