Insight
Travel platform and communication centre? Why not!
How we communicate with each other has come a long way since email and SMS. And we’re not just talking about Zoom and Teams, but the way that we support and lift each other especially in times of a crisis.
If we’ve been taught anything over the last year, it’s that communication is important. Over-communication can make travellers tune out of what you’re trying to get across, so it’s important to be relevant, extremely clear and use the right channel at the right time.
When it comes to business travel there are many situations where procurement, HR or finance teams need to quickly and efficiently update their employees with important information, including:
- A new or updated travel policy
- New TMC, technology or supplier information
- Trip itineraries, information and updates – usually automated
- Risk alerts and notifications if there’s an incident
- Crisis communications to travellers when there is a concern for their safety
We’ve moved way past telling travellers which gate their flight is departing from and what the weather will be like. Now we’re deep into the realms of who, what, where, why, how and what we communicate when there’s a serious risk or a sudden change, such as a border closure. Global issues need a solution that works anywhere around the world, no matter where you are or who is on the other side helping.
While your travel platform may have consolidated risk news and alerts into one place, and you know where travellers are thanks to tracking features and maps, what about beyond that? There is always the support of an expert travel consultant team, even in an emergency and outside of the 9am-5pm working hours. But travel managers often want to contact travellers directly themselves. Email and SMS still tend to dominate this arena. Those quick go-to communication channels are engrained into how we talk at work, aside from the old chestnut of just picking up the phone or a quick Teams message. But in an emergency, it’s not ideal to be scrambling for those contact details on top of the pressure you’re already under.
It needed to change. That’s why we developed the new FCM Platform. The FCM Platform is a smart communications centre for travel program managers and travel bookers. Messages can be sent directly to individual or multiple travellers directly in the FCM Platform, with space for instructions and advice. Travellers are notified and will know exactly what to do.
During research for our new platform we received significant feedback from our clients about how they want to communicate with the travel community. Bookers, travel managers and other key stakeholders within the company wanted a simple and effective way to get messages out quickly.
Michel Rouse, Chief Product Officer at FCM.
While you’re probably thinking about the disruption caused by the pandemic, just think how you might support a traveller if there’s a flight delay or nearby protest. It’s in those moments that travellers need reassurance and support from their travel team, backed by tech that makes everyone’s lives easier and less stressful.
What’s so special about the communication centre in FCM platform?
- Travel managers and bookers can communicate directly with their travellers from within the FCM Platform.
- Messages can be sent to individuals or to multiple recipients. This saves a huge amount of time vs having to use emails or SMS.
- Messages including links can be sent to travellers as push notifications within either the desktop FCM Platform or mobile app
- The Platform’s communication centre is also linked to FCM Platform’s Duty-of-Care pages, for bookers to speedily reach out to travellers regardless of their location.
“When you think about how technology should help travellers, it’s really all about making sure they can travel easily and with support from take-off to touchdown throughout the journey. If we start with a mindset that’s focused on traveller wellbeing and how they are supported from booking, during the trip, and when they’re arrive home, we naturally develop technology that streamlines the way travellers interact with the tools in their travel ecosystem. Whether it is direct communication from the company, digital assistance provided by Sam or even live chat with an agent, travellers have a single point of access to ensure they get the help they need, when they need it,” says Michel.
By combining tech with the support and expertise of our travel consultants, travellers feel reassured and confident that someone has their back during those stressful and pressured situations. Message, chat, email, SMS, phone; it’s a mix of globally-connected technology and people, that keeps your travellers on the move and safe.