Cross-Platform App Development Case Study For Flibco (Transportation)

Background

Flibco.com is a leading private airport shuttle service provider with a passenger turnover of 1.9 million/year in main Western European countries with headquarters in Luxembourg.

With a help of shuttle transportation apps developed by Ascendix, Flibco.com customers can book online or over the phone a private or shared shuttle minibus to get from their home or the nearest bus stop to any airport and vice versa.

Flibco.com bus drivers use a single app to:

Print tickets, receipts, and invoices thanks to EPOS thermal printing.
Get real-time data about traffic and time estimation to group separate orders via TomTom services integration.
Get customers’ addresses and plan trips more precisely with Google Maps integration.

Also, we developed their website using Drupal CMS so now their team has a convenient content management system and robust performance analytics.

Our DevOps team ensures uninterrupted work of all systems.

Alex Tregubov,

Product Owner

Location

Luxembourg

Industry

Travel & Transportation (Shuttle bus service)

Services

Cross-platform app development, System Integration, Cloud Migration, DevOps

Teсh Stack

Java, Xamarin, Vue.js, JS, Azure, Kubernetes, Docker, Drupal, Mongo.DB, SpringBoot

Challenges

Perform Migration From an Old System to a New Modern Solution

Migrate and enhance a legacy monolithic system, which consisted of backend and multiple applications, to a new modern solution.

Implement Enhanced Security Management

Improve security measures for the payment processes, and users’ authentication.

Build Advanced Route Generation Tool

Create optimal routes and passenger groups for shared Door2Gate trips considering e.g. Live Traffic situations, canceled, or new bookings.

Conduct Drupal CMS Integration

Develop multi-environment SDLC (System Development Life Cycle) for Drupal to deliver the glitch-free and user-friendly CMS.

Perform Cloud Migration to an Advanced Transportation Software

Implement cloud migration from out-of-date software to a better shuttle transportation software solution.

Integrate a Multi-Payment Solution

Enable a multi-payment option to guarantee seamless access to payment operations.

Develop Powerful Performance Analytics Tools

Add an opportunity to monitor and analyze the performance of the shuttle booking app.

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“ In 2018 we were preparing for a tender to become the main transportation partner for Charleroi airport. Full integration of the airport transport system was one of the key requirements and Flibco managed to win the tender by offering the most optimal solution. Really big companies like Keolis and Flixbus were applying but in the end, in March 2019 Flibco won this tender. Now in Charleroi, we have a kind of monopole where we are setting up new infrastructure in front of the airport and a unique Flibco-branded mobility center that you will not find on any airport in Europe. The people go out of the terminals and reach directly in our mobility center to go to different cities. ”

Tobias Stueber, CEO of Flibco.com

Technologies We Used

Results

Shuttle Booking Management

Flibco’s customers now have three options to book a ticket:

via website
at the Points of Sale in the airport
right in the bus

Passengers’ booking history is visible on the Flibco website, in the user’s cabinet. There the clients may find the passed and upcoming bookings with the ticket details, cancellations, remaining deposits, etc. The same information can be found in the Flibco.com admin panel that allows the company to provide multisource shuttle booking support.

Ticket Management

Flibco.com enabled users to get booked tickets by email or as an HTML page and added an opportunity to check seat reservation via QR code in the ticket. The company has introduced EPOS thermal printing for ticket, receipt, and invoice printing as well.

Integration with TomTom Services

For getting real-time data about traffic and time estimation for each trip we integrated Door2Gate with TomTom. This service also helps to recalculate the route based on the LiveTraffic situations, canceled or new bookings. Due to this integration, Flibco.com has a possibility to group separate orders into one trip considering:

customers’ addresses,
desired time of arrival to the airport or departure from it,
traffic etc.

Google Maps Integration

This integration helps the drivers to make their search for customers’ addresses more precise and plan their trips based on available routes and pick up points in the shortest time.

Security Management

Protective measures were introduced both for the users’ account authentication during logging-in attempts as well as for the payment process confirmation.

Performance Analytics

Flibco now has an opportunity to record activities, monitor, and analyze real-time data of the shuttle service application.

Multi – payment Integration

Passengers can pay for the shuttle services in several ways via:

Braintree online payment system
Deposit
Deposit + Braintree payment solutions

Customers can also apply a discount code (Luxair coupon) to the final cost of the trip.

Easy Sign-up Process

The Flibco shuttle transportation software allows simple one-step registration via the regular website form and via Facebook or Google accounts.

Drupal CMS Integration

Flibco.com wanted to have a modern site with the ability to manage content with WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) option and with the integrated application for booking tickets. We used Drupal CMS system for the site, Docker for continuous integration and deployment to multiple development, testing, and production environment.

It made the CMS site development process much more predictable and reliable. The application has been implemented using Vue.js reactive JavaScript framework and progressively decoupled Drupal approach.

Complex Software Maintenance

Another solved challenge is migration from the outdated monolith system for Shuttle Bus to a brand new one. It was not possible to replace the whole system at once because of tight timeframes and high coupling of the legacy system.

The migration was performed step-by-step introducing new backend services and related UI applications at several phases. During the migration process, the data were synchronized between the two systems.

“ In early 2019 we were in need to outsource the development of a mobile application to an external company. We were blessed to find Ascendix! A number of other initiatives followed after the mobile app delivery, including a unique system to manage our Door2Gate product and a complete overall revival of our IT infrastructure. Our partners at Ascendix have been phenomenal all the way, showing an exceptional level of efficiency, transparency, expertise, and quality. It’s no doubt that all of our future initiatives are with Ascendix Technologies. ”

Alex Tregubov, Product Owner at Flibco.com

Solutions

Support Team Improvement for Flibco | Ascendix

Improvements for Customer Support Team

After migration to a new solution, Shuttle Bus became more internally manageable and automated.

For example, due to the newly introduced algorithm and admin panel, Flibco’s customer service team does not have to assign and match the trips manually. All the results are saved in CMS, and trip management processes are performed automatically.

Also, customer service specialists are able to track, change, remove information from the backend without additional development that made their work more productive.

Marketing Team Improvement for Flibco Custom Software Development Case Study | Ascendix

Improvements for Marketing Team

Earlier, Flibco’s marketing team was not even able to change the background of the website without developers’ assistance. Now, the flexibility of the system allows adjusting the features for the customers’ convenience directly in the admin panel.

Moreover, due to all Flibco.com marketing improvements, website visits have increased by almost 400%.

Subcontractor Performance Improvement for Flibco Custom Software Development Case Study | Ascendix

Improvements for Subcontractors

The introduction of the Door2Gate driver app made a significant difference to bus drivers’ work performance. Its user-friendly interface and integration with TomTom and Google Maps services not only optimized the route planning but also made easier shuttle bus tracking in case of emergency or bus breakage.

Business Analytics Team Improvement for Flibco Custom Software Development Case Study | Ascendix

Improvements for Business Analytics Team

Reverse engineering from the legacy system made the data structure more reliable and clearer. The high quality of the API documentation was attested not only by Flibco but by the third-party travel tech company that was involved in a partnership with Flibco.com.

This optimized data collection and storage led to a simplification of business intelligence tool use and simplification of general reporting and analysis procedures

Read Our Interview with Tobias and Alex from Flibco

Tobias Stueber and Alex Tregubov shared what it is like to work with an IT outsourcing company, how they coped with the challenges connected with COVID-19 and gave their tips and tricks on how to survive in travel tech industry.

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