CHICAGO, Oct. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Demonstrating its continuing leadership as the most innovative online travel company, proactively anticipating the needs of its customers before they ask, Orbitz ( http://www.orbitz.com/ ) today announced it will begin beta-testing live instant message customer support.

OrbitzTLC Live Chat proactively queries customers who might need additional support when searching for, selecting or booking a vacation package on Orbitz.com. The beta test is powered by a select group of specially trained Orbitz teleservice experts who will support customers via the new instant message service. In its test phase, Orbitz customers who appear to be having difficulty searching for or booking a vacation product will be prompted and given the option to try the "live chat" service.

"OrbitzTLC is dedicated to thinking ahead of the curve about what the customer may need to book a great trip, "said Randy Wagner, Chief Marketing Officer for Orbitz Worldwide, Americas. "OrbitzTLC Live Chat is another dimension of the high-tech, human touch solutions that Orbitz gives customers, in this case, to make sure people can save a lot on our great vacation packages."

Some of the criteria that could generate an offer for a customer to experience OrbitzTLC Live Chat, include:

-- Customers receive some type of error message on site when searching for a vacation -- Customers' credit card information is not processed at the close of the vacation booking path on site -- Customers experience longer than normal search session times when seeking a vacation package

"This technology serves two purposes for Orbitz.com. First, the communication service enables our teleservice experts to operate more efficiently in serving customers in need, and second, OrbitzTLC Live Chat will help our business grow by completing bookings," said Bahman Koohestani, Chief Information Officer for Orbitz Worldwide.

Orbitz' heritage of technology innovation continues, following the company's launch of OrbitzTLC Mobile Access, Orbitz Insider Podcasts, RSS Feeds and the well known OrbitzTLC Alert System. OrbitzTLC Alerts continue to update customers on flight departure and arrival delays, gate changes and cancelled flights. The alerts notify Orbitz customers and can also contact a preset list of up to six friends, family and business colleagues via phone calls, SMS text messages to wireless devices and emails.

OrbitzTLC Live Chat is being deployed in partnership with LivePerson, Inc.

"We're excited that Orbitz has chosen to partner with LivePerson on this strategic initiative," said LivePerson chairman and CEO Robert LoCascio. "Orbitz has long been a pioneer in leveraging technology to deliver world-class customer service. By combining our engagement marketing platform with Orbitz's travel expertise, OrbitzTLC Live Chat will aim to set a new standard for customer service in the online travel industry,"

LivePerson is a leading provider of hosted online conversion solutions, including live chat, live call, email and self-service knowledge database. LivePerson serves more than 4,500 companies worldwide, providing solutions to increase sales, customer satisfaction and loyalty, reduce service cost and improve agent productivity.

Customers can learn more about OrbitzTLC Live Chat and other OrbitzTLC services -- including OrbitzTLC Mobile Access and OrbitzTLC Alerts -- by going to http://www.orbitzandgo.com/tlc or by clicking on the "TLC" tab on the Orbitz.com homepage.

About Orbitz

Orbitz ( http://www.orbitz.com/ ) is a leading online travel company that enables travelers to search for and purchase a broad array of travel products, including airline tickets, lodging, rental cars, cruises and vacation packages. Since launching its website http://www.orbitz.com/ to the general public in June 2001, Orbitz has become the third largest online travel site based on gross travel bookings. On Orbitz, consumers can search more than 400 airlines, more than 65,000 lodging properties worldwide and 13 car rental companies. Orbitz is a Travelport Inc. brand. Travelport ( http://www.travelport.com/ ) is one of the largest and most geographically diverse travel companies, dedicated to creating the exceptional travel experiences the world demands.

About LivePerson

LivePerson is a provider of online conversion solutions. Our hosted software enables companies to identify and proactively engage online visitors -- increasing sales, satisfaction and loyalty while reducing service costs. Combining web-interaction technology (chat, email and a self- service knowledgebase) with a deep understanding of consumer behavior and industry best practices, LivePerson's Timpani(TM) platform engages the right customer, at the right time, with the right communications channel. This Engagement Marketing platform creates more relevant, compelling and personalized experiences-converting traffic into revenues, and facilitating real-time sales and customer service. More than 4,000 companies including EarthLink, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Qwest and Verizon, rely on LivePerson to help maximize the return on their marketing and e-commerce investments. LivePerson is headquartered in New York City.

CONTACT: Jeanenne Diefendorf of Orbitz, +1-312-894-4986, or
jdiefendorf@orbitz.com , or Bryan Olender of Brodeur (for Orbitz),
+1-617-587-2044, or bolender@brodeur.com

Web site: http://www.orbitz.com/
http://www.orbitzandgo.com/tlc