Travel Manager Tech Tools

According to the research company International Data Corp, as much as a third of the workforce will be remote by 2016. More than half of all American’s now own a smartphone, and in the first quarter of 2012 alone Apple shipped 15 million iPads. According to Forbes, the use of tablets as an enterprise solution would rise by 50% over 2012.

More and more of us are carrying out our corporate and business responsibilities while on the move, but no one knows that burden of staying on the ball and in touch quite like a travel manager. On top of managing expenses, you’ve tickets to book, hotel rooms to reserve, colleagues to keep in touch with and the demands of basically taking your whole office with you. These top 5 apps will make sure that, wherever you or your clients go, you won’t leave your business behind.

Skype

Available on: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Windows

Price: FREE

It’s an essential. Skype and its features really need no introduction, but when you’re on the road and you need to connect with colleagues, clients or the office there really is no better app than Skype. Set yourself up with a business account and you have a means of chatting with multiple people on a reliable and trusted platform that is used by almost everyone, from your boss to your lonely partner.

Car Locator

Available on: Android

Price: $3.99

Find your car, van or tour bus with ease. Nothing is more annoying that constantly traveling from unfamiliar place to unfamiliar place and forgetting where you parked. Car Locator no only provides you with an easy to read GPS locator, but has the added bonus of a parking timer to prevent unwanted tickets or - should worse come to worst - your vehicle being clamped or toed.

Evernote

Available on: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Windows

Price: FREE

An absolute essential for the itinerant traveler, Evernote lets you keep your notes organized by folder, project or location. You can save entire web pages, collect photo business cards, and keep all your travel documents in one place. Think of it as a cloud-ready Filofax that seamlessly integrates with email and syncs your notes will all other devices. It handles all forms of multimedia, and allows you to share your notes with ease.

Expensify

Available on: iOS, Android, Blackberry

Price: FREE (Team Plan $6 a month, Corporate Plan $11 a month)

Expensify is the market leading expenses tracking app. When you’re on the go, you can upload photo receipts using a feature recognized by the IRS, store expenses by account, category or client, track your mileage expenses, log your hours, attach email receipts, import expenses from a credit card and export your records as a PDF. It’s an all-in-one accounting app designed for professionals who work remotely, or travel for business, and currently has over 950,000 users.

OpenTable

Available on: iOS, Android, Blackberry

Price: FREE

When you’ve dusted yourself down from time on the road, cleared a couple of hours between duties and appointments, and landed in a new town with clients or just the team to entertain, getting a reservation at a restaurant can be a nightmare. Forget ringing round endless eateries and install OpenTable. It will provide you with a list of all the restaurants in your area that have tables available, and let you book through the app. It even has an extensive review section, where OpenTable users leave comments on their best and worst restaurants.

Related article: Stress-Relief Tips for Corporate Travel Managers

photo credit: bonnie-brown via photopin cc