<B>Bill Amaral</B>
Name: Bill Amaral
<B>Co.: </B>Intel Sacramento Campus
<B>Location:</B> Sacramento, Calif.
<B>Air volume: </B>$3.5 million
<B># Employees: </B>750
<B>Innovation: </B>Implementing an e-mail reservation system in order to fulfill travel requests.
When Bill Amaral, travel manager at the Sacramento Campus for Intel Corp., previously Level One Communications, joined the company in February of 1998, he immediately designed and implemented an e-mail reservation request form. Since then, he has driven the adoption rate of the e-mail reservation system into the high 90s.
"If the traveler is a sales guys on the road, or stuck at the airport, he can call in. But if he is here local, it has to be done on the form and sent through e-mail," said Amaral. "It limits the number of routine phone calls."
Amaral said that travelers have been responsive to the e-mail request system. "Since we initiated it from the get-go, we are not taking something away from them," he said. "Our travelers are pretty tech savvy."
Amaral drew on examples from 10 companies to create the travel request form, which resides on the corporate intranet. The travel department has a multi-user mailbox to receive all travel requests with increased mailbox size limits to handle the traffic. The company used its existing Outlook e-mail system, so there was no need to create a database and the impact on IT resources was virtually nonexistent.
The Sacramento Campus by the end of the month will offer its travelers a dynamic version of the e-mail form. The e-mail system will receive a feed from the human resources database, so when a traveler enters his name on the form, the rest of his traveler profile and contact information automatically is filled in as well. The updated form also will have a function that pulls the outbound date of departure from the first column and puts it in the subject heading. With the departure date visible in the header, the agent can prioritize e-mails based upon the date of departure without opening up the document.
"It's short, sweet and to the point," said Amaral of the eight-column travel request form. The form has instructions at the bottom about how to fill it out and submit it. However, the form does not have any extra space to put airline preferences.
"Phone contact allows travelers to insert their frequent flyer preferences, e-mail removes the personal piece and allows the coordinators to process the transaction," said Amaral. "We support contracts with our suppliers, and our travelers understand that and are very educated on travel requirements."
The company's preferred rental car companies, Avis and Hertz, are included on the form. The Sacramento Campus--which spends close to $350,000 a year on car rentals--has negotiated agreements whereby vehicles are delivered to the campus for employees, and parked in marked spaces. Employees can specify on the form if they want a rental car delivered on location.
The e-mail form also provides documentation of transactions and approvals. Travelers must secure any necessary manager approval prior to ticketing, and copy managers on the e-mail.
While Amaral could not cite cost savings related to using the e-mail system, he said, "It has allowed us to remain more productive without adding an agent. It really does enhance productivity."
The Sacramento Campus travel department has three agents, one devoted to meetings. Amaral said based upon ARC numbers the company should require another agent. He expects air volume to swell from $1 million last year to $3.5 million by year-end, due to company growth and increased travel.
For a copy of Bill Amaral's reservation request form, visit www.btnonline.com.