Travel. It’s a tough job but someone has to do it! Competition calls for globalization which, in turn, demands a robust infrastructure that makes the consolidation of data and planning possible.
Business Process Outsourcing enables companies to reduce operational costs but the amount of travel requires a CXO to travel more frequently. Keeping that in mind, it only makes sense to find out how an airport or added in-flight feature could make their travel more comfortable and connected. Here’s what our executives are talking about!
Munir Usman immediately announced that he thinks airports should have efficient staff at the immigration counters. While various trade organizations do take the additional effort to work with the Civil Aviation and Airport Authorities to have a fast track for business travelers perhaps Munir is looking for some fast tracking of people who are traveling to a foreign land for business, where there might not be a protocol waiting for them to clear them through immigration. That’s what trade associations or organizations such as TDAP need to ensure for every business traveler that goes out of Pakistan or comes here to conduct business.
Travel has become a lot easier than it used to be even five years ago. There are always large LCD or plasma monitors along with additional staff to help you catch your connections on time and coordinate any extra facilities you may need. The major airports will always make the arrangements. They have to else there would be a lot of stranded passengers who demand accommodations from the airline.
But like a true professional, Munir points out that he couldn’t travel anywhere without the high-speed Wifi connectivity and necessary power arrangement. Take the DBX airport as an example. Not only do the departure lounges have all of this (and the coffee to go with it!) they also give you access to the internet for free! David Dingley, a Business Technology Consultant adds, “The Wifi being offered at the airports is obviously creating enough inertia for it to be provided at a reasonable cost or free.”
Jurgen Barthel of Travel Trade Consulting comments, “Yes, you really need those power plugs at the gates for laptop travelers. Only very few airports have it, mostly not conveniently located for the road warrior but hidden in the corners for the cleaning staff.” David adds that while most airports lack accessible power points (no doubt some legal/health and safety mumbo jumbo is the excuse!) “but you become expert at finding them – the cleaners have to use some power source for their work!”
Jurgen continues his wish list by adding, “Free wireless internet at airport hotspots instead of excessively expensive commercial offers at ‘airport rates’ is also a must have! Munich, for example, has corners in some waiting area that have a television installed that runs news channels, but other gates with three or four seats force travelers to stand around waiting or sit on the floor.”
Jurgen also recommends that a shop selling local prepaid cards to replace the mobile phone’s existing sim card allowing the traveler to make calls at local rates.” Disposable phones might also do the trick. The problem that Jurgen is identifying is that the majority of places that get the business travelers don’t all have the facilities to cater to their immediate communication needs.
You get off a 6-hour flight, the first thing you’d want to do is check in with your office or with the company you are going to meet. If you can avoid making the call on a roaming SIM, that just makes you feel a lot better.
Obviously with experiences of long flights comes a long wishlist that Network Security Specialist Saba Jamaluddin needs. A loyal Mac user, say “airport” to Saba and she assumes we’re offering connectivity! Based on her work and frequent domestic and international travel, the Network Security Specialist says that she absolutely needs free Wifi or internet connectivity both at the airport and in the air. “And why can’t flight announcements or delays be sms’ed over your cell phone. There is an iphone application that tracks your flight so you are not left at the mercy of an inefficient staff!”
You can tell you’ve come across a frequently flying techie when you notice a large range of power sockets or charging paraphernalia in their bag when it passes through the xray machine. “If the airports and airlines would provide a universal adapter to charge laptops or other gadgets that can’t be powered through the USB, I wouldn’t have to travel with every adapter on the planet,” explains Saba.
“There really has to be more integration between the mobile phone and the check in process. Even the kioske is a great time saver but why NOT have the mobile integration?” Makes sense. That way, the Kioskes won’t have to be bought and some of the financial resource could be re-directed towards the service! But not all airlines are thinking ease-of-use.
The PIA check-in counter at the Toronto airport is a case study in inefficiency in itself. This is a terminal where hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis queue up to fly back to Pakistan every month since the airline opened up their direct 13-hour flight. The airline does not offer check-in through a kioske or remote terminal. As a result, it might take an hour to drive to the airport and just as much time to try and go through the queue and check yourself in.
And speaking of checking in and inflight service, not every business travelers is looking for a connection or network. With the number of airlines cutting costs, shorter flights have stopped offering inflight meals. Mansoor Adenwalla, however offers somewhat of a solution. “If the airline will let me opt out and bring my own food on the flight, then should I still be required pay the full fare? Domestic flights in Pakistan aren’t long enough to make this work, but how about international flights within the region? My take is, put in food counters at the terminal and let people pick up food if they want. Serve only liquids on the flight and offer a discounted fare.”
Mansoor obviously has his heart set on the opt-in option since he explains, “Look at it this way. The airline gives us Rs.300 discount. I buy a McDonalds meal for Rs.240 and board the flight. Everyone is happy!”
Douglas Tully, Senior Project Manager and Database Consultant at HP offers an insight on security and it’s lacking consistency. “Security is not standard from airport to airport. I can leave liquids in my bag in some airports, in others they actually check every liquid for regulated amounts. Some metal detectors are more sensitive than others. I can pass through one airport’s security with a belt on once when on the return trip I will be stopped. This becomes one of the frustrating parts of traveling. If it was more consistent, it would be a lot easier for the frequent travelers.” Considering the business traveler has his pockets and bags full of gadgets (yes, gadgets have metal in them!), going through security is never a piece of cake or a one-time experience.
David Dingley addresses the Wifi security issue by saying that online security is always a concern unless you have a good VPN that you attach to. “There are reasonable free VPNs for those not part of a corporate structure.”
Ashar Iqbal, CISSP and working at Xnet Solutions reasons, “Public Wifi and Hotel internet are really insecure and so I would like to see more people using VPNs to connect to base. If that is not done then at least encrypted connections when checking email (ie POP and SMTP over SSL) which all modern email clients and mail servers support.”
Waqar Anwer, Business Development Manager at McAfee, looking after Pakistan gives an insight into what a common problem is at airports. “Notebook security is a primary concern at airports and in hotels. Your laptop might not with you all the time during the business trip. At airports, the possibility of mishandled equipment during scanning especially when one has kept CDs or flash drives inside laptop bag. Perhaps a dedicated scanner at airports for such gadgets is the need of the hour?”
Farzal Dojki, an expert in product design and delivery channels with experience of 4 start-ups agrees with Waqar. “Nothing scared me more than having to take laptop out of the carrying case and place in the cheapest plastic tray one could find. This is required in Europe and US, not as much in Middle East.”
David obviously dislikes airport hotels because they charge ridiculous prices for internet access. “Travelers need to mount a worldwide campaign against this! I know some, specifically in the US, who have made Wifi free but in Europe, I’ve seen rates that are more for a few hours than I pay for a month of personal ADSL speed internet access! Even worse are attempts to charge differentially for different service levels. My response is to use the phone, but then I pity corporations who end up swallowing these charges from hundreds of traveling employees. Some of the bigger ones manage to negotiate free internet access in their negotiated room rates but communication on the go is relatively difficult to manage for the smaller companies.”
But everyone has a fantasy of using internet or powering their laptops while in the air, don’t they? “Inflight seat power, sure, but 4 hours of inflight internet? No thanks! I’ve used it, it works, but I really don’t care. Nothing can be that urgent and I’m not willing to pay the amounts they charge. In any event, it is impossible to work effectively and privately unless you happen to be in full business class seat on an intercontinental flight. Get the hint guys – lots of people may say they want in flight internet, but you are not going to make enough money to support it! Remember inflight phones and the money nobody made from those!?” Obviously David has a point there.
“Wifi roaming in general is a difficult feat to manage across several countries. There are companies and groups that try to do it, but the results are still very patchy and you often end up in a location where you have to use yet another Wifi service. Fixing this would rank as #2 for me after hotel rip off rates!”
And of course, the ultimate wish list of ‘must-haves’ for the frugal traveler? Farzal highlights, “Sleeping pods, showers and barbers! Some airports offer small private cabins with a small bed, free internet access, available for very affordable rates help to make the 4-hour stop-overs very refreshing. I’ve seen the showers in Geneva. Nothing like landing, taking a shower, stopping off at the barber to get a quick shave or trim and then off to win that multi-million dollar contract!” Obviously he speaks with experience!
At the end of the day, the CXO that travels around the world needs the assurance that their ICT needs are met and they have the comfort to enable them to keep focused on running their business (rather than running over children in the aisles!)
