Door-to-door, KDS Travel manager Suite, KDS Admin Suite, KDS Book on Mobile: four simple, smart and mobile solutions
Paris, London, 2nd Feb. 2012 – KDS, the European travel and expense leaders, today announced several new products which will drive innovation, control and cost savings in the T&E industry.
CEO Dean Forbes took to the stage in front of over 550 attendees at KDS Now! 2012 - the company's annual customer conference - to announce four significant new additions to KDS’ range of corporate travel and expense solutions. These additions bring increased control and flexibility to the already wide-ranging capabilities of KDS’ solutions, while still offering convenience and ease of use for the end user.
A lot of attention was given to the public unveiling of Project Neo, an intelligent travel booking system which organises your entire trip, from door to door and back again, with just a few clicks. Enter where you need to go and how long you need to be there and Project Neo will do the rest, choosing your travel and accommodation based on best prices, personal convenience and your preferred choice of suppliers. Travel booking used to be a complex, time-consuming, multi-screen affair. With Project Neo, all it takes is three clicks, two screens and one minute. Simple.
Scott Gillespie, one of the travel industry's leading commentators on innovation and best practices and a speaker at KDS Now! 2012 said, “With Project Neo KDS is certainly a step ahead in the market place. KDS redefines the booking experience with Project Neo. It is a bold and long awaited move.”
KDS will be working closely with partner organisations to beta test Project Neo will in the latter half of 2012, with a full public release set for 2013.
KDS also announced the ability to book travel from smart phones, a feature unique to KDS Mobile. Competing applications allow users to view their travel itinerary on their mobile phone, but bookings must be done from a desktop or laptop PC. With KDS booking on mobile, business travel is finally untethered from the restrictions of the office.
Also on show was the KDS Travel Manager Suite, which promises to bring to Travel Managers the same level of control, visibility and analysis which KDS’ existing Executive Suite offers to CFOs. Detailed data on supplier spend, rates and volumes is displayed in an comprehensive but comprehensible manner, giving travel managers the information they need to negotiate best prices with top suppliers, and identify those who are not pulling their weight.
Finally, the KDS Admin Suite allows administrators of the KDS system to more easily get to grips with all the customisation and configuration options available to them, enabling organisations to get the maximum value out of their KDS solution by ensuring everything is tailored to their specific needs.
“If the delegates’ reactions as we revealed our new products say anything, I can tell you that they were certainly mesmerized,” said KDS, CEO, Dean Forbes. “As a company, we pride ourselves on innovation and after today there can be no doubt that we deliver on that front! We truly believe that we’re doing things which will revolutionise the way people look at corporate travel and expense, and our competitors will struggle to keep up.”
