A new American Express Business Travel tool would extend private corporate telepresence networks to public facilities and, using the price, destination and purpose of a proposed travel booking, evaluate at the point of sale whether a remote conference would be a superior alternative.
The travel management company is piloting the tool, dubbed Virtual Meetings EXpert, with an unidentified
Fortune 500 company and has filed for patent protection of its analytical capabilities.
The tool's point-of-sale assessment functionality would be available for online and offline bookings and examine, "based on criteria such as the price, duration of the trip, purpose, environmental impact and more," whether the online booking tool or travel agent should present the possibility of a remote conference as a better option, the company said.
Meanwhile, Amex said it is "working with multiple third parties to arrange for access to telepresence and virtual meeting inventory," in order to offer the tool's users access to public telepresence rooms that, if applicable, could connect to a private corporate network.
"The current operating environment and new level of sophistication presented by suppliers with telepresence technology has paved the way for heightened interest in virtual meetings as our clients look for alternatives to manage travel costs," said, American Express Global Travel Services president Charles Petruccelli in a statement.
As travel cutbacks persist and videoconferencing technology improves, a growing number of corporations have explored the viability such travel alternatives. A recent
BTN survey of 196 corporate travel buyers found that six in 10 respondents had cut travel costs through boosting remote conferencing use since summer 2008, and 45 percent require use of remote conferencing in lieu of travel in some cases
(BTNonline, July 27).