Here are a few scenarios when it comes to travel security and the use of apps for it. A corporate employee books business travel, and two days before her departure she reads online that civil disturbances are causing problems in that region. A C-level executive is scheduled to attend meetings in a high-risk overseas location. An employee has been temporarily assigned to work in an overseas city, and as he is reading about the location on a travel site he realizes he will be there in the height of its storm season.
Any of these very real scenarios can impact the safety of business travelers. Proactive attention to these types of concerns can do a great deal to minimize risk.
Business environments can be fluid, as can situations that occur at traveler destinations. Businesses should consider the value of travel security expertise when seeking solutions for their international travel concerns.
Travel Safety Apps and Employee Travel Safety
Now let’s look at technology –
- Everyone in business has a “smartphone” whether it’s iOS or Android.
- People love their phones, giving “don’t leave home without it” a whole new meaning in the 21st century.
- The phone is a push/pull technology. It can receive information. It can send information.
- The phone can blend “man” and “machine” – it can have both asynchronous information and realtime conversations or messages among people
For these reasons, more and more corporations, businesses, and even university “study abroad” programs are looking for best-in-class travel safety apps. Our FoneTrac travel safety app is available on both iOS and Android. People love it as it combines every possible feature of the phone, including backend support from our GlobalSecur system. It can push information “down” to employees (such as travel advisories), it can pull information such as employee itinerary monitoring (with due notice to privacy, of course), and it can push/pull information as when an employee in trouble sends a panic alert. It’s been featured in the New York Times; please reach out if you want a demo of this incredible app.
Tailoring Travel Security Programs to the Needs of Your Employees
Travel security programs should be appropriately tailored to the needs of the business and its employees. For some travel, providing advance intelligence about a region may help raise employee awareness of known risks. For other travel, particularly that involving senior leadership, minimizing risk may require additional planning. Executive protection is one example, and pre-arranged ground transportation may help alleviate concerns for travel to high-risk areas. To help resolve concerns around severe weather, travel security programs can offer employees assistance with emergency planning and management. Comprehensive travel security planning should offer employees a range of practical offerings that can be implemented to meet the varying needs of a diverse workforce of business travelers.
Contact us for a demo today.
