Onboard Middleware
Connect any content source to any endpoint.
Our onboard middleware allows internal and external teams to provide seamless technology across your fleet
Features include:
- All vendors and in-house developers use a universal onboard API to make development and support easier
- Centralized API allows you to update an integration in one place for all systems to eliminate disruption
- Centralized data collection enables powerful analytics
- Unify backend integrations that vary by ship into a single API for a consistent guest experience across the fleet
- Control and customize each endpoint individually, from cache time to API token access
Endpoints are available for most common onboard systems
OnDeck’s middleware is robust. It provides endpoints for most of the common systems onboard a cruise ship or ferry. Endpoints include:
- Guest authentication
- Folio retrieval
- Weather
- Information and booking for:
- Excursions
- Spa treatments
- Restaurants
- Restaurant menus
- Entertainment content (movies, TV shows, music, etc.)
- Port content
- Images
- Map tiles
- Marketing descriptions
For each endpoint, admins can set individual permissions, restrictions, and options:
Caching
Each endpoint can have an individual cache time. This is useful if you want to restrict certain calls being made over and over again to the PMS to avoid bogging down its performance. Or you might want a long cache on something like weather data for three days from now to conserve bandwidth.
API Token Management
The system comes with a vendor API token management tool which allows administrators to give certain rights to certain vendors. For example you could give your digital signage vendor access to port data and restaurant menus, but not spa booking access.
Analytics Data
Having all your APIs flow through one system makes for powerful data collection. All data can be tagged and sent to the Analytics engine.
Use Cases
Universal onboard API
All your vendors or in-house developers can have one, well-documented API to build systems against. This makes support and development much easier across teams.
External service resiliency
If your weather service company goes out of business you might be in trouble! Your signage vendor, mobile app team, and surface table developers might all be using it. That would mean replacing a lot of code in lots of places. Having a centralized API means you can change weather providers in one integration (OnDeck Cruise Director) and none of the external systems will be affected, even for a second.
Multiple endpoints for single service
Using the middleware model, you can have a number of backend integrations that are different across ships, but still output the same API. That means that you could have different PMS, GPS, Navigation systems, NMEA systems, etc. across a fleet, and still have a single passenger app that looks exactly the same.
