Productivity

Business travel is all about productivity — whether that relates to its fundamental use for more efficient collaboration, guarding against bureaucracy to ensure seamless collaboration, or generally purchasing the right services at the right prices so trip missions deliver the most value. It also means helping employees avoid getting bogged down in post-trip red tape. The coverage below digs into issues, processes, tools and tricks.

Some examples
• The movement of services to mobile devices and/or chatbots
• Stories about expedited airport screening and business travel’s ROI
• Trends like artificial intelligence and rewards
• The pandemic-era struggle to avoid quarantines

Custom Travel App Makers Gain Interest

Corporate travel departments can acquire risk apps, TMC apps, expense apps — and of course also booking and itinerary apps. Some want supplier-agnostic, custom apps but don’t have the resources to build their own. In the market for a little branding, or more? There’s an app maker (or two) for that. Originally a language translation app, four-year-old TripLingo also is a risk app. It now…

Everything Is Uberizing, Why Not Business Jets?

[UPDATE, April 8, 2016: We published new information related to this article here.] The business jet industry is attracting loads of entrepreneurs offering tech-fueled brokerages, marketplaces and communities. Some of the ideas have gone too far for the FAA’s taste, but others could improve the affordability and utilization of unscheduled aircraft if they find a…

Mitigating The Information Security Risks Of Travel With Mobile Devices

Between Edward Snowden and Sony Pictures, one would think awareness about cybersecurity is at an all-time high. Some would say it’s not high enough to counter the allure of potentially vulnerable mobile services. A Global Business Travel Association Risk Committee webcast last week featured Disruptive Solutions CEO Sean Donahoo and iJet International director of information security Patrick Neise…

TMC Apps: ‘Table Stakes’ For Clients

When asked what mobile apps they suggest company travelers use, travel managers invariably name apps from their risk management and tech providers. They also name their TMC, if it offers one. A TMC app’s standard feature is itinerary management, also core to popular apps like TripCase, TripIt and WorldMate. TMC apps grab information on bookings made by a travel agent or through a corporate booking tool, and update when there are changes. Another common feature…

NetJets Adds Corporate Travel Functions To In-House Logistics System

Most companies don’t have a homegrown business travel booking system, but NetJets Aviation is a bit unique. Its business is scheduling travel and moving people around. The company in the mid-1990s spent $20 million to build proprietary logistics software to handle requests from clients. NetJets then layered on corporate travel components for its own pilots and flight…

Microsoft Tests Expense App

[UPDATE, Feb. 24, 2016: Microsoft discontinued this project.] [UPDATE, April 10: Concur press statement added.] Microsoft is testing an expense app for iPhones that apparently integrates with Concur. “Nobody likes filing expense reports,” Microsoft wrote on Facebook, mimicking the raison d’être for expense providers like Concur and Expensify. “Each of us has a powerful computer…

Performance Issues Still Frustrating Concur Users

Concur claimed it resolved last week’s intermittent online booking outages about 88 hours after they began popping up. But some users this week reported ongoing issues and many expressed deep frustration about the whole episode. For travel agency resellers, booking tool downtime can hurt productivity, profitability and client goodwill. Making matters worse, the insufficient service came in the midst of another winter testing the industry’s…

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