Lufthansa Offers Bar Code For Mobile User Boarding

<B>Lufthansa Offers Bar Code For Mobile User Boarding</B>

By Annalise Bomenblit

While airlines continue to fine-tune wireless checkin features, Germany's Lufthansa this spring began a gradual rollout of a new bar code-based boarding pass for e-ticket holders who have wireless devices. The product expands on existing mobile checkin services by providing travelers with an electronic bar code boarding pass on their WAP-enabled mobile phone display that can be verified via scanners at airport security and boarding points.

However, the sluggish economy, coupled with less-than-enthusiastic mobile commerce usage, will slow the advancement of mobile products entering the market, further delaying the future of wireless as a standard corporate tool, according to industry analysts.

The frequent flyer who rebooks and files expense reports perhaps is the mobile industry's perfect user. But companies may find new arguments to delay contracting with wireless providers. According to one recent report, mobile commerce usage has fallen drastically short of expectations. Chicago-based consulting firm A.T. Kearny in May found that of 1,600 mobile phone users surveyed in Asia, Europe and the United States, only 12 percent said they intended to make a transaction with their mobile phones. One year ago, 32 percent said they planned to do so. The U.S. numbers were significantly bleaker, at 3 percent, down from 34 percent last year.

According to analyst Josh Friedman, with Framingham, Mass.-based IDC, travelers will be waiting out corporate acceptance, usability problems and the increasing sophistication of the products before they seamlessly can make travel changes. "The time savings for employees is just not demonstrable right now, and they won't get tuned in until the products are good enough," Friedman said. "Right now, they're not good enough."

Numbers for organization-specific rollouts of wireless have been marginal in the context of total sales. IDC estimated that less than 10 percent of devices are selling to single enterprises. Research in Motion, maker of BlackBerry pagers, has made inroads into the corporate market by selling its devices as portable e-mail conduits for employees. The company already boasts usage by 7,500 companies.

However, some companies are hesitant to further enter this market. Palm Inc. and Boise, Idaho-based mobile solutions provider Extended Systems Inc. this spring announced a mutual termination to a pending agreement that would have helped move Palm into the corporate market, due to Palm's battered stock price and a slowing economy.

Gary Amstutz, president and founder of Palm-compatible wireless expense reporting software provider Walletware, said early adopters of corporatewide travel products will have to demonstrate productivity, cost savings and data privacy.

"Today, whether the wireless application is for expense reporting, self-booking or e-mail, it's still a luxury for most," said David Hillman, president of N.Y.-based consultancy D. Hillman and Associates. "There needs to be a compelling proposition to the user to begin to penetrate the market in any great numbers.