InformationWeek

ity the person who has to get more than 22,000 people all moving in the same direction. But Pamela Moll, travel services manager for Xerox Corp., did it with an engine for booking company travel on Xerox's intranet.

Productivity has improved and travelers like the convenience and control, Moll says. More important, the average ticket price has gone down, a priority when Xerox's largest concentration of employees is in Rochester, N.Y., the nation's fourth-most-expensive market for airfares.

"The other benefit we're seeing is that through this online system, we have one global car-rental provider--that's it, nobody else," Moll says. The resulting documentation has proven to be a powerful tool when Xerox negotiates pricing and discounts with its preferred vendors for any travel-related service. Xerox can quickly and easily show how much its workers are on the road.

The Webification of travel services isn't just a consumer phenomenon, it's also welcome news for those who have to set and enforce company travel policies. Software vendors such as Datalex, e-Travel, and GetThere hide the complexity of which rental-car company to use or how to calculate reimbursement for weekend stays. The software links travelers to an intranet page that retains the corporate look and feel, then guides them through their itinerary, taking into account company policies (always fly coach) and personal preferences (non-smoking hotel room).

Companies that spend more than $5 million a year on travel should consider using these booking engines, says Henry Harteveldt, a senior analyst with Forrester Research. "Employees gain the convenience and companies see travel costs coming down anywhere from 15% to 30%," he says.

Xerox began with a field of 27 vendors and narrowed it down to one. "We did some benchmarking and talked to other accounts, and GetThere really took a jump out front," Moll says. The product offers a lot of flexibility, including integrating applications not built by GetThere, such as the expense-report management package the company uses, or a meeting-planner application for conference-room scheduling.

Although GetThere is owned by Sabre, Xerox isn't restricted to using American Airlines, Sabre's one-time parent company. Nor are there any restrictions on other travel vendors with which Xerox can work. "We learned from relationships with air vendors, hotels, car companies, and travel agencies that we needed to be independent," Moll says. "We didn't want to sign up for an application that forced us to use this vendor or that agency or a particular product."

Moll achieved a 10% use rate of the GetThere system by Xerox travelers last year and is working toward 60% this year. Helping that effort is a company mandate to use the intranet for all domestic travel. Also, one of the company's largest business units is scheduled to adopt the system this spring.

So why does Xerox retain its travel agents? "We never push agencies away, because the online tool may go down. No system is 100% perfect, and you have to have a backup in case of emergency or changes," Moll says. Plus, there are no tools on the market that can take an international booking and flag all the safety alerts or passport and visa requirements. "That's where agencies really excel," she says.

The online travel system has enabled Xerox to negotiate three-tiered pricing with its agency. "If you call the agency it costs one amount. If you book online and an agency has to intervene, there's a middle pricing," Moll says. "And if there's no intervention, then it's the lowest pricing."

Regardless of the booking engine, business travel agents will have to face some challenges, Moll adds. "Find a provider willing to work and grow with you to look for cost savings and to make it quick and easy for travelers to work with," she advises.

That sort of business intelligence will get travelers moving in the same direction.