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Related Newslog Items 23 June 2010 American Express Business Travel added public Cisco TelePresence Suites to its virtual meetings eXpert solution. The public suites are available at various locations including some Marriott, Starwood and Taj hotels. "The vmX platform is currently available through an offline reservation desk and is expected to be available online in 2011," Amex stated.
7 June 2010 The Millennium Foundation today officially launched the Massivegood program for corporate travel channels. Designed to collect "micro-contributions" from travelers when they book airline flights, hotel stays or car rentals as part of the effort to fight HIV/Aids, malaria and tuberculosis, Massivegood has secured commitments to facilitate corporate travel donations from travel management companies American Express Business Travel, BCD Travel and Carlson Wagonlit Travel, and online booking tool providers Amadeus (e-Travel), iFAO (Cytric) and Sabre (GetThere). "Companies now have an easy way to demonstrate commitment to global health with the launch of Massivegood's corporate program, which lets them integrate a simple donation solution into their corporate travel systems," according to a Millennium Foundation statement. 6 May 2010 Mary Ellen George joined American Express Business Travel as vice president of global business development. Before she was let go as general manager of BCD Travel's Advito consulting unit, George spent ten years in the BCD family, notably as a division president and president of the online fulfillment services unit. She joined WorldTravel BTI in 1993 following seven years at Amex. George's new post is "a new position as part of sales expansion activities" at Amex, according to a spokeswoman. 29 April 2010 In the wake of the Icelandic volcanic eruption, American Express Business Travel introduced an automated "hub for traveler tracking tools and instant employee messaging necessary during a crisis." The offering is complimentary to customers who purchase Amex’s business continuity suite, which provides users with an "after-hours solution" and a telepresence or teleconference capability when air, car, rail transportation are unavailable. 4 November 2009 Carlson Wagonlit Travel partnered with Tata Communications to offer clients bookings and other services for Tata's Cisco TelePresence Suites. CWT announced it would "help in determining if and when a virtual meeting meets" customer business needs, manage the reservations process and provide "reporting on adoption and related cost savings." Tata runs on-site private telepresence suites for companies, and is installing hundreds of public sites in locations such as Starwood and Taj Hotels properties. Currently "several" public rooms are available on a "pay-per-use basis in the United States, England, India, South Africa and the Philippines," according to the company.
14 October 2009 BCD Travel established a joint venture with Greece's Amphitrion Holidays SA, which serves the corporate, meetings and incentives and leisure markets. The Greek agency has six offices, 250 employees and annual turnover of US$143 million, according to BCD Travel, which during the past 18 months has "noticed growing demand by multinational clients for a strong presence in the Greek market." 5 October 2009 Cisco plans to purchase video communications competitor Tandberg for about $3 billion and integrate Tandberg's video endpoints and network infrastructure into its own "collaboration architecture. This will enable intercompany and multi-vendor interoperability and ease of use across the full product portfolio from desktop to immersive, multi-screen TelePresence." The interoperability will benefit "Cisco customers, but also competitors and partners by accelerating customer interest in video collaboration globally," according to a Cisco statement. Cisco chairman and CEO said "collaboration is a $34 billion market and is growing rapidly," and that "Cisco and Tandberg have remarkably similar cultures and a shared vision to change the way the world works through collaboration and video communications technologies." Tandberg CEO Fredrik Halvorsen is to lead Cisco's new TelePresence Technology Group when the deal closes, expected in the first half of 2010 and subject to regulatory review in the United States and elsewhere. Tandberg is based in both Oslo, Norway, and New York. 21 July 2009 Vodafone UK, Capgemini and other firms plan to cut employee flights by 20 percent within the next five years, according to WWF, an environmental organization. WWF's "One in Five Challenge" is an "independently audited" program that encourages videoconferencing and rail options as alternatives to air travel, provides participants "a toolkit to help plan and implement a greener business travel policy," and includes "annual evaluation of the money and carbon saved." 30 June 2009 Marriott International partnered with AT&T to offer Cisco Telepresence facilities in 25 Marriott, J.W. Marriott and Renaissance hotels in such cities as Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, New York, San Francisco, Shanghai and Washington D.C. The first systems are expected to go live by the end of October, according to a statement. 30 June 2009 Starwood Hotels & Resorts partnered with Tata Communications to roll out Cisco Telepresence for some Sheraton, Westin and W properties, according to a statement. By year-end, Starwood plans to have 10 facilities up and running beginning with hotels in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Sydney and Toronto. In the future, Starwood plans to build facilities in major international business markets like Brussles, Hong Kong, Paris, Singapore and Tokyo. 25 June 2009 BCD Travel was not prompted by NBTA to pen its letter supporting a merger with ACTE, according to a BCD spokesman. During an interview Thursday that was scheduled in response an article published in The Beat about BCD Travel's letter, an Association of Corporate Travel Executives spokesman said the National Business Travel Association had "obviously started a campaign." Asked about BCD's letter as well as rumors (some dispelled) of other similar statements by vendors, ACTE executive director Susan Gurley said she would also seek out partners "if I wanted to get a campaign." In response, a BCD Travel spokesman wrote in an email that his company's letter "was not prompted by or part of any NBTA-led campaign. We have long partnered with ACTE and believe it is an outstanding organization for BCD Travel and our industry as a whole. We feel the same about NBTA. We respect the missions of both organizations and do not favor either. Our action was our own decision, and it was driven by a desire to see the best solution emerge for our industry. We strongly believe that solution is an organization that combines the best aspects of ACTE and NBTA."
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