Microsoft & American Express pilot AXI in the UK
London, / American Express Company today announced the first pilot test of the international version of AXI (American Express Interactive) (1) -- its online corporate travel reservations product, jointly developed with Microsoft (2). AXI will be piloted in the UK market by Xerox, and is expected to be rolled out to more customers during the rest of the year.
Using ground-breaking technology to manage travel and related expenses, AXI gives corporate travellers convenient, 24 hour, real time access to make air, car and hotel reservations via their PC's or lap tops and is travel policy compliant. The pilot programme precedes a commercial launch later this year when the product will be marketed to large-sized companies.
James Power, Director, Interactive Technology at
American Express, commented, "By the year 2000, we expect up to 30% of our corporate customers' travel reservations to be made online through AXI. We forecast the system will be an important tool in increasing travel policy compliance in European companies."
The European Market Potential
European companies spend about $150 billion a year on business travel and related expenses. Business travellers surveyed at the 2nd American Express European Business Forum (3) expect their company's business travel to increase by 73% over the next five years, with a 62% expected rise in associated costs. American Express predicted the overall cost of European business travel would rise by 5-6% in 1998.
Designed as an "industrial strength" system, tailored to the company's travel policy specifications, AXI allows companies to maximise savings while empowering business travellers to make reservations from their laptops or desktop PCs. Automation can reduce the amount of time travellers spend booking trips, streamlining the process and introducing significant savings. Self-booking systems could improve travel policy compliance by up to 25%, introduce cost savings of at least 22% and dramatically improve information provided to business travellers.
AXI Benefits
AXI presents new opportunities for controlling travel expenses. Savings are achieved through better compliance with travel policy, enhanced employee productivity and reduced transaction costs for the company. The system incorporates a company's specially negotiated rates with airlines, hotels, and car rental companies.
The online system saves administrative costs by reducing the total time it takes an employee to make a reservation, change an itinerary and check on the. reservation status. The traveller also requires less assistance from travel counsellors, increasing travel agency productivity. Furthermore, total processing costs can be reduced, delivering savings to the company and the travel agency.
AXI provides the traveller with comprehensive local knowledge, including direct access to fares and availability as well as hotel and destination content. It also features a low-fare search tool which automatically compares published fares to negotiated fares and calculates the best-priced flight option. Additional features permit itinerary templates for frequently visited destinations, shared itineraries facilitating group trips and an e-mail function for trip authorisation.
The interactive capabilities and design of the system produce a number of features. For example, travellers can click a "show policy" button to check company policy relating to the portion of the trip they are currently booking. Viewing of all scheduled flights, regardless of availability, to help identify a specific flight for waitlisting or to make further adjustments to travel plans is also feasible. Travellers can also select flights by arrival time, access a currency converter or search for a hotel by its proximity to any major attraction.
Technology Revolutionises US Experience
The 1998 American Express Road Warrior Technology
Study (4), conducted in the US, highlights the demand for an interactive self- booking business travel solution. Frequent business travellers depend on technology to stay connected while on the road. An overwhelming 96% agreed that technology has improved business travel, advancing access to the office and clients, saving time through instant communications and facilitating a virtual office environment through laptops.
Over one-third (37%) of respondents stated they always or almost always access their company's network while on the road. 'Road warriors' of today are looking for a sophisticated system that is easy to use, simplifies and speeds up the making of travel arrangements, provides 24-hour access as well as producing and printing itineraries.
AXI's Success in the US AXI was launched in the US last July and over 100 US companies have already installed AXI as their corporate solution for bespoke online air, hotel and car rental reservations as the face of corporate travel management changes.
Paul Tomaszeski, Executive Director of Administration
at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. (5), East Hanover,
NJ says: "I can set up AXI to steer our travellers to preferred suppliers, which gives us greater leverage as a purchaser, while at the same time giving the traveller more control over the process. Our travellers like AXI because it gives them access to information about their options, such as flight alternatives, online seat maps and city maps showing hotel locations."
Notes for Editors
1. AXI, a component within American Express' travel management platform, integrates with other proprietary and non-proprietary offered by the Company. These include online solutions for electronic ticketing, information management and automated expense reporting. AXI has been developed with Microsoft server and desktop software, allowing it to dovetail easily into a company's technology infrastructure.
Reservations made through AXI will be supported by American Express' worldwide customer service through the company's network of travel offices and 24-hour hotline.
2. Powered by the Microsoft Travel Technologies platform, AXI is travel policy- compliant and user-friendly, offering valuable benefits for travellers. The system, jointly designed with the Microsoft Corporation, was created using Microsoft's BackOffice family of products (including Windows NT server, Interment Information Server and Microsoft SQL Server) and is compatible with Microsoft Office. Accessible from web browsers that are HTML 3.0-compliant, AXI is designed to connect with American Express' back office systems, including quality control, low fare search and client-negotiated rate databases.
3. The 2nd American Express European Business Forum
took place in 'Frankfurt on Thursday, 2 October 1997. 105 delegates representing companies from across Europe took part in the survey after presentations on business travel trends, the future of work and technological developments in business travel.
4. The 1998 Road Warrior Technology Study was fielded interactively, from the NFO//net.source panel, a subset of the NFO (National Family Opinion) national projected consumer panel, which is comprised of 170,000 households that are online users. The Study was an online poll of nearly 550 business travellers who take at least 10 overnight business trips per year and are online users.
5. Novartis is a world leader in Life Sciences with core business in Healthcare, Agribusiness and Nutrition. In 1997, Novartis Group sales were 31.2 billion Swiss francs, of which 18.8 billion were in Healthcare, 8.3 billion in Agribusiness and 4.1 billion in Nutrition. The Group annually invests more than 3.6 billion Swiss francs in R&D. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis employs about 87,000 people and operates in over 100 countries worldwide.