New Techno-Wares on Display at GBTA

Modern agency desktops, new tools for managing travel risk and solutions that facilitate managing meetings globally were among the new technology products on display at the Global Business Travel Association’s annual conference in Denver. The event is a popular venue for the rollout of new travel management technology.

Following are highlights.

Amadeus: new desktop features
Amadeus unveiled new features of its Amadeus One desktop for corporate agencies and travel managers. Amadeus One Service Fees is a next-generation fee management system with a rules engine and context-aware user interface that integrates customer and agent data. Amadeus said it simplifies the handling of challenging fee schemas/combinations, ensures accurate fee collection and maximizes fee yield.

The Amadeus One Widget Framework allows agencies and third-party developers to introduce widgets, or “mini applications,” within the user interface. 

GetThere: checkout consolidation
GetThere developed Express Checkout, a system that consolidates multiple checkout pages into a single page and groups them in sections, thereby decreasing overall booking time. The system uses the traveler’s profile information to pre-populate many of the fields. Collapsible sections on the checkout page are expanded if they are missing information or require further action.

BCD Travel: managing travel risk
BCD Travel unveiled a Travel Risk Management solution that it said draws on technological advances to help companies drastically reduce risk for travelers. The solution includes: trip authorization, to ensure that travel to high-risk destinations is approved and relevant parties are informed about plans; essential tracking and alerts to enable travel managers to track travelers, expatriates and company assets, and interactive communications that use two-way text messaging with all potentially affected travelers after an incident.

A set of premium high-risk tracking and response services includes mobile device tracking and local specialist support for the protection of high-profile individuals or travelers in high-risk situations.

Travelocity Business: info access for travelers
Travelocity Business created TBiz Smart Access, a user interface designed to serve as a “home base” for travelers and provide easy access to information related to their business travel. The page features Travelocity Business Compliance IQ, a dynamic graphic that depicts the traveler’s policy compliance over various periods of time. Travelocity said the change was made because travelers have difficulty remembering where to find their travel tools and records. Smart Access can be customized according to a company’s requirements.

Cvent: globalization features
Cvent added globalization features to its Strategic Meetings Management (SMM) technology. Meeting managers can set a default account currency, to roll up financial data consistently, while allowing users to work in their local currencies when drafting requests for proposal and event budgets. A single site can support multiple languages, enabling meeting attendees to register and receive communications in their native languages. Additional integrations with major GDSs enable meeting managers to capture attendee travel details, regardless of the booking system used or country of origin. Cvent is a provider of cloud-based meeting and event management, venue selection and web survey solutions.

TRX Inc.: expense solution
TRX Inc. added new features to its expense solution, TruExpense. Among them are an improved support documentation queue that allows users to upload supporting documentation from their mobile device or desktop, pre-loading travelers’ documentation and accelerating the expense approval process. Advanced per diem handling allows administrators to use published government per diem rates or choose to upload their own per diem rates to ensure policy compliance.

TruExpense also added support for pharmaceutical and medical companies’ compliance with the Sunshine Act legislation introduced in HR3590 for 2012. Companies can track participants at the level required for compliance, and TruExpense will synchronize its library of healthcare providers with each company’s internal provider database.