About The Electronic Office
Well, not quite all electronic.
You don't get an electronic voice when you call 800 332-7277, but a real person, instead. Someone who knows you by your first name if it's not the first time you've called.
No "press star and an extension if you know it," or "press pound sign to search our employee database by last name." A real person answers the phone. (A nice touch if you're calling at the last minute about flight times, or just don't like the star key and pound signs.)
As for the rest, it's all very electronic indeed. Fully 95% of passports group organizers correspond with the company using Email — checking the financial balances of their group members, getting an advance copy of a rooming list, or inspecting the cloud cover over Toulouse from the vantage point of a live weather satellite.
With your permission, travelers can enroll on your group using a laptop computer and a credit card. (Saves handing out and collecting application forms and deposit checks!)
Or, using their laptops, travelers can obtain passports overseas ATM and phone cards. (Saves taking a kid with no money to the nearest foreign office of American Express, and waiting in line for half an afternoon!)
That's just the beginning. Banks of computers hum away 24 hours a day at passports world headquarters, maintaining constant contact between you, office personnel, and affiliated suppliers of travel services world wide.
