Australia-based travel management company Corporate Travel Management unveiled a string of new technology features designed to help businesses safeguard travelers and travel budgets.
The global TMC is introducing new risk and health alert notifications into its Lightning proprietary online booking tool, which recently was awarded the "Technology Innovation – Corporate Booking Platform" accolade at the Business Travel Awards Europe. Displaying within the trip search workflow, the alerts can help travel bookers and travelers make more informed decisions at the point of sale relating to the risks of travelling to the city or country for which they are searching, according to CTM.
In addition, the company’s existing duty-of-care tools are getting an upgrade with a new ‘safety check-in’ feature that allows travel, risk and HR managers to send an alert request notification to any traveler or group in a specific location, which requires them to check in to verify whether they are safe or in danger. Using the CTM Portal, the alerts can be sent to all employees scheduled to travel or currently located in a country of the user’s choosing. Responses are logged for the travel manager to review and reminders to all or selected travelers can be sent manually or scheduled at regular intervals.
Lightning will also provide a ‘visual nudge’ to bookers when travelers are taking more than five hours of train travel over peak times on return trips within the same day. According to CTM, its data shows that often an overnight stay and later trains can be cheaper and better for the employee’s wellbeing and performance.
CTM’s pre-trip approval tool, CTM Approve, also has been expanded to offer greater customization. Trips can be queued to an approval system based on the price, risk of the destination, carbon cost and other parameters. An infinite number of trip approvers can be incorporated into the workflow, with configurable rules and variables to suit a business’s specific needs.
Originally published by BTN Europe.