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The end of the “Out of Office” message?

The Business Travel Market (BTM) and the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) conducted some recent research amongst representatives from several multi-national companies to analyse the new developments in mobile technology and the latest trends in the behaviour of the business travel community.

The survey reveals an interesting figure: only 6.2% of people ever switch off their company phone out of hours. But are they forced to stay connected, or is it out of choice? 30% said that they remain available because they want to, yet 40% do so because their boss or client expects them to be on call at all times. The major challenge for travel managers is to make optimal use of these technological tools, but not turn them into an addiction for employees.

Smartphones can be very useful and appear to be a really good ally, especially in an emergency or critical situation, such as the ash cloud period: 85% see mobile technology helpful in a crisis. There is also a growing need and interest for additional functionalities. In terms of trends in usage, there is a rising proportion of check-ins made through mobile applications, as well as location tools when arriving in a new destination. Skype is essential for 32.6% of them, as well as conference call facilities (70%) to stay connected with their office.

Paul Robin, event director of BTM 2010, held from 16^th to 17^th June at Excel London, underlines the upcoming challenge for companies: “Whether it’s Human Resources, IT or the travel department that have responsibility for mobile usage, companies need to align and update their policies, so they can enhance the end user’s capabilities. Today we are at the tipping point in the way technology is used to deliver company travel policy compliance and therefore there is a greater need of collaboration between the end user and those responsible for managing the travel and mobile policies.”

www.businesstravelmarket.co.uk

www.acte.org