BostonCoach Launches GroundControl Reporting Tool

Everett, Mass. - BostonCoach has rolled out the industry's first reporting tool that enables travel managers, using a special login and password, to access chauffeured transportation data off the supplier's Web site. The reports are offered to corporate accounts at no extra cost.

"This is the first time you've been able to access your ground transportation spend online in your own time schedule," said Todd Stephens, BostonCoach senior vice president. "You don't have to pick up the phone to call your provider." Pulling standard or customizable reports off the Web also ensures customers a new transparency of the data, compared with past procedures, in which travel managers had to rely on people in finance or other BostonCoach staff to retrieve the data. Travel managers are able to access data up to two years old.

The tool, called GroundControl, enables buyers to slice and dice the data in many different ways. A travel manager can find out, for example, how much the company spent in waiting time charges, which airport travelers booking cars used in a particular geographical region and the percentage of transactions booked through automated channels versus the call center, which typically costs more in transaction fees, Stephens said. This type of information allows buyers to better track compliance to the travel policy and detect unnecessary costs—and not just for ground expenses: Finding out a traveler flies out of Newark rather than LaGuardia, for example, could shed light on hidden airline expenses.

GroundControl provides access to six standard reports, including spending by airport, by geographical area and by up to 100 top passengers. Other reports include total spend, broken out year to date, the last 12 months and by month; total fare breakdown, including stop and wait charges and other customer-incurred fees; and spending by reservation channel, broken out by the supplier's proprietary automated system, AutoRez, the GDS, the BostonCoach Web site or call center, which includes reservations made through third-party system GT3.

Buyers also may customize their reports, free of charge, using additional parameters, such as spending by week or quarter or spending by city. An invoice tool enables customers to access their bill through the Web site. The product is equipped with two billing fields—enabling firms to direct invoices into two cost centers—and the reports can be exported in Excel, enabling buyers to use the data internally and graph it.

GroundControl is accessible through the supplier's Web site and does not use third-party booking provider Saturn Reservation Systems, as erroneously reported previously (BTN, May 26).

Stephens said BostonCoach met with at least 15 travel managers during the past two years to determine customer expectations for a useful reporting tool. He said GroundControl was rolled out to five customers 45 days ago, and the feedback so far is "very positive." Travel managers, he discovered, "were surprised about the breadth of the data."

Users also can log on to the Web site and see both recently booked trips and upcoming itineraries, as well as access a rapid receipt service, through which users can specify if they want to automatically receive an e-mail or fax receipt after each transaction. They also can manage corporate "landmarks" online—i.e., specify that at a particular corporate location pick up always should be at door B, and the driver should carry a sign with the passenger's last name.

Travel managers additionally can delegate login authority to other people in their department, at differing levels of access. For example, while an associate might be provided with access to all the data, a staff person might have the ability to book reservations only.

In a related development, competitor Empire International two months ago introduced an automatic receipt service, according to vice president of sales and marketing Bob Lockett. Users can specify in their profiles that a receipt automatically be faxed, e-mailed or otherwise sent to them—the system has up to 20 destination options—after each transaction.

Empire offers reports enabling customers to break down spend by numerous cost centers and can compare actual trips versus total trips booked. Travel managers can track their spend through number of trips originating from a particular city and the percentage of overall cost represented by this amount. Empire also can generate reports by name of traveler and timeframe.