Much of the corporate travel world is talking about the consumerisation of business travel or opening up travel technology used in the leisure world and making it useful to those on business.
The general noise is centred on mobile technology but there is more to it than that and maps is a good example.
Travel management specialist HRG has used maps as the starting point for its online Insight tool which enables travel or security managers or anyone involved in the process to get a quick view on where travellers are.
The data management and reporting technology provides users with relevant information on their travellers including destination - past, present and future, spend, potential risks and the related environmental impact.
Users can also drill down into maps for further information on what a highlighted risk may be with information provided by Red24, or, draw a circle around a particular area to bring up details of all the travellers in an area who might be affected.
Travellers can then be sent an email or text alert and their responses fed back into the system.
Maps are colour-coded so red for potential security risks or any elements such as weather that might be disruptive to travel, green for environmental impact and blue for travel and spend information.
Sitting behind Insight is something called 'infohub' which enables managers to analyse and draw reports on travel patterns and spend.
HRG believes the technology is applicable to all customers because of the ease of use and quality and speed of information.
The TMC is spending the next couple of months gaining customer feedback on HRG Insight before it goes to pilot with about four customers.
The technology has also been optimised for use on tablet devices and mobile phones.