TMCnet News
Spanish-Language Amtrak.com Debuts; En Espanol Only a Click AwayWASHINGTON and COCONUT CREEK, Fla. --(Business Wire)-- Feb. 21, 2006 -- Amtrak today announced the launch of a complete Spanish-language version of its website, accessible at Espanol.Amtrak.com and Amtrak.com. Amtrak's website has long served as a valuable portal for passengers' rail-traveling needs. Now, by clicking on the "En Espanol" button on the Amtrak home page, or logging onto Espanol.Amtrak.com, Spanish-speaking customers can access schedules, routes, and special offers. Customers can also enjoy complete access to online reservation capabilities entirely in Spanish. In addition, Amtrak also provides telephone customer service in Spanish, available at the railroad's toll-free number, 1-800-USA-RAIL. "Spanish is second only to English among western languages used on the internet worldwide today," said Matt Hardison, Amtrak Chief of Sales Distribution and Customer Service. "With 400 million Spanish-speaking people around the globe, we are very excited about expanding our on-line reservation and information system to this audience." Amtrak is recognized as a pioneer of customer-friendly technologies. It was one of the first national travel providers to implement an advanced voice-activated telephone system ("Julie") and electronic ticketing kiosks ("Quik-Trak"). For Amtrak en Espanol, the railroad deployed TransMotion(R) technology provided by MotionPoint Corporation for the translated Amtrak site. MotionPoint will maintain the Spanish-language version of Amtrak's site, while Amtrak will continue to update its English-language site. The use of MotionPoint's technology avoids the need for parallel sites, duplicate work, and does not require continuous notification when changes have been made to the English language site. "Amtrak has the unique and desirable combination of being both very customer-focused and technology-focused," said Will Fleming, president and CEO of MotionPoint Corporation. "We are pleased to provide Amtrak with the solution it desired to better serve its Spanish-language passengers." About Amtrak Amtrak provides intercity passenger rail service to more than 500 destinations in 46 states on a 22,000 mile route system. For schedules, fares and information, passengers may visit Espanol.Amtrak.com or Amtrak.com or call 800-USA-RAIL. About MotionPoint Corporation MotionPoint Corporation is a technology company that provides retailers, government, e-commerce organizations and more with a range of multi-lingual consumer communication services for online business operations. The company serves U.S.-based and international clients from its headquarters in South Florida. For more information about MotionPoint and its TransMotion(R) technology, please visit www.motionpoint.com. MotionPoint and TransMotion are trademarks of MotionPoint Corporation. Amtrak is a trademark of National Railroad Passenger Corporation. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. |
