Employees Look for Better Travel App Guidance
Business travellers want their employees to say which travel apps they should be using, a study has found.
With a growing range of mobile tools now available to book and organise business trips, there is also confusion over which they should use.
A survey carried out by Business Travel News found that a quarter of respondents said their company offered no guidance at all on what they should be using.
It also found that 36 percent of those business travellers questioned wanted their company to provide a list of approved apps, with only 10 percent opposing this.
The main area of confusion relates to the use of apps for booking hotel and transport services but not knowing if they were authorised to do so.
There were were also concerns about whether it would be safe to be using personal devices for business related transactions.
Jodie Black, content marketing manager at webexpenses said : “With so many digital tools becoming available, it has become something of a grey area for business travellers and we’re not surprised by these results.
“It’s a case of organisations still having to catch up with this fast moving technology but that’s what we’re now starting to see.
“More organisations are getting to grips with this and drawing up guidelines which cover the procedures needed to ensure safe use of personal devices, as well as the apps they approve or recommend for use.”
The Webexpenses app is an example of how technology is helping to enhance business travel. It allows users to use their smartphone to record and submit expenses, as well as to accurately record mileage.
Of the business travellers surveyed, itinerary management tools were the most popular apps used with expenses management and travel alert apps also rating highly.
Another issue raised by respondents was the use of mobile phones abroad with the multitude of subscription and data plans depending on the destination causing confusion over company policy.
You can find out more about the Webexpenses app here.