While traveler tracking has become commonplace in corporate travel programs, risk management and security firms and travel management companies are working to aggregate cross-departmental data streams, improve messaging capabilities to travelers and provide more robust security programs.
In the past three years, more than 91 percent of corporations participating in BTN's
Corporate Travel 100 have implemented traveler tracking, and BTN research showed 68 percent of midmarket corporations from 2005 to 2007 had done so, with another 23 percent planning to install a program.
"Every RFP has at least a traveler tracking requirement now," said Bruce McIndoe, president of Annapolis, Md.-based IJet Intelligent Risk Systems. "Two or three years ago, it was a hit-or-miss requirement for a TMC to provide traveler tracking. In a couple of years, it will be getting the employee more tightly integrated into the emergency program. Right now they get information, but there will be more impetus of companies to engage employees as participants rather than just a targeted communication."
Companies can do more than track travelers. "Identifying where they are is one thing, and doing something about it from an operational standpoint is a more important aspect of the service," said David Marks, general manager of security and medical services firm International SOS Online.
Enabling corporations to enact such plans requires real-time data outside of standard passenger name records from global distribution systems. Other data commonly used for traveler tracking come from corporate human resources departments. "The challenge is keeping the HR data fresh and clean. It is generally not done on a live feed, the way the PNRs are fed through," said Laura Winthrop, vice president of international support and analysis for London-based risk management firm Control Risks.
One buyer cited the need to close the gaps between booked and such actual data as from real-time credit card reports. "You're dealing with booked data and you don't know whether that person is actually in that hotel or not," said Jim Lennon, global travel leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers. "This would at least tell you that the person checked into the hotel. Let's get what we have straightened out first. You try to track people and are missing e-mail addresses or the e-mail is for the travel arranger, not the individual. Records are changed. Somebody goes out and buys a ticket today and they change it. We want to make sure those changes are reflected as well. It's a process right now that requires a lot of manual checks. There is a lot of work to be done to get us where we need to be prior to moving to the next level."
To close the gaps, IJet and others have begun efforts to diversify the data portfolio by integrating more cross-departmental corporate data.
In coming months, Carlson Wagonlit Travel plans to fill some of the data holes by integrating pre-trip ticket data into its traveler-tracking systems, which are primarily populated with post-trip and profile information, according to Leisha Lindsay, senior director of global product management and reporting
(See correction below).
Meanwhile, BCD Travel in November began to include two-way short message service capabilities in its security service suite.
A security program can fulfill a duty of care requirement, but training, education and communication can be problematic when managing travelers globally. PwC's Lennon said, "The way we are structured we can't force other countries to do things. The only power we have is to provide a level of consistency where there are minimum standards."
Editor's note: A previous version of this story incorrectly reversed the words "pre-trip" and "post-trip."[email protected]