Smart Mobility 2

www.smart-mobilitymanagement.com

#2

MMM Business Media – Smart Mobility Management n°2 – Quarterly periodic newsletter – Deposit office Luxembourg-Gare

International Integrated Corporate Mobility Solutions

I Car

sharing : a mobility solution for corporations I Case

Studies : Ernst & Young, Kodak, Siemens and UCB privileged partners :

edito Design YOUR road book to mobility management

S

ince the recent launch of our new platform Smart Mobility Management a few months ago, it is clear that new mobility projects have been multiplying. Most of the time, locally. Most of the time, at a small scale. But what is important, is that the initiatives are coming from all sources, all industries and different sectors. Can we now already speak of real ‘Smart – Integrated – Mobility Management’? No. But most of the opinion leaders our team have met, have told us that it is just a matter of time.

Smart integration will be the next step. The question is the timing. And who will take the real lead.

Mobility today also almost automatically goes hand in hand with e-mobility. Meaning using electric vehicles. There is unquestionably an enormous appetite for information, and probably an even bigger menu of information from the manufacturers to inform us about new technology and new powertrains to reduce CO2 emissions, and thus fuel consumptions and TCO.

Caroline THONNON cthonnon@mmm.be

Electric vehicles today may be perfect for urban use in the so called ‘smart cities’ and in ‘smart companies’. But what exactly are ‘smart companies’? Companies which test new mobility solutions - car sharing for example? Is car sharing a real solution for corporations? In this issue, we try to give you the answer.

International buyers or fleet and travel managers within companies also acknowledge that they should collaborate transversally looking at fleet, travel, meetings and integrating ICT. But what they really need now is top sponsorship. Top management supporting their initiatives. And making mobility management a top priority in their company.

Spread the word! Tell them to read Smart Mobility Management! Send them a digital edition!

Attend the Smart Mobility Meeting in September to design your road book to mobility management.

Caroline THONNON Business Development Director

SMART MOBILITY MEETING Smart Mobility Management is proud to announce its first international conference to be held on September 21st and 22nd in Noordwijk aan Zee (The Netherlands). > Forum Get access to quality information, acquire new original ideas and share «best practices» with key achievers from the respective industries. > Networking dinner Link personally to leaders achieving excellence in their field and generate new professional relationships in a warm atmosphere. > Think tank & workshop Use peers as sounding boards, emerge as a pioneer and leader familiarising the community with your name and get recognition for your achievements and innovations. > Register Join our Smart Mobility Meeting and register on www.smart-mobilitymanagement.com. > GBTA Europe We are proud to team up with GBTA Europe, European leader in the travel & meeting industry and bringing you one of the most valuable and innovative Smart Mobility Events of 2011.

smart mobility management - n°2 I 3

Now you can fill up your car for €* 3.29 The Peugeot iOn is now available for pre-order.

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Content 10

22

26

46

DOSSIER CAR SHARING

strategy

best practices

industry

6 Introduction

9 Our partners

26 UCB

42 News

Car sharing as a rising trend

Experts in fleet, travel and meetings join forces in a unique project

Geert Behets The mobility knowledge exists… integrate it!

News from the industry suppliers

13-50 Privileged partners

30 Ernst & Young

10 Car sharing A mobility solution in B2B

12 Mobility Carsharing Switzerland The leading European provider of car sharing solutions

15 The MOMO Project

22 Air traffic

Working on sustainable mobility patterns

Number of flights to double by 2030

16 Car sharing Experiences

24 Policy & Processes

Accenture (France), Arcadis (Netherlands), Dexia (Belgium) and Société Générale (France)

13 Athlon Car Lease 14 Peugeot 19 Europcar 21 Alphabet 50 Thalys

From Business Travel to Business Mobility

GhislainVanfraechem Green fleet, green building and hot-desking

35 Siemens

46 Talk & Vision Video to support business strategies

48 Video-conferencing Not all videoconferencing is the same

Roland De Coninck The infrastructure needs to be expanded

38 Kodak

Pascale Pitou Selling the idea of mobility internally

41 Atos Origin

François Gruau Company without e-mail

issue n°3 The third issue of Smart Mobility Management will be published in September 2011.

Editorial Team

PRODUCTION

Editorial Director: Caroline Thonnon (cthonnon@mmm.be) Final editor: Stijn Phlix - Team: Tim Harrup

Head: Sonia Counet

editor

Sales & Marketing Team Sales Director: Marleen Neukermans - Sales Manager: David Baudeweyns Assistant: Romina De Gregorio and Patricia Lavergne Marketing Manager: Kathleen Hubert

Business Development Director: Caroline Thonnon - Project Manager: Annick Nemetz and Consultants: Filip Van Mullem and Melchior Wathelet

Managing Director: Thierry Degives Publication Director: Jean-Marie Becker Reproduction rights (texts, advertisements, pictures) reserved for all countries. Received documents will not be returned. By submitting them, the author implicitly authorizes their publication.

MMM BUSINESS MEDIA sa/nv Complexe Arrobas Parc Artisanal 11-13 4671 BLEGNY-Barchon (Belgium) Phone: 00 32 (0)4 387 87 87 Fax: 00 32 (0)4 387 90 87 info@mmm.be www.mmm-businessmedia.com

smart mobility management - n°2 I 5

DOSSIER

Car sharing

Collaborative Commuting

‘We’ is the new I Standard of living in ever expanding cities is arguably getting better at the cost of standards of livability. From earlier metrics of cars per 100 households, a woefully realistic metric today is the number of cars per household. There are more cars on road today than our cities can handle seamlessly. Governments, self-serving communities, car-rental operators, mobility providers and vehicle manufacturers (VMs) have begun to react to this situation. Welcome to the era of car sharing!

C

ar sharing can potentially free up roads off 2 million vehicles, globally, in the next five years, when 71 members could be using one car. In Europe alone, car sharing can possibly replace a million cars by 2016, with 5.5 million members sharing 77,000 vehicles. This massive cleanup is driven by three key factors: transparency in per-mile transport expenditure, better

utilization rate of vehicles and sharing of overhead expenses by numerous users.

As the driving costs are transparent, Car Sharing Operators (CSOs) subscribers drive lesser miles per year. The higher utilization rate of CSO vehicles eases the congestion on city roads, frees up parking spaces and reduces vehicular emissions; thanks to collaborative commuting.

Revolutionizing a world of established commuting modalities by smart mobility Globally, each shared car removes up to 10 vehicles from the road. As this directly impacts on vehicle sales, VMs are capitalizing on car sharing market potential as service providers. car sharing transcends beyond the small car segments as even premium brands such as BMW and Daimler have started rendering these services.

Fleet strength, financial robustness and diversified presence across global tier-1 cities strengthen car-rental companies to provide stiff competition to CSOs. This warrants headstrong strategies with continued federal support, to patronize the CSOs in reducing emissions and ensuring adoption. For car sharing to penetrate beyond the cities, CSOs need to target newer groups and provide a plethora of services, besides leveraging information & communication technologies (ICT) to its fullest.

The higher utilization rate of Car Sharing Operators vehicles eases the congestion on city roads, frees up parking spaces and reduces vehicular emissions; thanks to collaborative commuting.

Each shared car removes up to 10 vehicles from the road.

smart mobility management - n°2 I 6

Besides reducing emissions, car sharing serves a channel for Electric Vehicle (EV) adoption through public programs such as Autolib’ in Paris. EVs are expected to be increasingly leveraged to an extent that 1 in 5 new shared vehicles and 1 in 10 total shared vehicles is expected to be an EV by 2016 in North America. The purchase cost of

Market for car sharing: Federal support and Mobility management Matrix (World) 2010

EV, consumer inexperience and lack of related infrastructure such as charging network, however, undermines the EV adoption. With market leader Zipcar having suffered wide losses in 2010, car sharing needs to be in every national transportation framework to bring it to wider audiences.

The Global Scenario Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and France are expected to hold around 80% of members by 2016.

France and the United Kingdom are markets that possess tremendous growth potential over the next five years, backed by federal support. More than 2 million members are expected to share their vehicles in the UK by 2016, as against 1 million in Germany.

This is in spite of Germany having the maximum penetration of car sharing in Europe, with 168,000 members sharing almost 5000 vehicles. Clearly, further growth is possible only if the government extends support to CSOs. Chart 1 illustrates federal support in various countries that serve as great markets for car sharing.

Car sharing is more of an urban phenomenon in the US owing to the vast urban population and the presence of car sharing programs in cities. Once car sharing programs tap the potential in 7Â cities, including Detroit, almost 70,000 cars could be shared in the United States by 2016. With vehicle population growing twice as fast as birth rate in Lower Mainland, Canada needs car sharing for better livability.

Canadian car sharing membership base comprises two complimentary groups: residents using their cars on weekday evenings and during weekends, whereas business users driving more weekdays daytime hours. If strategies reap synergies in Canada, 300,000 members could be sharing 8000 cars in the next five years. This can generate sustainable revenues streams for medium and long terms. With over half a million members sharing 10,000 vehicles currently, North America is poised for tenfold growth by 2016.

Japan has more than 30 car sharing programs, half of which began operations in 2009, with over 3,000 vehicles. Since

then, the membership base has grown by 150%. Consumer reluctance to adopt can seriously undermine the growth of car sharing programs. Hence, CSOs have gone a step further in increasing the adoption rates, by accepting public transit cards such as Suica and PASMO, used by millions of Japanese people.

Moreover, parking space providers have also entered the car sharing scene, as this helps improve vehicle utilization rate. Backed by such proactive measures, by 2016, over a million Japanese members are expected to share over 23,000 vehicles with a revenue potential of around half a billion dollars. Chart 2 highlights the country forecasts for car sharing across major car sharing economies in the world. More than 24,000 battery-operated electric vehicles (BEV) are expected in car sharing operations worldwide by 2016.

This focus shift from privately owned vehicles to a shared environment paves way for collaborative commuting. The next step in this direction is the already-evolving peer-to-peer car sharing introduced in the United States.

smart mobility management - n°2 I 7

DOSSIER

Car sharing

Market for car sharing: Country Forecasts for car sharing Members (North America, Europe, and Japan), 2009, 2014, and 2016

2014 Members and Vehicles

21% 6%

1%

Supportive regional policies and standards to drive carsharing in the United Kingdom, Japan and France

Members

3% 7%

Vehicles

11%

Public programs like Autolib' are expected to revolutionise the EV carsharing market with more than 3,000 EVs for public operation

1,500

~10 Million Members

45

23

Vehicles ('000s)

~1 Million Members

Members ('000s)

3,000

3%

14%

22%

17% 11%

2% 40%

42%

-

The United The United States Kingdom

2009

The United States

Japan

The United Kingdom

Germany

France

Canada

Others

2016 Japan

Germany

France

Canada

Others

Others include Austria, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Sweden, Spain, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland and Portugal

Note: All figures are rounded; the base year is 2009. Source: Frost & Sullivan

CSOs rent privately owned cars to car sharing members in a neighborhood, ensuring prompt receipts and delivery of both cars and cash. This could lead to a leaner business model in which CSOs are asset-light, with cars being owned by a few members, shared across the entire neighborhood.

The Verdict Car sharing enables carbon emission reduction in multiple ways besides freeing up roads by eliminating low occupancy cars. Moreover, people are more likely to use cars only when they need to and this reduces Vehicle Miles Travelled (VMT) per user. As convenient commutation modalities for first and last mile connectivity emerge, car sharing membership base is likely to grow even more.

EVs are expected to witness increased adoption as necessary infrastructure and consumer willingness towards car

smart mobility management - n°2 I 8

sharing gains momentum in the medium term. Governmental incentives favoring smart mobility modes by levy of green taxes on private vehicles, will help wider adoption of car sharing programs.

In operator-fragmented markets such as Germany and parts of North America, CSOs could form strategic alliances to achieve greater economies of scale while still protecting one’s territory and market share. In operator-consolidated markets such as the UK, where a handful of players dominate the market, tariff wars may begin, competing towards making car sharing eco-friendly and wallet-friendly. Thus, CSOs will compete through service offerings than price. The integration of smart modalities such as bikesharing, car sharing, carpooling and public transportation on a large scale shall help sustain the growth momentum of car sharing in the long term.

Expertise Center

By Prana Tharthiharan Natarajan, Senior Research Analyst, and Aswin Kumar, Industry Analyst Automotive & Transportation Frost & Sullivan

Expertise Center

Fleet Europe is the first European Fleet Magazine for top decision-makers and enables European and international fleet managers to take decisions in order to optimise their vehicle fleets.Fleet Europe has grown to the leading international fleet platform where international fleet decision makers can exchange best practices and be informed. www.fleeteurope.com

GBTA Europe is the first buyer-led, pan-European network of business travel professionals with over two thousand five hundred members and six thousand subscribers comprising of buyers (60%) and suppliers (40%) of travel and meetings services. The organisation’s goal is to provide the first pan-european, buyer-led centre for knowledge and networks in the business travel and meetings sector.

www.gbtaeurope.org

With the collaboration of

I CIEM The Inter-University Mobility Study Centre is a platform which brings together teachers and researchers in Belgium, in order to benefit from the high level transversal knowledge necessary for tackling the problem of personal mobility, from an integrated, prospective and innovative angle.

I Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan is a global growth consulting company that has leveraged its market expertise to offer industry

research and market strategies, provide growth consulting and corporate training, and support clients to help grow their businesses.

I SIMACON Simacon is an international company providing Consultancy, Interim Management and Recruitment services. The company specializes on business travel management and non-product related procurement.

I TAXISTOP Taxistop is a non-profit organization in Flanders (Belgium) that realizes projects

that will improve the use of existing goods and means. In the meaning a lot of services have been established (Carpool, Eurostop, Home Exchange...)

I TRAJECT Traject is a Belgian consulting office specialized in mobility management.

The company offers services in various areas of mobility management: mobility plans for specific destinations and target groups, change management in transport and mobility, development of tailor made transport solutions...

JOIN THE COMMUNITY > > > >

Get access to quality information Share « best practices » with key achievers from the respective industries Link personally to leaders achieving excellence in their field Get recognition for your achievements and innovations

FIRST CONFERENCE 21 SEPTEMBER 2011

Smart Mobility Management is the first international one stop communication platform aggregating information and innovations on four industries: Fleet, Travel, Conferencing and related Technologies

smart mobility management - n°2 I 9

DOSSIER

Car sharing

Car sharing for corporations A real mobility solution Car sharing is a bit like car rental, but targeted mainly at short trips and relatively regular use. Most car sharing organisations have corporate members as well as private ones, and the number of such car share companies certainly is on the rise in Europe. But how interesting is car sharing - suffering from negative connotations from uncool to impracticable - really for the corporate world?

F

or starters, there are diffe­ rent tariff schemes for corporate members to choose between. For example, depending on the number of people using the system, the company can choose between a shared subscription for all its staff members, and individual memberships for each employee.

The latter option allows a distinction between purely private use, and professional use, invoiced to the company.

Part of smart mobility And then there are different types of transport, for some of which car sharing is unsuitable. Take the daily commute between home and work: this would effectively link one driver to one car, which would spend too much time parked idly in the driveway at home, or in the company parking lot. But car sharing can in fact help influence modal choice in home-work trips, by becoming an element of a smart, sustainable mobility policy for business-related trips. For example, when staff are no longer required to use their personal cars for business trips, they can come into work by other means. This benefits the employee, who no longer has to spend time in traffic to bring his car

smart mobility management - n°2 I 10

to work. It also benefits the employer, who can reduce cost of commuting by reducing company car use and freeing up corporate parking space. It also reduces the cost of business trips, which can be performed with alternative, cheaper modes of travel.

Business related trips Business trips are very diverse: destinations and time frames differ widely.

Companies that want to optimise their transport choices and costs in this area, will therefore need a multimodal approach. In this mix, car sharing can play its part, complimenting a range of options including use of the company fleet, public transport, walking and cycling. > Car sharing can support - or even substitute - a car pool system. Pool cars are used for business-related trips, but returned to the corporate pool, and not used for commuting.

But should the nature and timing of business trips make a company car pool scheme too difficult or too costly to manage, flexible options like car sharing can bridge the gaps.

Most car sharing companies (e.g.

Cambio in Germany and Belgium)

will assist companies in selecting the best way to combine car pooling and car sharing. > C ar sharing can be combined with public transport for business trips, especially to areas in or beyond suburbia where the latter is lacking.

For instance, you could take a train to a city near your business destination, and use a shared car for the last few miles to the outskirts. This is a very efficient solution, especially when passing through heavily congested areas - especially since you can work during the train trip.

Multiple savings potential > L ess reimbursement for business use of private car; > L ess company car use for both business and commuting trips; > Less cost and time for commute; > L ess unnecessary mileage all over (including highly polluting congestion traffic).

1.

Car sharing requires a fixed members’ fee, which allows car hire by the hour, subject to reservation online or over the phone.

3. The rental fee is per hour and per km.

> B usiness destinations that are easily accessible on foot or by bike will also benefit from the option of car sharing when heavy goods need to be transported - depending, of course, on whether car sharing actually is available in that area.

The downsides Of course, there’s no car sharing without cars. This entails the risk that this greener, leaner mode of transport is basically encouraging the use of motorised transport instead of optimising it.

2.

Cars are usually available at publicly accessible locations, whence they also need to be returned. Assigned cars can be opened and started using membership card or cellphone.

4.

Ease of invoicing as well as reservation is possible thanks to new technology

Car sharing could - but shouldn’t - be used to replace public transport, which would reduce the financial and environmental savings to zero. A few existing systems in Germany and Switzerland allow for shared cars to be dropped off at different railway stations than where the trip started. This increases the temptation to replace a train voyage with a car trip, which is not a smart alternative.

Car sharing systems in inner cities also tend to replace rather than complement public transport - or even walking and cycling.

As a conclusion Intelligent use in a multimodal scheme for business trips is the best way for car sharing to contribute to smart corporate mobility policy. It will reduce the use of company cars, and of the employees’ private cars for business purposes.

Expertise Center Bart Desmedt - TRAJECT www.traject.be

smart mobility management - n°2 I 11

DOSSIER

Car sharing

Switzerland

leading Europe With 2,350 vehicles in 1,275 locations and more than 93,700 clients, Mobility is the leading provider of car sharing solutions, not only in Switzerland but also in Europe.

Viviana Buchmann, CEO of Mobility Carsharing, explains that there are many reasons for this success.

Viviana Buchmann, CEO of Mobility: “So far, more than 3’000 companies make use of our services for their mobility.”

S

witzerland is the ideal location for car sharing thanks to its well-developed and dense network of public transportation and its small scale. Furthermore, our strategic cooperation with large public transportation providers such as Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) has been helpful. Finally, in our 25 year history we have always emphasized the importance of developing and adapting our systems which is definitely another cornerstone of our success.

Is car sharing a mobility solution for corporations?

The business car sharing segment is an important component which helps us to better use our capacities. Private users and corporate users complement each other. While private users tend to use our cars in the evenings and on the weekends, business users usually concentrate on weekdays and daytime hours.

For companies, car sharing is an excellent solution as it frees them of the burdens of a company-owned car pool and the accompanying costs. Our clients can thus focus on their core business and save costs.

What are the Pro’s?

We tailor our solutions to our clients’ needs, so that we can cover practically any request. The pricing is very transparent; the bill is split up into two components, a rate per hour and a rate per kilometer. In this price, everything is included, such as maintenance, annual service and checkups, even the insurance and fuel.

We offer a selection of 10 different car categories. The business car sharing model is not only beneficial financially but, when combined with public transportation, it is also environmentally friendly.

How do companies combine company cars and car sharing schemes?

Most companies have both „management cars“ as well as car pools. Car sharing is mainly interesting in the case of car pools, when each car can be used by many people. The Paul Scherrer Institute, has reduced their use of vehicles by 23%, correspon­ ding to more than 250’000 kilometers. At the same time they

smart mobility management - n°2 I 12

managed to reduce their fleet from 50 to 19 vehicles, thereby saving about 340,000 Swiss Francs. The institute sold its previous cars and is now using Mobility exclusively. A combination of pre-existing vehicles along with car sharing solutions is often a transitional solution.

Has car sharing schemes replaced other transport modes or is it complementary?

Car sharing hasn’t pushed aside any other form of mobility; it has rather created a new kind, a “combined mobility”.

How much is the success of car sharing in Switzerland a result of legislation, taxation, culture…?

Car sharing enjoys neither fiscal nor legal privileges in Switzerland. The Swiss culture however does favour car sharing, because the idea of sharing isn’t exactly new in Switzerland.

For example, most households don’t have their own washing machine but share it with other tenants of the same apartment complex.

What are the keys to success of car sharing in other countries?

Aside from a very well developed system of public transportation, the culture is definitely another key factor, as previously mentioned. Car sharing requires rethinking though not relinquishment – one may not have one’s own car anymore, but still enjoys all the benefits of it without the burdens! Nowadays of course the larger cities are drowning in traffic so that car sharing has been recognized, even on an international level, as a correct and working solution.

Can you explain the role of technology in car sharing schemes?

Mobility Carsharing works entirely automatically. From the moment you make your reservation online to the moment the bill is sent, every single step is computerised. Of course this means that we need a sophisticated and well-working system.

The platform is at the core of Mobility Carsharing.

Caroline THONNON

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Athlon Mobility Solutions 5 steps to reduce costs and C02 Smart companies are looking for smart ways to reduce the two capital C’s: Costs and CO2. Car sharing, as presented on the following pages, is one way to do so. Experience has shown, however, that an integrated, holistic approach towards mobility is needed to achieve a long lasting, material impact. Athlon Car Lease has approached this issue and has developed a mobility plan to help companies and fleet managers to make their fleets sustainable in 5 easy steps.

Mr Hans Blink President of Athlon Car Lease “Our 5-step sustainable mobility plan is aiming at exactly those two things: Saving money and working towards sustainable mobility.”

Sustainability in 5 steps The 5 step Sustainable Mobility Plan offers 5 easy questions that companies, fleet managers and even drivers should ask themselves when choosing a means of transportation – and as a true mobility provider, Athlon Car Lease of course offers all services for its customers to reduce the impact of travelling to a minimum. > Step 1: Is travelling really necessary?

Do your employees have to travel everyday, or is there a smarter solution? Flexible meeting and office space as offered by us, can help you reduce travel time and distance to a minimum. > Step 2: What means of transportation to use?

Are there any other more efficient means of transportation to get to your appointments? Through a whole range of smart and cost-efficient services and alternatives, such as a train cards, car pooling etc., we help you to find the smartest and most efficient way to get from A to B. > Step 3: What car to choose?

If you do decide to use a car, choose an environmentally friendly one. Our customized incentive packages help motivate your lease drivers to choose a more cost efficient and green model. > Step 4: Ride environmentally consciously Driving environmentally consciously can have a large impact on your fleet costs. By educating your drivers on how to safe fuel while driving and rewards them for embracing the new style of driving, we help you achieve an enduring reduction of your fuel costs. > Step 5: Compensate Switching to sustainable mobility can save you a lot of money. At Athlon Car Lease, we offer you our experience and advice on how to use your savings to make your fleet even more sustainable.

Athlon Car Lease on sustainable mobility “It’s not just about climate and environment, it is also about helping our customers save money.

Cost savings and reducing their environmental footprint have become major targets for companies, and we’re constantly looking for ways to help them achieve their objectives. Our 5-step sustainable mobility plan is aiming at exactly those two things: Saving money and working towards sustainable mobility.” (Hans Blink, President of Athlon Car Lease)

The proof is in the pudding The rewards for companies implementing a holistic, integrated and sustainable approach on mobility are vast. Experience has shown that by educating drivers on a new style of driving and rewarding them for reducing their fuel consumption and fuel costs and the choice of a low emission vehicles, our customers were able to reduce their fuel related costs by 5 - 10 %.

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MU Pro to facilitate the movement of people Peugeot is pleased to confirm that, in line with the strategy of providing solutions for all B2B mobility, MU Pro is in the process of being developed and launched to B2B customers.

In concrete terms, how does MU Pro actually operate?

Mr Pierre Garnier Director International Corporate and Business Sales

MU Pro will allow companies to have cars, scooters and bikes retained on site at that company, for employees of that company to use as and when required.

The needs of each B2B client would be established, and would be specific to each site.

Negotiations, setting up the programme and follow-up are taken care of by the nearest MU site.

What is the advantage for a partner in joining MU Pro? In our current world, moving around within an urban environment is often difficult. MU Pro is a solution whose objective is to make it easier for people to move around in these circumstances.

Is the Peugeot brand the first to offer this sort of service?

Yes, in fact Peugeot is currently the only brand to offer this service to companies.

When will the service be operational?

The service is currently undergoing testing in Italy. It is our intention to have it up and running in France from the second half of 2011.

By launching MU pro, what strong message is Peugeot sending to professionals?

By launching MU Pro, we wish to demonstrate to our professional clients that Peugeot is much more than just a ‘car supplier’. Establishing new mobility solutions is at the centre of the philosophy of Peugeot Professional, and with MU Pro the Brand is intending to start a new relationship with its large account clients.

By launching MU Pro, Peugeot demonstrates to its professional clients that Peugeot is much more than just a ‘car supplier’.

smart mobility management - n°2 I 14

DOSSIER

Car sharing

More Options for Energy-Efficient Mobility through car sharing momo car sharing is a European project supported by IEE - Intelligent Energy Europe.

The key objective of momo is to contribute significantly to sustainable mobility patterns by establishing a mobility culture which is based on using various transport options instead of car ownership. The project runs over 3 years and will end in October 2011.

C

ar sharing has a great, but mostly unexploited, potential in Europe. Being a kind of decentralised car-rental service, car sharing complements the sustainable transport modes of walking, cycling and Public Transport – thus giving an alternative to car-ownership without any restriction on individual mobility. With car sharing as a market-based service, transport can be organised more rationally and more resource-efficiently.

There will also be an approach to establish car sharing in Luxembourg.

20.000 new car-sharers The European momo project wants to increase awareness, to improve the service of car sharing and to increase the energy-efficiency within the existing car sharing operations. Eight European countries are directly represented by the momo partners, but momo wishes to gain interest and awareness all over Europe.

The momo consortium

momo has the ambitious target of 20,000 new car sharing customers – with significant impacts on transport patterns, energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Over its lifetime momo wants to replace 3.500 private cars and regain urban space through parking spaces that are not needed anymore.

Car sharing at new locations Furthermore, momo wants to pave the way for car sharing in areas where no such service is offered at present.

Special focus is on Ireland, where car sharing has already started by Go-Car, and on the Czech republic and Greece.

momo will disseminate its experiences and will make recommendations on how to establish, develop and integrate ecoefficient car sharing into urban development and with Public Transport services.

Awareness campaign for companies As part of the awareness campaign, companies are defined as special target

group. Therefore training materials, local e-newsletters and advertising movies are developed. There are three key reasons why a company should integrate car sharing in its mobility policy : > To reduce direct costs > To reduce the ecological footprint by developing more sustainable mobility patterns > To reduce administration and maintenance of own fleet

Project Co-ordinator: Free Hanseatic City of Bremen : The Senator for Environment, Construction, Transport and European Affairs.

Belgium:

ond Beter Leefmilieu : Flemish umbrella for nature and B environment

Taxistop:

Promoter of shared mobility : car sharing/ride-sharing

Czech Republic:

Institute for Environmental Policy

Finland:

Motiva – Specialist in energy and material efficiency

Germany:

Cambio car sharing - Operator CS – BundesverbandCarSharinge.V. – German car sharing B Umbrella

Greece:

CRES –Centre for Renewable Energy Sources

Ireland:

Mendes GoCar – GoCar car sharing : Operator

Italy:

IME – Italian Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea NEA – Italian Board for New Technologies Energy and E Environment

Spain:

FMSS : Sustainable and Save Mobility Foundation

UITP :

Internation Association for Public Transport

Expertise Center Angelo Meuleman Taxistop vzw

smart mobility management - n°2 I 15

DOSSIER

Car sharing

Will you share a car?

Is car sharing more than just a good idea? Can it be a real mobility solution for corporations? We asked several companies in Europe who have experienced car sharing within their companies. An overview.

France : Société Générale First results positive The Société Générale set up the ‘ALD Sharing’ pilot project in September 2010 at La Défense in Paris. Five vehicles (inclu­ ding a hybrid and an electric car) have been made available for the personnel to move about on business during the day.

ALD Sharing is an initiative of ALD Automotive, the Société Générale Group operational leasing and fleet management business line, to offer its customers a ‘self-service vehicle’ solution in partnership with Carbox, French pioneer in the car sharing market for corporates.

Damien Feld, Buyer at the Société Générale: “This pilot project is a joint initiative by the purchasing management, the real estate management department of the Société Générale, ALD Automotive and Carbox. The desire of the Société Générale is to find innovative and flexible mobility solutions for our employees. After the first six months of test, the returns are very good…. both at company level and for the users. Up to now we have had around 250 usages.”

“The Société Générale sees car sharing as a substitute for pool cars, or even for using taxis or public transport, which are often expensive and/or time-consuming. Employees appreciate the ease of use. Reservations are made in four stages. Follo­ wing registration on an intranet site, you can reserve a vehicle,

select the cost centre for the invoice and then go and fetch the vehicle from the car park beneath the towers of our building.

Invoicing for use is made automatically to the staff member’s department”.

The Société Générale will make a full evaluation after a year of the project, but it already sees channels for developing the concept. “With more than 20,000 employees on the site at La Défense, there is clear potential for developing a new business”, explains Damien Feld. “And we are also going to look at the possibility of enabling private use. (CaT)

Belgium: DEXIA Education is key Towards the end of last year, Dexia held a high-profile launch of a car sharing scheme, which involved several cars operated by ‘Cambio’ being parked outside their central Brussels headquarters. Mobility and Sustainable Development Coordinator Bernard Dehaye told us how the scheme was progressing.

“There has been some reluctance on the part of our personnel, it has been somewhat mixed. There have been around forty occasions when Cambio has been used, whereas we might have expected to achieve this figure each month. Several phenomena explain this. We find a certain number of people who refuse the Cambio car, particularly when it’s the first time, because the system is new, the instructions have to be read, a card has to be presented in front of the windscreen, a code has to be entered… Then when leaving the car park the anti-parking device has to be in place. So some people find it complicated and constraining.

But to overcome this ‘learning’ problem we have produced a film which explains everything, which shows the various parking stations. In many ways, it’s a question of a classical fear of the unknown. A second phenomenon is that we

Car sharing using ecological vehicles is an ideal way of reducing the costs of the pool fleet while also reducing CO2 emissions.

smart mobility management - n°2 I 16

Netherlands: Arcadis Part of a global mobility solution for employees Arcadis, a consulting and engineering firm, is one of the first companies in the Netherlands to implement a car sharing scheme. Car sharing is part of the company’s corporate stra­ tegy to ensure smarter employee mobility.

“For this project, Arcadis is working with a Business Card provided by NS, the Dutch Railways,” says Frank Boom, Traffic Advisor at the company. “This card enables Arcadis employees to travel by train, take a taxi, rent a bike or scooter, park in designated parking spaces, and, now also, participate in car sharing.”

started a little later than we had originally planned, so we found ourselves in the middle of winter! And these cars are outside, whereas the other cars are inside… So with all the snow we had, we stopped proposing these cars for a while. I expect things to improve now, as people learn and the weather gets better. Where there is still resis­tance, if someone refuses a Cambio car which is proposed, and takes his or her personal car instead, we are planning to not pay any expenses for the use of the personal car.

Overall, I think we will be in a better position to evaluate success after a year or so of operation.” (TH)

Dexia launched a car sharing scheme in partnership with the Belgian organisation Cambio.

“We are working with a company called Greenwheels. They provide us with a Peugeot 107 at our office in Den Bosch.

With the NS Business Card, the 250 employees at Den Bosch, who may or may not have a lease vehicle, can use the car - by appointment - for business trips, during working hours.”

Frank Boom is experiencing the benefits of car sharing firsthand. “As our Den Bosch office is not easily accessible by public transport, I often save significant amounts of time by relying on the Greenwheels car,” says Boom, adding that the car sharing project also dovetails with the limited parking space available at the Arcadis office building. (SP)

Arcadis is implementing a car sharing scheme, partly because its office is not easily accessible by public transport.

smart mobility management - n°2 I 17

DOSSIER

Car sharing

France: Accenture Creating a users community Management consultancy firm Accenture set up a car shar­ ing project around a year ago, and has recently added a Mini E to the pool. Alexandra Melville, Car Fleet Sourcing Lead for France and Benelux, told us more of the thinking behind this.

The Accenture car sharing project was set up in Paris in May 2010, and it involves 4 cars with 90 actual users. The initial objectives were to both increase employee mobility and decrease CO2 emissions. The scheme also leads to less use of taxis for journeys within Paris. The scheme is being run with the assistance of leasing services supplier Alphabet.

The car sharing solution works as follows : company users have available for them an ‘Alphacity’ vehicle during the period 06.00 to 23.00 Monday to Friday. Members register in advance via the intranet site of their company. The car can then be reserved 24 hours a day, up to 5 minutes before the required pick-up time, according to availability, for a maximum of 5 hours a day, and in tranches of 15 minutes. Once the reservation is made, the Alphacity car is opened using a company-specific badge.

Results so far from Accenture’s point of view confirm improved mobility for its personnel, and a positive impact on CO2 emissions, as the Mini cars used only emit 104 grams of CO2 per km (and the new Mini E emits none at all). Alexandra Melville also talks of the establishment of a ‘users community’ within Accenture. From the users’ perspective, the scheme has led to a new way of thinking about mobility, and the satisfaction of being part of this ‘users community’. The programme is simple to use in terms of reserving the cars, and Accenture now intends to increase the number of its personnel taking part in this project. (TH)

Our community about car sharing “Car sharing can be good solution for corporations… but with some adaptations for insurance, security, tracking and only sharing between employees/travelers of the same company and for specific distances or needs,” François Dodane, Thalys on LinkedIn. “In an ideal world, car sharing would be an excellent solution. But, in many cases, the will be ‘do the fleet owners have the power to enforce the concept?’ We have seen many example where significant costs can be removed and substantial positive environmental saving measures taken, only to hear… ‘the driver would never that proposal’. Success depends of the real implementation.” Tony Elliott, ARI Consulting on Linkedin.

“Car sharing is one of the mobility solutions. For a specific need with a certain volume it is a cost and environmental saving solutions for corporations. It can be well combined with lease, rent and/or a public transport solutions.” Frank Segers, Athlon Car Lease on LinkedIn. “We’ve just launched a not for profit initiative to support the local communities here in Australia affected by the recent flooding... We believe it should work particularly well in business communities given there is often a joint purpose for the shared journey - to get to and from your place of work or to a work related meeting.” Adam Trevaskus, FleetPartners on LinkedIn. “We need a little clarification in terms of definitions. Here in the UK, “car sharing” is currently used to describe sharing a car with a friend or colleague for the commute to work. We need to invent a different term or change that definition to cover using cars provided by a company on a shared basis for business mobility.” Nigel Trotman, Alpha­ bet on LinkedIn.

Is car sharing a good mobility solution for corporations?

Yes: 77% No: 15% Don’t know: 8%

Result from the LinkedIn Poll ended on March, 22 2011.

From the users’ perspective, the scheme has led to a new way of thinking about mobility, and the satisfaction of being part of this ‘users community’.

smart mobility management - n°2 I 18

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Europcar combines smart with sustainable mobility Europcar takes its mission of “facilitating the mobile lives of its customers around the world” very seriously. The car rental leader in Europe focuses on offering highly customized and innovative services while taking an environmentally friendly approach to its business. For Europcar, smart mobility is also sustainable mobility.

Jehan de THÉ Europcar International Global Marketing Director “For Europcar, smart mobility is also sustainable mobility.”

The company has been pioneering in this area since opening its first “environmental station” for electric vehicles in Paris in 1999. The first to offer hybrid vehicles in Europe, in 2000, Europcar was also the first company in Europe to have its “Green Charter” of environmental commitments certified by Bureau Veritas, in 2008. The Charter’s four “pillars” -- of having the “greenest” possible fleet, obtaining stringent ISO 14001 certification of its internal processes, promoting recycling in vehicle maintenance, and raising awareness among customers and employees -- serve as the company’s roadmap in managing its business.

Europcar’Green Fleet The proportion of green vehicles, emitting low CO2 emissions, in the Europcar fleet is increasing, year on year. As a matter of fact, the company has focused in the recent years, on purchasing low-emission cars based on alternative hybrid or electric engines, including models that run on biofuels, super ethanol or natural gas. Europcar has partnerships with Nissan, Renault, Mercedes and PSA in “zero-emission” mobility and electric vehicles from these partners are planed to be delivered and first electric cars are already available in Portugal and France.

To highlight its green fleet and encourage consumers to choose low CO2 emission vehicles, Europcar offers its customers the possibility to choose their vehicle based on their CO2 emissions, as well as category and price. The rental’s level of CO2 emissions is visible on each invoice since 2009, to raise customers’ awareness of their environmental impact. Since 2010, Europcar even implemented a carbon offset facility function within the on-line reservation process, available thanks to the partnership with ClimateCare.

Smart mobility applications Europcar has developed several mobile applications which allow customers to make or modify reservation, locate a check-out station: Iphone, Samsung Wave and Nokia apps, aiming at simplifying the reservation process, were designed with customers’ mobile lives and the environment in mind.

And lastly, as a result of Europcar placing customers’ mobility at the center of its strategy, Europcar launched in April a smart & innovative service for urban mobility in partnership with DaimlerBenz in Hamburg, Germany. Known as car2go, the service lets drivers pick up and drop off a vehicle anywhere in the city’s 25-square-mile central area without a prior reservation.

This new life-style service, complementary to car rental already started with 300 smart fortwo Vehicles and will be further expand in other major cities.

Europcar’s efforts in smart and sustainable mobility are paying off: the company was elected “The World’s Leading Green Transport Solution Company” and “The World’s Leading Car Hire Company” at the World Travel Awards in 2010.

smart mobility management - n°2 I 19

DOSSIER

Car sharing

Lease companies all aboard for car sharing One item has risen to the top of the To Do-list of mana­ gers and directors everywhere: Smarter staff mobility. In an attempt to cash in on this trend, car lease companies are offering mobility solutions that are as sustainable as they are innovative.

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y far the most popular solution: so-called mobility budgets, which provide the lease driver with the option of choosing alternative means of transport, by train, tram or bicycle. Car sharing is another solution, but it is steadily gaining ground. As is shown by the solutions offered by the following lease companies:

ALD Sharing ALD Automotive launched ALD Sharing, its car sharing project, in September of last year. The service, provided in cooperation with Carbox, a French car-share organisation, is developed by an internal team of consultants, that analyse the mobility requirements of interested companies. ALD Sharing then puts cars at the disposal of these companies. Subject to online reservation and return after use, staff can utilise these vehicles to travel around. Duration and mileage is confirmed by email after having returned the vehicle. A trial project is currently under way at Société Générale, based in the Paris business district of La Défense. Company staff are provided the use of four energy-saving cars: a Toyota Prius, a Fiat 500, a Citroën DS3 and a Citroën C3 (see also p. 16).

Alphacity Since the end of last year, Alphabet International now also offers companies the car sharing programme Alphacity. As with ALD Sharing, this programme also allows customers to use cars for set periods (limited to 5 hours). Alphacity is designed for both lease drivers and employees without company cars. First and foremost, it is a solution for short distances in and around the city, Alphabet International states. Alphacity enjoys the support of car-share company Mobizen, and has already been tested successfully by Accenture in Paris.) see also p. 18).

Arval Still in France, Arval recently kicked off AutoPartage par Arval, a car sharing project at elevator manufacturer KONE.

smart mobility management - n°2 I 20

Car sharing is steadily gaining ground as a viable mobility option.

The product launch came only after Arval thoroughly tried out the product on its own fleet. The cars provided to KONE have been equipped with on-board electronics by partner company Masternaut. This will allow drivers to book their reservation quickly and easily - and to report any damage when returning the vehicle.

ING Car Sharing ING Car Lease is also offering car sharing to corporations, with its brand new product called ING Car Sharing. A trial project consisting of around 30 vehicles has started in France this April. ING Car Lease emphasises the savings this scheme may provide to companies: car sharing reduces the need for taxis or replacement vehicles. Since ING Car Lease operates under a common IT platform, the roll-out to other countries could happen sooner rather than later.

Athlon Carpool Online Athlon Car Lease is joining the lease companies offering car-share solutions, opting for the context of its Sustainable Mobility Plan to do it in. The company is already offering Dutch companies the option of carpooling. Employers and employees alike can consult www.athloncarpoolonline.nl to check for co-workers sharing the same routes to and from work, allowing for arrangements to be made to carpool. Companies can also ask the lease company for their own Carpool Online program, including CO2 emission reduction reports.

Stijn PHLIX

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Full-view mobility thanks to the NS-Business Card

Mr Anne Brons CEO of Alphabet Netherlands “With the NS-Business Card, fleet drivers can use a wide range of alternative transport options, such as trains, taxis, scooters and bicycles.”

When devising solutions for fleets, several criteria must be taken into account. One of them is user comfort, of course. The others include environmental concerns on the part of government and society as a whole and corporate demands for clear and controllable pricing. Taking a step back and looking at the whole picture, Alphabet Netherlands came up with a creative answer to these needs by integrating various other means of transport. We spoke to Anne Brons, CEO of Alphabet Netherlands.

What is the essence of the NS-Business Card solution?

Let me begin by explaining that NS stands for the Dutch Railways. The card gives fleet car users a wide range of alternative transport options, such as trains, taxis, scooters and bicycles. The rate of the card itself is very low too, at merely e2 per month. It can be used to book transport by phone or online, so it is very convenient. You might ask “What about parking the car?” We thought of that as well. For a monthly fee of e2.50 and a one-time registration, Alphabet also offers the Parkline service. Parking fees can be paid quickly and easily by mobile phone, and only for the exact time parked. Our drivers save up to 25% compared to cash payment.

How did Alphabet Netherlands come up with the idea?

You can’t speak of fleet management these days without speaking of mobility management. So we took a big-picture look at how to help people move about, given problems like crowded roads and high CO2 taxes, to name but a few. We also took into consideration what mode of transport might be used for what type of trip. Finally, we explored the potential in new technologies, like telematics, and realised that they are now powerful and reliable enough to really add value to transportation systems. This was not possible in the past.

What is the benefit for the user?

In a word: convenience. Plus, there are advantages at several levels. To begin with, thanks to realtime information, you can decide last minute whether you are going to travel all the way by car or avoid a traffic jam by taking a train. Or you may decide that a combination of train and taxi is the best solution, for example when visiting a trade fair. Secondly, thanks to the IT system in the background, users no longer have to use cash and collect receipts. Alphabet handles all the administration through the Multi Tank Card (MTC) used by many Alphabet lease drivers. All services are itemised at the end of the month for complete transparency and sent to the customers.

How do you see this system evolving?

Technology is just one of the keys. Flexibility, imagination and keeping a finger on the pulse of developments are the other.

We know that sustainability is not merely a question of reducing carbon footprint and fuel consumption; it’s about driver behaviour and mobility habits. Companies nowadays realise that improving their environmental profile can also reduce expenses. As such, a car in a traffic jam is of no use to anyone. In a train, for instance, you can work, prepare for a meeting, or just rest before an energyconsuming event. So at Alphabet, we are scanning the future for solutions that might even seem like science fiction today.

At Alphabet, we are constantly scanning the future to provide the fleet customer the most efficient mobility solutions.

smart mobility management - n°2 I 21

strategy

Air Traffic

Number of flights to double by 2030 By 2030, Europe most likely will experience up to 16.9 million aircraft movements, or 1.8 times more than in 2009. This is according to figures in a new report released by EUROCONTROL, the European organisation tasked with developing a pan-European air traffic control system. EUROCONTROL warns against the consequences of the increase on airports and business travellers.

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n its long-term prediction of the number of IFR (Instrumental Flight Rules) aircraft movements in Europe until 2030, EUROCONTROL has outlines four different scenarios, all stressing the evolution after 2016. The four scenarios are: (A) Global Growth, (C) Regulated Growth - the most likely one, (D) Fragmenting World, and (E) Resource Limits. They all approach the expected increase while factoring in economic growth, the evolution of oil prices, increasing environmental costs and the aviation infrastructure that needs to be provided. The various extrapolations help decision makers to properly assess future impact.

EUROCONTROL is clear on the number of aircraft movements - they will continue to rise. Scenario C has it at 2.8% a year. The result will be an annual level of 16.9 million aircraft movements by 2030, almost the double of the 2009 figure.

Growth will be quicker in the first few

smart mobility management - n°2 I 22

years, especially in Eastern Europe, as those countries are still playing catch-up to the countries of Western Europe.

Air traffic to and from destinations outside of Europe will increase more than flights within Europe. This is particularly the case for Turkey. Germany, adding 5000 flights by 2030, will experience the largest increase in of all national airspaces.

Airport capacity It’s quite obvious that the increase in number of flights will confront the aviation industry, and by extension its passengers, with a number of problems.

Airport capacity will be severely tested, for one. Scenario C, the most likely development, threatens two million flights (10% of the total). No wonder that EUROCONTROL sees the expansion of airport capacity as one of the greatest challenges facing the aviation industry.

Because not only does overcapacity constitute a threat to flights demanded by the market, it also may adversely affect overcrowded airports by causing delays and compromising security.

This risk is not to be underestimated, EUROCONTROL warns, especially since measures such as adjusting flight schedules, using larger aircraft and expanding high-speed rail networks will only have a limited impact. EUROCONTROL expects greater benefits from alternative airports and from government action, through the European SESAR project.

That said, there will be more and bigger airports in 2030 anyway. Where today only 7 European airports handle more than 150,000 departures, by 2030 these will number - worst-case - 34. European hubs will be confronted with hubs outside Europe, especially in the Middle East.

Stijn PHLIX

< By 2030, air passengers will travel farther than they do now, for a number of reasons one of them: more business opportunities outside Europe.

Impact on business travellers Of course, the airline industry will be faced with an increase of fuel prices and associated costs to reduce CO2 emissions (editor’s note: from January 1, 2012 onwards, CO2 emissions from flights departing from or landing in the EU will fall under the European CO2 emission trading system). According to EUROCONTROL, the airlines will pass on these costs to passengers by putting up their prices. Consequently, the demand for air travel will decrease by 2030 with up to 22.9%, due to rising fuel prices, combined with a further 1.3% due to rising CO2 costs.

Effects of increasing fuel and CO2 costs on passenger demand Reduction in ‘unconstrained’ demand for departures (%) Fuel costs

Fuel costs Emission (CO2) costs

2020

2025

2030

2020

2025

2030

-1.4%

-3.1%

-4.1%

-1.0%

-1.0%

-1.1%

C: Regulated Growth

-3.1%

-5.0%

-6.8%

-2.1%

-2.3%

-2.5%

D: Fragmenting World

-3.7%

-8.1%

-12.2%

-1.3%

-1.3%

-1.3%

E: Resource Limits

-3.1%

-26.4%

-22.9%

-1.3%

-1.3%

-1.3%

A: Global Growth

Source: EUROCONTROL

Increasing demand for long-haul

Passengers travel to more distant destinations

For a number of reasons (business opportunities in emerging markets, saturation of European markets, green thinking and alternative modes of travel, etc.) passengers will travel farther in 2030 than they do now, the average distance per journey will increase by around 5%-10% from 2016 to 2030. The average distance per flight will not change at the same rate. The fleet will evolve and the increasing demand for long-haul will be served by larger aircraft offering bigger seating capacity.

Source: EUROCONTROL

More high-speed trains reduce pressure on airports High-speed rail will compete successfully with short-haul passenger air travel. About 40 city-pairs will be connected by new or improved links between 2016 and 2030.

Passengers opting for rail will reduce the demand for flights by somewhat over 0.5% in 2030, often easing the pressure at congested airports rather than actually reducing the number of operated flights. The High Speed Train network initially will not develop with the same speed and penetration in all parts of Europe.

Improved high-speed train connectivity reduces demand for flights Reduction in ‘unconstrained’ demand for departures (%) LTF10 network 2020 A: Global Growth C: Regulated Growth D: Fragmenting World E: Resource Limits

-0.4% -0.3% -0.1% -0.3%

2025

Theoretical network 2030

2030

-0.6%

-0.7%

-4.9%

-0.5%

-0.7%

-4.6%

-0.4%

-0.6%

-4.6%

-0.4%

-0.5%

-4.2% Source: EUROCONTROL

smart mobility management - n°2 I 23

strategy

From Business Travel to Business Mobility

Smart is yet to come A car, the road infrastructure, a train schedule, the train, parking, an airport, an airline, an airplane, a hotel, a transfer, a meeting room, e-meetings, connectivity, reduced CO2 or other green efforts, smart phones and other technology… They are all ingredients of mobility management. Companies and mobility managers will have to learn how to manage them all together in order to create a wonderful “dish”.

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id you ever google the word ‘mobility’? It gives you 70K hits in less than a second. Many of the hits are companies who offer, in their point of view, a (partial) solution towards mobility. When we refer to mobility management, we mean the optimum combination of means of transport, (no) travel (in the broadest sense), connectivity and technology in order to deliver maximum value to the business traveler and its company who is funding the trip.

Although the landscape is slowly changing, one of the main missing links is related to the fact that the travel and fleet sector, with the corporate clients, the suppliers and the associations are not yet lined up to demand or to offer fully flex integrated mobility.

But why is that? Most of the companies still handle fleet and travel management by two different managers and/ or departments with different reporting lines (e.g. Finance, Procurement and or Human Resources or even Facility Management) and separate budgets.

Therefore they are even hardly (or not) taking advantage of leverage opportunities and/or synergies.

Also on the supplier side you see multiple initiatives from e.g. rail, air, lease car companies, car manufacturers and others, but overall westill view these as a kind of standalone ones and not as ones which are really benefiting the entire chain.

smart mobility management - n°2 I 24

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

Winston Churchill 3 steps towards integration There should be three main things which needs to happening and this is a responsibility of the entire industry (both corporates and suppliers) who focuses on improved mobility or beyond. The first thing is called awareness, the second technology and the third one full integration.

Step 1. Smart mobility management or total cost of mobility are still buzz words for many corporations but also sup­pliers.

As long as the word is not spreading it will take time to take this discussion (I’m not talking anything else yet!) to the next levels and therefore quite some time to change. As mentioned before, it’s a common responsibility of the industry to make this happen.

Step 2. Technology will also be challenging… who needs to take the lead?

Old versus new technology? TMC? GDS? Online providers such as Expedia or Travelocity? Multiple industry associations? Which providers should be part of integrated mobility? Payment solutions? And this is also where the aforementioned ‘not one size fits all’

comes in as all of the needs for integration may be different per user, corporate and region.

Step 3. Travel managers sometimes say that integration could soon be a reality.

But is this really true at this moment…

It is for example close to impossible to book a trip including elements such as parking, air, hotel and transfers through the online tool of your company, or on your mobile device. Retail is far ahead and travel, fleet and related industries still needs to follow.

The loop will probably be closed rather sooner than later, but again we are tal­ king about full integration and not just about one of the many topics/providers which need to integrated in a full flex Smart Mobility Management suite.

Challenges Before elaborating on what companies could start to do in order to move to Mobility Management, we would like touch on some of the challenges ahead.

The current mobility of employees is still heavily influenced by the road as well as public transport infrastructure. How will they ever be able to rapidly response on

the change in demand as well as technology?

Let’s also have a look at the suppliers. At the moment the TMC (Travel Management Companies) are probably (or not …) in the best ‘seat’ to focus on Smart Mobility Management, since they touch on various elements such as air, rental car, train, hotel of a business trip …. butdo they have the technology? At the Technology Forum of the Business Travel & Meetings Show (8-9 February 2011, London) it was mentioned quite often that multiple TMC’s are still dependent on their current legacy system. Therefore it might well be possible that companies like Google, Orbitz (or others) will be leading the dance towards SMM ….. or will there be a consortium, with representation from all main stake holders, taking the lead … time will tell.

Another challenge will be geared around complexity and the maturity of the travel management program in comparison with the fleet management program, the geographical scope (national, regional, pan-European scope)…

How to get there The most challenging question to answer is “How to get there”. Especially because

we believe that most of the short term upcoming mobility improvements will be related to specific building blocks and not to the entire cycle. The first point to get Mobility Management moving into the right direction is to ‘put in on the agenda’.

Start to create internal awareness (both senior management and users) and review your internal (infra)structure.

Get yourself a sponsor! Define who the stakeholders are in your company. Start with the obvious fleet and travel managers, and try to integrate HR, ICT, purchasing and finance. Start exchange meeting between e.g. fleet- and travel managers and focus on synergies, differences and obviously mobility. Review policies such as travel (including meetings), fleet- and procurement. Short-term you only may want to focus on exchange, but gradually you must focus on integration. The integration should not only focus on the policies, but also on the creation of a position for Mobility Manager, who would be responsible for all corporate travel and fleet related aspects.

Although it mostly is a partial improvement of the overall chain, you may also want to participate in testing specific mobility innovations of related suppli-

ers. Maybe there is a fit with the green initiative from your leasing company, or a new smart phone development, or virtual travel innovations etc.

Exchange with your peers. Look what other companies are trying. Learn from their successes. Meet your colleagues.

Network with them !

Global industry related associations such as ACTE or GBTA, but also more regional and local associations in both the travel and the fleet business have a role to play in getting attention to the topic.

Expertise Center Huub Smeets is an independent Consultant, Interim Manager and owner of Simacon and Partnership Travel Consulting International. His companies offer npr-procurement, fleet- and travel management services. www.simacon.biz

smart mobility management - n°2 I 25

best practiceS

Geert Behets, UCB

The mobility knowledge exists...

integrate it !

Geert Behets is Global Travel Management Director for pharmaceuticals company UCB. With installations in Atlanta (USA), Switzerland and Germany and the UK, as well as the company’s vast plant on the Brussels periphery and headquarters within Brussels, travel is clearly a part of working life. Geert Behets explains the thinking behind the UCB philosophy.

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rom his background in the travel industry, Geert Behets is well placed to know what the industry can do, and what might be possible. He tells us how he is using his experience for UCB.

How does UCB define mobility management?

At the moment there is no official definition of mobility mana­ gement within UCB. We do have all the individual components of mobility management of course; travel management, fleet management and meetings and events management. We haven’t yet really made the transition to the word ‘mobility’ but it is something we are working on. To ensure that the concept is clear to everybody requires a lot of internal communication, along with clear definitions.

Do you know what it is that you are looking for in mobility management?

Yes, we’re looking for different things to come together. On the one hand of course, there has to be cost efficiency but as soon as you say the word efficiency you think about improved processes, and in the end by ‘processes’ we mean ease of use for the end user, because the third important element of all this is of course the end user. If the end user – UCB employees – cannot see a benefit in putting all this together, they will not be happy. Putting new things into travel or in any of the other ele-

smart mobility management - n°2 I 26

ments of this ‘mobility’ concept will only receive internal buy-in if the people can see the benefits.

Do you define any rules for your personnel concerning when they should travel and when they should not?

The rules are not defined up front, but what we do ask is that the people reflect for themselves and ask their manager for permission, so there is a pre-trip approval in place. If I need to go to another country for instance, I make a business case. In this way my boss can see why I need to travel, and putting this in our policy at least means people will reflect on this question for themselves instead of just blindly travelling.

Staying on the theme of travel what are your thoughts on trains, planes…?

UCB has a new global travel policy since September 2008.

We have just carried out the latest update which has made some adjustments. We will now travel standard class on rail, for example, rather than the first class which used to be the case.

This also extends to air. When you are travelling relatively short distances on a plane it is economy travel using a non-refundable fare. For long haul we still use business class but only at the lowest negotiated rates. We believe this is important as our employees go abroad in order to work, so they need to be fresh and relaxed when they arrive.

Geert Behets, Global Travel Management Director at UCB. “I cannot help but think that all my suppliers could work together better.”

smart mobility management - n°2 I 27

best practiceS

Geert Behets, UCB

Within the shorter distances around Europe, do you encourage people to travel by train rather than plane?

Not as such at the moment. The fact is that when we travel to London, for example, our offices are extremely close to the airport which means that it would not be a whole lot better to travel to St. Pancras station by train and then have to use a taxi or something, because this would simply mean emitting CO2 over there. So we do not have this in our policy at the moment.

Companies like ours in the pharmaceutical and other similar industries such as chemicals, tend to have installations which, for obvious reasons, are not in city centres…

What about cost? You have talked about travelling standard class etc., but is there anything else you do to reduce costs?

Yes, one of the key words in our company at the moment is ‘smart’, so we try to look at things in smarter ways. But the objective behind what we are doing is not simply to cut costs or reduce budgets, even if these can be a part of what we’re doing. What we want to do is make people aware that if you go about things in a smarter way you can also save money.

You can even increase your comfort levels by doing this. One of the things is making sure that we all stay at the same type of hotels, so that we can negotiate good deals. And in fleet the same thing is true, bringing down the number of brands you work with and making sure you have optimal leasing conditions. All of this can result in people ending up in better fleet cars than they would have had if we hadn’t done anything. And this is important – we want to make sure our people realise that the effort made is not going to take away their comfort.

Staying with cars, are there any moves on hybrids or electric cars?

We have integrated hybrids in certain markets, particularly Belgium where there is a very good tax incentive for this.

People see this in their own pockets, therefore. We launched a global fleet policy very recently, and this requires that we look at total estimated cost over four years rather than just looking at the monthly up front leasing cost, which people used to do in the past. When setting up this policy, it is still an estimated TCO – we won’t know the actual TCO until afterwards, especially as consumption can vary from one driver to another. It is still a little too early in our specific case to be thinking about

UCB UCB (www.ucb.com) is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative medicines and solutions to transform the lives of people living with severe diseases of the immune system or of the central nervous system. With more than 8,000 people in about 40 countries, the company generated revenue of EUR 3.1 billion in 2009. UCB is listed on Euronext Brussels.

smart mobility management - n°2 I 28

electric cars. In a small country like Belgium we could probably get around for business purposes in an electric car, but our people can also use their cars for going on holiday, and for this electric cars are not yet a viable alternative. We have to think a little more deeply about how we are going to ask people to use an electric car and yet still have the mobility they need. We are reflecting on this, but we haven’t yet got a final solution.

One of the first steps will probably be that depending on the time and resources we have available, we may set up charging points for electric cars later this year, here in our two sites in Belgium – Brussels and Braine l’Alleud. We would then make a number of cars available for use, principally for use when travelling between these two sites, which are around 30 km apart.

Travel between these sites happens by employees who do not have company cars, and who therefore use their own and then claim back petrol etc. having these electric cars available will give them a good alternative. This will also help with the image of our company, show that we are thinking about the environment.

Moving back to mobility management, is there more that your suppliers, could do for you?

It’s all very compartmentalised at the moment – there’s travel, then there’s fleet, then meetings and events… I cannot help but think that all my suppliers could work together better.

There is maybe a little bit of collaboration between meetings and events, and travel, but if they could go a step further and look outside of just their own back yards… I have an idea that I have been thinking about, although I don’t yet know how to make it happen. We work a lot with taxis to take people from the airport to the hotel or the hotel to the office. What if the taxi companies could work better together with the hotels? Then we could have one single bill, for example, from the hotel, which includes your transport from the airport, you transport to the office. Right now people have to book their hotel, then find a way of getting from the airport to the hotel…

I am sure this can be changed. This requires a lot of process work which could probably be integrated if the systems can be created.

Do you think this type of integration could be carried out through traditional travel agencies or will it need a new type of supplier?

Well there is already a great deal of know-how in each of the individual areas, the taxi companies know a lot about our travellers, the travel agency does, and so do the hotels. They just haven’t had the idea to get their heads together, combine all of their collective knowledge about our travellers and create a new product, a new service. If there are to be new suppliers, I think it will be suppliers who connect the old suppliers together. Travel agencies are beginning to think about this – I am to be presented with a possibility of integrating video-conferencing facilities as an option, for example. At the moment

“What if the taxi companies could work better together with the hotels? Then we could have one single bill, for example, from the hotel.”

3 elements are vital in UCB’s mobility concept: cost efficiency, improved processes and efficiency for end user.

“‘Smart’ is key word in our company. We try to look at things in smarter ways.”

when we ask people if they really need to travel, or could use a video-conference, they probably answer that they have no idea how to organise this. People are flooded with information… but if the travel company could tell them that the third floor video-conference room was available and could be booked for them, even in our own building, maybe the need to travel would disappear.

What about other technological items – smartphones etc.?

The thing you have to be careful about with smartphones in general is that this has to be managed very carefully, otherwise costs go very high very quickly. We are already seeing that in some of our countries with certain types of dialling arrangements, an hour long video-conference can end up being much more expensive than if we had thought it through first.

Smartphones will have many new solutions, including being able to connect directly to video facilities. We will have a system whereby people can interconnect for a conference from a number of different locations.

Do you see best practices in other companies?

It’s a bit early – I see a lot of good ideas and I say to myself ‘I wish I’d thought of that’, and hopefully some of my peers say the same about some of my ideas! I see a lot of good ideas, especially as I am on the board of the Belgian Association for Travel Management. But we are still at the phase where everything is waiting to break through. Lots of buzz – ‘I’ve tried this, I’ve tried that…’

Tim HARRUP

The car fleet Total vehicles Europe:

2000

Number of manufacturers:

Now 5 (still have some legacy)

Number of leasing companies:

Will be 2 worldwide (still have legacy)

Total annual spend on fleet:

No disclosure on figures

smart mobility management - n°2 I 29

best practiceS

Ghislain Vanfraechem, Ernst & Young

Green fleet, green building and hot-desking One of the ‘big four’ accounting firms worldwide, Ernst & Young is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. This means doing much of the work in other companies’ premises. Mobility is an everyday requirement, therefore. Ghislain Vanfraechem, Facility Department Director in Belgium, told us how this affects their thinking on mobility.

“T

he areas in which we produce CO2 are our transport, our buildings, and the consumable goods we purchase. We are working on all three and we have made quite a lot of headway.”

“Ernst & Young Belgium moved a few years ago to a new building on the Brussels periphery, and can now claim to be within walking distance of the motorway network, a railway station and the country’s major international airport. Quite an advantage when thinking of mobility solutions…”

How do you define mobility management ?

Ernst & Young mobility management has to be seen both in terms of home to work, and work to the customer, because 50% of our people are working in customers’ premises. This travel is carried out in the company cars we provide. The new objective for us is not only to reduce the CO2 emissions but also to reduce the number of kilometres driven. So what we do is firstly to try to avoid car transport altogether. In our new headquarters in Diegem, we have a railway station virtually outside the door, which means people can come to work by train, which they couldn’t do when we were in our particular district of Brussels before. This is part of our international sustainability approach even if it cannot be called an international strategy.

Does avoiding transport also involve video-conferencing and other technical solutions?

This is a sort of triangle. Firstly, we have installed video-conferencing rooms in our various buildings, and we even have a mobile video-conferencing unit so that we can carry out a

smart mobility management - n°2 I 30

video-conference between a building and a vehicle. On top of this we try to avoid travelling by aeroplane or car and use other forms of public transport when this is appropriate.

The second step is to provide our people with the possibility of purchasing train subscriptions – in first class so that there is also a perceived advantage. We also have an agreement with the tax authorities that we could do this, because this is also a benefit in kind. One stipulation is that the company car must be immobile when they are using the train – it cannot be used by somebody else at the same time. We have a control system for this to check on mileage and on fuel consumption, and we can see these decreasing. Another stipulation, for which we have an agreement with the Belgian rail company, is that they must use the train 60 days a year.

Thirdly, we are actively encouraging car sharing, by which I mean that instead of everybody using his own car to go the customer, they share one car. With some customers we can have up to 15 people going to the same place, so we ask them to drive to a central location and then go on to the customer with four or five people in one car.

What about choice of car?

On top of all the above, we are trying to reduce our CO2 by adjusting our car list towards more environmentally friendly vehicles. The previous system whereby employees could select a car within a given budget is now finished, and we have four new lists, depending on grade. Only the highest grade still has a relatively free choice, and all the others are obliged to opt for environmentally friendly models. Our CO2 report today shows that average emissions from our car fleet is 122 grams per km,

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are trying to reduce our CO2 by adjusting our car list towards more environmentally friendly vehicles. Our target is to achieve an average emissions level of 100 grams by 2015.â&#x20AC;?

Ernst & Young Ernst & Young operates in four main areas: Assurance, Tax, Transactions and Advisory. These are designed to enhance investor confidence, manage risk, strengthen controls and help companies achieve their potential. Worldwide, the firm employs some 1415,000. In Belgium alone there are twelve locations.

smart mobility management - n°2 I 31

best practiceS

Ghislain Vanfraechem, Ernst & Young

“We have hot-desking. In our departments such as audit, where 60 or 70% of the people are working at customers’ premises, they share their desks and there are four people using one workstation.”

and this includes the top level too, so it is very good. Even our top level only averages 148 grams on its own. Our target is to achieve an average emissions level of 100 grams by 2015.

You recently had a high profile launch of electric cars. What is the philosophy here?

We will introduce ten cars into the fleet in 2011 and these will be used as pool cars. They are available for employees to use, and they do this by making a reservation for two hours in the same way that you make a reservation for a meeting room. If you are going to a customer who is not too far away, you make this reservation then leave your normal car in the car park, and go to the customer in the electric car. Obviously at the moment the range offered by the batteries of electric cars is not great, so we calculate the distances and battery charge for such trips. We have also installed 7 charging points for these cars here in our car park.

You have already mentioned video-conferencing. What about other technologies such as smartphones?

We have not provided smartphones but 50% of our people are in possession of a Blackberry and all our people have internet connections at home which is paid for by Ernst & Young. This means that they can work from home, and we go as far as saying to them that if there are traffic or other problems on the roads, stay at home and work at home. And if you have to go to a customer, go directly from home without passing by the office.

On the same subject, what about the concept of having less desks than people?

We have hot-desking. In our previous building we had 23,000 me, whereas in this building we only have 17,000 me but 100 more workstations than before. In our departments such as audit, where 60 or 70% of the people are working at customers’ premises, they share their desks and there are four people using one workstation. The policy is for open space layout, and clean desk every night. This means that the first to arrive in the morning can choose where he wants to work. In fact nobody has a fixed workplace except for internal services, accounting and HR for example.

smart mobility management - n°2 I 32

Are other international offices of Ernst & Young working in the same way?

Yes, we don’t have an internationally managed central facilities organisation, but we work together. We do have an international director who is collecting best practices from the various countries though, so we are taking steps towards formalising this.

What do you think might be the next big thing in business mobility?

We believe that at Ernst & Young that we need to work on sustainability in order to survive. When you look at demands for energy coming from emerging countries such as China, it is clear that we will have to use these resources more efficiently.

This means that there will inevitably be a lot of changes in the way we live, work and think. It is difficult for the existing high level management within companies – which of course tends to be of an older generation – to accept the concept of mobile working, or working at home. But I am convinced that in time most people will work at home. One of the issues to be overcome is that we still have to communicate and see each other in order to maintain the company and its culture, its objectives. Then there will be the new tools and the new ways of using them. The average age of people in our company is very young, just 29, and they are very concerned about the future. When we organise events or meetings on the topic of sustainability, we immediately see a great deal of interest from these people.

Tim HARRUP

The vehicle fleet Number of cars (Europe):

not available

Number of cars (Belgium):

1150

Hybrids:

6

Electric:

10 by end of 2011

smart mobility management - n째2 I 33

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smart mobility management - n째2 I 34

best practiceS

Roland De Coninck, Siemens

Less time in traffic Siemens is a global company active in many domains, including mobility. Corporate Mobility Manager Roland De Coninck took initiatives to reduce the time spent in traffic and to reduce the stress of our employees that goes with being in the traffic.

motivation was to enable our people to spend less time in traffic. We carried out an internal survey, a satisfaction study, which revealed that stress was a major problem and so we decided to try and find alternatives.

Does the environmental question - CO2 emissions – figure in your thinking?

Absolutely. When we first started, we were conscious that it was necessary to reduce traffic congestion and in doing this reduce CO2 emissions. The first consideration was to find ways to enable our personnel to make more use of the various modes of public transport, use bikes, and also work remotely.

Obviously, if there is more tele-working, there is less travelling and less pollution. Even if there is also a debate about just how much CO2 is saved by tele-working, because people have to heat their homes to work from there too, it is worth finding alternatives to the traditional way of working and commuting.

As a provider of integrated mobility solutions, Siemens Mobility networks various systems – to enable customers to transport people and goods more efficiently.

D

espite the notion of mobility management being relatively new, Siemens took the decision some years ago to handle the topic at the highest level of the enterprise.

o you have a smart mobility strategy at D Siemens ?

A few years ago Siemens created the function of Corporate Mobility Manager, which is my position. The objective was to find alternatives or solutions to the problems of traffic, and to the stress that this creates within our personnel. Our first

Siemens Operating in the domains of industrial automation, buildings technologies, IT solutions, lighting… Siemens is active across the globe, with its headquarters in Munich, Germany.

Siemens employs around 400,000 persons and has annual turnover in the region of 76 billion Euros.

Do you have any policies regarding electric technologies?

We have been looking at electric cars, and we are going to do two things. Firstly, we will have a project to install 8.500m2 of solar panels, and secondly we will install charging stations for electric cars. We will create our own ‘smart micro grid’ in order to use renewable energy in a efficiently way both for the production and the consumption. We are introducing around ten electric cars into the Belgian fleet, which will be used to make the link between the other types of public and urban transport. So I think this demonstrates that Siemens is thinking very seriously about the electric and energy question, and taking concrete steps to find solutions.

Do you define for your employees when they should travel and when they shouldn’t?

We have internal regulations which require that trips have to be approved before international transport can be used. And to avoid travel as much as possible, we encourage video-conferencing, virtual meetings, as much as possible. I would also say that we have quite a strict process for approving travel, which also encourages people to try and find virtual solutions instead. It is our objective to drastically reduce the amount of travelling done by our personnel.

smart mobility management - n°2 I 35

best practiceS

Roland De Coninck, Siemens

Roland De Coninck is Corporate Mobility Manager at Siemens.

Are you expecting travel suppliers – travel agencies and the others – to provide you with more solutions in the domain of overall mobility?

I would start by considering that the public transport operators are mobility suppliers. And here, at the moment, there is a problem. The networks are not sufficient. From the train to the tram, to the bus… So I think that there remains an enormous amount of work to be done in this area.

Companies themselves can also play a role in this area, however. It might be a good idea to make mobility budgets available, so that the personnel can use this budget to find the most suitable form of public transport for the trip in question. There is also a fiscal question to be answered here, but my overall idea is to have what I call a ‘mobi-pack’, a package of mobility solutions. This would also enable people to decide that they don’t need their usual large car, but can opt for a smaller car and use other means of transport as well. This means that the mobility package would also need to available for the employee’s family to use, so the various legal or fiscal questions surrounding this will also have to be answered. To return to the question, things are beginning to evolve, but rather slowly.

If we are really serious about reducing the amount of travel carried out by car, there will have to be a much wider range of alternative offerings available.

What about car sharing?

Well we have been negotiating with one of the car sharing companies for around two years, to have a station located close to one of our installations, but it takes a very long time.

There are economic considerations to be taken into account by all transport operators, whether car sharing or anything else.

But it doesn’t help in our objectives. For example, one of the regional bus companies has stopped operating a service which was very useful to our personnel, because it was not profitable enough. In this particular case, instead of being able to go by bus, our staff now have to go on foot as far as the metro station, and this is really not ideal.

Is cost reduction a primary objective in all these moves, or merely a happy by-product of your efforts for the environment?

What I am trying to achieve is a win-win situation. Siemens is after all a company working in the economic world, and we have to make profits. So the ideal solution for me is to find alternatives which make our employees happy, and the company happy as well. One of the ways in which our approach helps to save money is that the more tele-working that takes place, whether from home or elsewhere, the less office space we need to rent or own. In Belgium, we are currently leading the way in the decreased amount of work-space required for our employees to operate. In fact here, we have an average of 1 work station for 1.5 members of staff. Four years ago it was 1.3, so we have made substantial progress. More than 90% of our employees no longer have a fixed work station, they work from anywhere. The notion of desk sharing, and this also involves ‘clean desk’ every night, is therefore highly developed with us.

We do of course provide other types of work area which our people need to use, cocoons, rooms for think-tanking, phone booths… a whole series of work solutions which correspond to the needs of our employees. It is very much the idea that the office building is in fact a working tool, and that what is important is the work that comes out of it. ‘Work is not a place, work is an activity’, this is the way we look at it. The infrastructure is merely there to support this activity. This has enabled us to reduce our surface area by 30%.

Tim HARRUP

“If we are really serious about reducing the amount of travel carried out by car, there will have to be a much wider range of alternative offerings available.”

The vehicle fleet

smart mobility management - n°2 I 36

Number of cars (Europe):

9,000

Number of electric cars in Belgium :

starting with 10

Annual fleet spend (Europe):

Approx. 50 million euros

smart mobility management - n째2 I 37

best practiceS

Pascale Pitou, KODAK

Selling the idea of mobility internally Kodak’s reach increasingly involves the use of technology to combine images and information – creating the potential to profoundly change how people and business communicate. The link with Pascale Pitou, EAMER travel & fleet management leader for Europe, is easy to find: both fleet and travel are enables to move, to communicate.

>

“My definition of mobility management would be to make all methods of moving and of communications between people available”, says Pascale Pitou.

K

odak ranks as a premier multinational corporation, with a brand recognized in virtually every country around the world. It is not only known for photography, but also for images used in a variety of leisure, commercial, entertainment and scientific applications.

Have you embraced the concept of mobility management yet?

No, not yet. The project is not really on our agenda. Not yet anyway! My definition of mobility management would be to make all methods of moving and of communications between people available. With cost savings and a benefit to the work of our employees.

Nowadays, I can see the link between fleet and travel. This is clear. The concept is very new, really innovative. And it is therefore something of an unknown. In the case of Kodak, 80% of travellers have a company vehicle. There is already this strong link. Where suppliers are concerned, I am looking to see whether synergies exist. In the area of short term renting for example. I try to motivate employees with a leased vehicle who need a replacement car to use our contract with the short term rental company. It’s a small thing but…

smart mobility management - n°2 I 38

Do you see mobility management becoming a priority?

Companies such as Kodak are mature enough now to consider the environment and reduce emissions, and thus take steps to act on this. And on top of this, every company is always trying to achieve cost savings. This means that the framework is in place. What is now necessary is that this new way of operating, in order to implement a genuine mobility management strategy, is adopted and supported by management.

As the concept is so new, and there are not yet enough press articles or any general consensus, it is still difficult to sell the idea internally at the moment.

Are you seeking for new ideas?

Indeed, my function, which combines fleet and travel, enables me to think about new ideas, such as for example putting a small fleet of electric vehicles at the disposal of our employees. In certain countries, this is already possible. In others not yet, due to a lack of infrastructure and charging points.

The company’s priorities are on the one hand to increase turnover and on the other to reduce costs. And even if today we do not have an implemented mobility management

“Car sharing? I don’t know how to integrate it.

But it’s a concept I would really like to set up”.

strategy, any move which could help the primary objectives of our company is welcome. Mobility management could be the next step.

Do you see other companies implement concepts?

I talk to my peers in France, and everybody is still a little in this waiting period, not knowing exactly what to do.

What’s the next step?

Well there’s fleet, there’s travel, and in the middle information technology with tele-conferencing, smartphones… IT and telephone communications are decided in other departments, which does not always make communications between ourselves or an integrated approach easy.

Video-conferencing rooms are great, but we don’t yet have them in all countries. So we have to invest. And we are not sure to remain in the same buildings, so the investments have to wait. I try to follow the major evolutions in video-conferencing and smartphones.

What do you want suppliers to give you?

I think that for the most part suppliers are also waiting, just like us. They are looking to se what the others are doing, trying pilot projects in one or two countries, but I don’t have the impression that they have real strategies. There’s a bit of car sharing, some journey planning via smartphones, lots of little things.

Do you see any difference in terms of innovation between fleet suppliers and travel suppliers?

It is quite clearly fleet suppliers who are taking the lead today. I don’t think that travel suppliers can yet really identify their role.

Travel management companies could be innovative, but I think they’re frightened of cannibalising their products. Video-conferencing solutions lead to a decrease in travel in the true sense.

Kodak 1,300 vehicles in Europe 12 million Euros of fleet expenditure 80% are business vehicles 10 million Euros of annual travel spend 1000 travellers in Europe

Kodak is not only known for photography, but also for images used in a variety of leisure, commercial, entertainment and scientific applications.

When is travelling or moving business essential ?

At first contact and contract finalisation. Here, it’s a must. After that, it depends on the client, on the progress or difficulty of the dossier in question. The right balance has to be found.

For years we’ve been talking about paying attention to how much we travel, so there’s already some knowledge in this area.

It is very clear in people’s minds. But we have to be able to offer viable alternatives. In certain countries, however, cars are still used for 100% of travel, even if there are alternatives. We have to continually inform, educate and communicate. Employees decide for themselves, and it is their managers who are responsible for adhering to the travel policy.

smart mobility management - n°2 I 39

best practiceS

Pascale Pitou, KODAK

Is a legal and fiscal framework necessary in order to make progress?

This may be important, but I don’t think it’s crucial. Mobility management is a question of the will of each company. And if the law and the tax regimes give us a push in the same direction, that would be great!

Which initiatives are to be included in the near future?

I am very much in favour of making a pool of small vehicles available for people who do not need their cars for long journeys, and of enabling them to take a larger vehicle when they need one. For me, this is also mobility. Just like a combination of two and four wheels. But the idea has to be sold internally, and HR has to be convinced.

brain-storming session. Really going for it and finding the solutions we need! Sometimes, really good ideas are born from this mass of uncontrolled ideas! Give rein to your imagination. And include companies such as Microsoft, which already have the technology.

How do you see the role of Smart Mobility Management in all this?

What is needed is a leader, a path to follow. By the very fact of its existence, Smart Mobility Management is already a long way in the lead. And especially when you consider the fact that you are distributed in the large European companies, and you have experience as a community builder through Fleet Europe.

Caroline THONNON

My idea would be to bring together suppliers (rental companies, manufacturers, travel management companies, short term rental, travel) and clients looking for solutions, in a major

“My idea would be to bring together suppliers (rental companies, manufacturers, travel management companies, short term rental, travel) and clients looking for solutions, in a major brain-storming session.”

smart mobility management - n°2 I 40

best practiceS

Atos Origin

Company without email IT services provider Atos Origin wants to banish all internal email traffic from the company over the next three years. Atos Origin thinks email is an ‘archaic’ means of communication, and too time-consuming. The digital inbox will have to yield to social media and common digital platforms, both of which will aim to facilitate communication and the exchange of data in the workplace.

A

tos Origin’s scheduled ban on email is part of a programme called ‘Wellbeing at Work’, launched in 2009 and aimed at creating the most favorable working conditions possible, and reducing business trips to an absolute minimum. “To get this process started, we asked around in all the countries where Atos is present, enquiring all our employees under the age of 30 for their ideas on the way forward,” said François Gruau, Senior Vice President for Business Development & Innovation at Atos Origin. “One of our main conclusions was that younger employees are already using less email. They consider email a rather archaic means of communication, collaboration and data exchange. Younger employees will more often use other channels, like social media, which is something the company typically does not cater for”, said Gruau.

Social Media Following the worldwide, in-house poll, Atos Origin CEO Thierry Breton decided to limit email use and provide alternatives.

The condition is that the new way of doing things will have the same ease of use as ‘old-fashioned’ email traffic.

The new solutions Atos seeks to explore are chat, internal social media, and discussion forums. François Gruau: «We’re already using Office Communications Server, a Microsoft application, allowing us to chat, phone or video-conference at work, and share documents in real time. Our own internal social media, operating via existing platforms such as Facebook, will result in our staff being able to collaboratively process information with more focus, speed and precision.» The first results are already in. The mere announcement of the measure itself was responsible for a drop in email volume of between 10 to 20% Stijn PHLIX

ATOS ORIGIN > Atos Origin is a leading international IT services provider offering integrated design, build and operate solutions to large multinational clients.

Thierry Breton is the company’s CEO. > The company was formed in 2000 following the merger between Atos (France) and Origin (Netherlands). > Atos Origin employs 49,000 people globally, working out of 31 locations.

“Email is the enemy of good time management.”

Why should email be banned?

François Gruau motivates the decision: “We at Atos Origin found that e-mail is often used for the wrong reasons, to store documents, for example. This is time-consuming and creates uncertainty, because the retrieved documents may no longer be up to date. Also, as it is their favourite tool, the inbox is always open.

Consequently, staff will immediately open any incoming mail. But consider this: a daily average of business emails is between 200 and 300. Typically, an employee will devote 3 minutes to each email. As you’ll agree: email is the enemy of good time management.”

“Our actions provide the best evidence of our commitment.”

Thierry Breton, CEO of Atos Origin. smart mobility management - n°2 I 41

industry

News

BMW on Demand

Carbon heroes encourages filling empty car seats Carbon heroes is a company assisting people to fill empty seats in their cars for specific journeys. The company aims to reduce the carbon footprint of car use by making it possible to carry passengers. It points out that 91%of trips to work are made by one person in a car, when there is a likelihood that other colleagues live nearby and could share the home-work journey. To help in its goals, the company has made a new appointment.

Professor Colin Tourick (photo), who has 30 years’ experience in the vehicle leasing sector – and in particular with LeasePlan UK and Commercial Union – has been named as non-executive director.

BMW launches a service to let people rent a vehicle by the hour for any occasion.

BMW on Demand”, a new mobility project being implemented in Munich, offers individuals all the benefits of driving the car they desire in a particular situation without the need for a long-term financial commitment. The basic idea of this innovative concept is to let people rent a quality BMW vehicle by the hour for any occasion. To make a BMW on Demand booking, drivers visit the BMW Welt website (www.bmw-welt.com), go directly to www.

BMW-on-Demand.de, call the hotline or go to the designated “BMW on Demand” counter at the BMW Welt in Munich.

Mu by Peugeot in Milan bank

Digest New car sharing application A new application dedicated to car sharing has been launched

by Envoiture.fr, giving free access to the car sharing site. The company has said that its App Store application is also available at a European level, in the UK, Germany, Austria, Spain Greece, Poland, Switzerland and Italy. The service currently has over 1.5 million subscribers, with some 400,000 offers of car sharing where places are available for a specific trip.

Hertz in ultra-short rental move Hertz has introduced a service enabling subscribers to book cars for very short periods. ‘Connect By Hertz’ is type of car sharing scheme in the company’s own words. Currently available in various locations across the United States and Europe, members can book on-line or by phone, 24 hours, and can book cars for periods as short as one hour. Rates are hourly, and subscribers pay as they use. Fuel efficient vehicles such as the Toyota Prius hybrid are available.

France to Italy by train A joint venture between Trenitalia and Veolia aims to open up high speed rail links between France and Italy. Paris to Florence and Rome, Paris to Milan and Venice, have been cited as targets. These connections are currently only served by air, with low cost carriers reaping the benefits. Tickets would be sold on-line for the new services, with a physical presence in the stations also a possibility.

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With Mu by Peugeot, Intesa’s objective is to improve the mobility of the bank’s personnel within Milan city.

Peugeot is making its Mu by Peugeot mobility offering available within the headquarters of Milan bank IntesaSanpaolo. At the same time, the 100% electric Peugeot iOn car will be making its entrance into the bank’s fleet.The objective of this move is to improve the mobility of the bank’s personnel within Milan city.

Peugeot cars, scooters and bikes are available 24 hours and can be reserved for periods of a few hours to a few days. Reservations are made by the bank’s own intranet program, and are picked up in the company garage. Where cars are concerned, GPS, ski-racks, snow tyres and other accessories can also be ordered.The offer of a sustainable mobility service designed to cope with staff travel requirements is yet a further step in the development of a sector to which the IntesaSanpaolo group has been greatly committed for some time now.Peugeot is the first company to propose an urban mobility service ranging from bicycles to luxury cars.By the end of the year, the new Peugeot iOn, an all-electric car and therefore with zero emission will also be available, perfect for travel around town as it is compact, ecological and quiet.

Car sharing growing in Germany The economic crisis did not affect car sharing in Germany in 2010. Current surveys show that around 190,000 people are now taking part in this type of scheme in Germany, and service providers are working hard to increase this figure even more. The increase compared to 2009 stands at just over 20%, with 32,000 joining the trend, the first time the increase has broken through the 30,000 barrier. Large car sharing schemes with over 20 cars saw growth of over 20%, with the smaller projects putting on 15%. There are now 2,400 car sharing stations in the country, 200 up on 2009.

More travellers for Thalys Thalys carried 6.45 million travellers in 2010, up by 6.25% compared to 2009.

Thalys has reported a turnover of 432 million euros in 2010, an increase of 13% over the previous year. That increase is in large part due to the Amsterdam-Brussels-Paris line, which is operating almost an hour faster than before, generating more travellers.

Another explanation is the economic recovery, leading to more business travellers. In total, Thalys carried 6.45 million travellers in 2010, up by 6.25% compared to 2009.

Citroën multi-modal offering The new web-based Citroën service offering ‘Citroën Multicity’ enables users, via the site, to navigate to various of the brand’s services: car rental, travel purchase, and the calculation of trips using various modes of transport. This includes the SNCF, Eurostar and Thalys, along with air tickets to worldwide destinations.

Along with the travel portion of the journey, there is also the option of booking hotels. Users can even go as far as booking their holidays via the site. Where Citroën cars are concerned, the site additionally provides the possibility of purchasing service contracts and GPS cards amongst others. The service has been designed and put into operation by the sqli agency, which is also is also supplying the ‘Call Car’ iPhone application for Citroën.

This includes a delivery and pick-up service for rental cars, without the user needing to visit an agency.

3 Questions to…

David Chapple (Centaur), Event Director Business Travel & Meetings Show 1. The travel and meeting market, as many others, has struggled over the last few years with cost reduction objectives. Have you seen travel and meeting mana­ gers looking for more integrated mobility management solutions?

The meetings, business travel and fleet markets have been distant cousins for many years. Meeting David Chapple: “Travel & planners viewed their disciMeetings suppliers are helping customers manage demand pline with more creativity in and are pushing travel and mind, focusing on the outmeeting alternatives.” come of the event within a defined budget; Business Travel buyers looked to purchase air and accommodation as a commodity and manage the expense process, whilst the fleet manager primary focuses were driving costs down, optimisation and rationalisation.However over the last 3 years I have seen a blurring of the edges especially between the meetings and business travel markets as travel purchasing professionals have begun to use their purchasing skills to drive down and consolidate meeting expenditure.

2. Do you see signs of travel and meeting suppliers moving towards integrated mobility solutions?

Travel Management Companies (TMCs) have widened their client offering to encompass the management of meeting spend and Meetings whilst event management agencies and meeting venue finders have moved in the opposite direction and are offering their clients a travel option.

Travel & Meetings suppliers are helping customers manage demand and are pushing travel and meeting alternatives.

Technological Innovation is enabling greater integration and cost savings.

3. What is the next big thing in the sector?

I’m not sure there is an overriding factor that is going to be the next big thing. More that combination of cost, demand and the state of the global economy on the client side will drive how quickly suppliers consolidate, evolve and innovate to embrace an integrated solution.

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industry

News

Roadmap Towards Sustainable Mobility : 10 Ways To Go

Athlon joins Streetscooter consortium

On March 23rd, the European Commission published its latest White Book dedicated to transport and mobility.

Although it is a setting out of intentions, it already contains concrete measures. There is a dual objective: maintaining mobility while reducing CO2 emissions by 70%.

< A thlon Car Lease is the first leasing company to be involved in developing an electric car.

Jose Manuel Barroso’s EC White Paper estimates the cost of EU infrastructure development to match the demand for transport at 1.8 trillion EUR for 2010-2030, or 90 billion EUR per year.

• “ Smart inter-modal ticketing, with common EU standards is vital.”

• “ High-speed rail will absorb much medium distance traffic.”

• “ Halve the use of conventional cars in urban transport by 2030, phase them out by 2050.”

• “ Apply user charges to all vehicles and on the whole network to at least reflect the maintenance cost of infrastructure, congestion, air and noise pollution.”

• “ Include eco-driving requirements in the future revisions of the driving licence directive.”

• “ Promote the use of intelligent systems for interoperable and multimodal scheduling, information, reservation systems and smart ticketing.”

• “ Public resources for transport infrastructures are increasingly constrained, and a new approach to funding is needed.”

Athlon Car Lease has announced that it is to become involved in the Streetscooter development consortium. The leasing company is taking a shareholding in this German enterprise, and will be actively involved in research. The consortium intends to design and build an electric car, rather than merely replacing the combustion engine with an electric motor. It was founded in 2009 by RWTH Aachen University, and is working on the domains of battery technology, electric drives and energy efficiency amongst others. The vehicle it is developing has a top speed of 120 km/h and a range of 60 to 130 km, making it suitable for most short journey uses. Athlon is the first leasing company to become directly involved in developing an electric car.

Daimler’s car sharing scheme car2go in Amsterdam Daimler announced to bring its mobility program car2go to Amsterdam before end of 2011 and decided to run one of the world’s first large scale car sharing fleets of pure electric vehicles there with 300 smart fortwo cars. The car2go program is already very successful in Ulm (Germany) and Austin (Texas) with a total of more than 35.000 members.

• “ Airport capacity needs to be increased to face growing demand for travel.”

• “ Mobility Continuity Plans may be required to preserve the mobility of passengers in a crisis situation.”

• “ Some arrangements (tax treatment of company cars f.ex.)can provide conflicting incentives with respect to the efforts to improve the efficiency of the transport system and reduce its external costs.”

By Claude Yvens Amsterdam and car2go go electric.

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Peugeot iOn comes to Riviera Top European Buyers recognised at 2011 European Travel Buyer Awards

With Mu by Peugeot, Intesa’s objective is to improve the mobility of the bank’s personnel within Milan city.

More than 40 Peugeot iOn cars have been made available within a car sharing scheme in Nice. The 100% electric car is now available for the inhabitants of the French Riviera’s capital, with the inauguration ceremony having taken place on the Place Masséna.

Eversheds’ UK Travel Team was one of the laureates of the European Travel Buyer Awards 2011.

IBM employees are testing new mobility concept

The finest business travel buyers in Europe were hailed on February 7th at the third annual European Travel Buyer Awards (ETBAs) hosted on the eve of the Business Travel & Meetings Show in London.

These Awards recognise and reward those corporate Travel Managers from across Europe who are pioneers in their field and who have devised and managed progressive and innovative travel and meeting policies for their company’s travellers.

Here’s a list of the laureates in each category: Best CSR Initiative in a Travel Programme Elaine Winterbottom, Head of Strategy, Property and Facilities, Eversheds UK Best Innovation in a Travel Programme TuijaSnellman, Travel Manager, Finnish Broadcasting Co Finland

D’Ieteren and IBM to deliver a new smart mobility solution.

D’Ieteren – which is one of Belgium’s largest car retailers and an ‘autoholding’, has introduced a new mobility concept. The programme is called ‘My Move’ and is intended to analyse the transport needs of particular use groups, and provide them with the right solutions, including electric bicycles and cars, along with very low emissions cars. This analysis will enable particular groups to become a kind of ‘mobility social network’. The software enables on-line reservation via a PC or a smartphone, and has been developed by IBM. The system was first tested by D’Ieteren internally, and is now available to all IBM employees in Brussels. Cofinimmo, one of Belgium’s largest building owners, has adopted this programme for tenants in its ‘Omega Court’ building in Brussels. It thus joins Home Invest, Trevi and the City of Brussels.

Best Travel Policy Compliance Programme Chris Banks, Business Travel Category Manager, Department for Work & Pensions UK Best Use of Technology in a Travel Programme SiriPersson, Travel Manager, Logica Sweden Outstanding National Travel Coordinator/ Booker of the Year Julia Goodridge, Personal Assistant, PwC UK National Travel Buyer of the Year Ville Svens, Group Travel Manager, MetsoOyj Finland European Travel Buyer of the Year Mette Christensen, Global Travel Manager, A.P. Moller – Maersk Denmark European Travel Team/Department of the Year Eversheds Travel Team UK

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industry

Talk & Vision

Video conferencing was originally seen as a cost saver, especially as a substitute for travel. Today, working and communicating more efficiently are the decisive factors in opting for video conferencing. More importantly: service companies like Talk & Vision are helping organisations to implement visual communication with the goal of generating genuine return on investment (ROI).

Video to support business strategies The end user is the key to the success of a videoconferencing strategy.

Has the recent economic crisis sparked an interest in visual communication?

Sven Schrevens, Key Account Manager: The crisis has prompted many companies to look for ways not only to save costs, but especially to work more efficiently. So you could say that the crisis played a role. But there is more than that. The IT sector has gone through huge changes, and is being deployed to support corporate strategies.

Green fleet, green travel and even green IT are popular expressions. Is ‘green’ a trigger for the growth of video conferencing?

S. Schrevens: Companies find that their current IT infrastructure is not sufficient to enable the so-called New Way of Work.

Virtualisation of servers, video conferencing, Unified Communications: these are the solutions for the future. TNT, one of our biggest customers, is saving on a lot CO2 emissions by video conferencing. They’ve set up a concerted internal campaign to motivate their employees to use the systems, and

to highlight their environmental and financial benefits. CSR is very important for large corporations because they want to demonstrate to the outside world that they are investing in a better world.

The cost of video systems and the Return On Investment (ROI) still scare a lot of companies off?

S. Schrevens: Many companies consider videoconferencing a single investment, with the systems available to the employees when they want to use them. Too often still, the focus is not enough on the ROI, and the organisation still hasn’t adapted its way of working. Which is where Talk & Vision comes in.

We started off with major international customers, but have noticed growing interest from smaller companies in need of streamlining their communications. If efficiently implemented and organised, the ROI can be achieved in between 1 to 3 years. We provide all services related to videoconferencing: the management, monitoring, and implementation of the project, up to and including setting up the calls themselves.

Usage & Adoption The Usage & Adoption programme has been developed based on best practices to ensure maximisation of the return on investment. This approach is based on six key steps: alignment, measurement, communication, training, support and reinforcement. Usage and Adoption will align visual communication to the business strategy of a company. It contributes to better use of the visual communications environment.

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Alignment

Measurement

Communication

Training

Support

Reinforcement

“We create a videoconferencing culture within the company, to ensure that it truly is a good investment,”, says Martijn Blokland, Sales Director.

Communication is necessary, but travel and time make it a costly proposition. How can we do better?

S. Schrevens: One should really look at the overall costs of communication within the organisation, factoring in customers, suppliers and partners. Many meetings require people to move, by car, by plane. These meetings take a lot of money and a lot of time. But they are efficient, because people literally “see” each other and can judge each other more efficiently. Communications DNA Talk & Vision is a research organisation with extensive experience in Unified Communication. How do you translate that to customers?

S. Schrevens: Workplace management is the key concept: using time more efficiently, working more efficiently, and thus increasing productivity. We expose the communications DNA of a company, and propose solutions to build in shortcuts or use video communication. The first question is: How does the customer see video conferencing within his organisation? What is its core business? How do its people communicate? Are there different locations? What about branches? Is the company located at home as well as abroad? Then we factor in location, duration and frequency of company meetings, and how much they cost. This helps us formulate a profitable business model.

One sees many companies that invest in systems, install some machinery and then consider themselves to be video conference ready. The system is used once in a while. But there’s no way of ROI. This is why Talk & Vision has founded “Usage and Adaptation”, as a guarantee of ROI. We inform, train and instruct the users to apply the systems correctly. We continue this campaign via the company newsletter, posters, the intranet, rewarding programmes ... We basically continue to encourage a culture of videoconferencing.

Video is the future The evolution of smart phones and the iPad will encourage further breakthroughs in video conferencing. Going forward, we will be able to conclude partnerships with hotel chains, airlines, etc. to equip meeting rooms in such a way that ensures that video calling will become more and more available everywhere. In big cities, we’re witnessing the founding of companies that manage, equip and rent out meeting rooms to businesses nearby. That’s one way to get a quick ROI. True mobile video conferencing today is still limited by GPRS bandwidth and its cost.

In Touch We’re noticing a shift of technology towards the end user.

With InTouch, Talk & Vision analyses how the organisation communicates. “Via workshops and interviews, we identify the bottlenecks in client organisations. We work with an organisational psychologist who’ll analyse the client from A to Z. Some essential questions: Which are the communication dilemmas? What are the available tools? Which are the barriers? This is done pretty much from an organisational point of view. All communication flows are analysed, both formal and non-formal. This analysis is then used to correctly identify the right collaboration tools, for example video conferencing, web conferencing, audio additions to advisory reports, etc. We are now setting up two pilot projects, aiming to bring InTouch to market at the end of the year.”

ROI CALCULATOR STEP 1 Number of video enabled sites Number of employees per site Number of people with access to video Number of meeting travels per employee per year Actual Video usage rate Potential number of travels avoided Actual number of travels avoided Expenses per travel Savings from less travel expenses

4 10 2 12 100% 24 24 400 € 9 600,00

STEP 2 Actual number of travels avoided Time spent travelling per meeting (hours) Number of manhours not spent travelling Cost per manhour Savings from less time spent travelling

24 5 120 80 € 9 600,00

TOTAL TRAVEL RELATED SAVINGS PER YEAR

€ 19 200,00

VC INVESTMENT

€ 35 000,00

Talk & Vision Talk & Vision is one of Europe’s leading providers of worldwide visual communication services. With offices in the UK, Germany and Belgium, it generates an annual growth of between 10 and 30%. Today, it is among the top five players in Europe. Since 2009, it is part of the KPN group (via Getronics).

Caroline THONNON

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industry

Videoconferincing

Not all videoconferencing is equal It’s been announced for ages, but now it seems like it’s finally happening: the breakthrough of videoconferencing. There are a number of factors contributing to this long-anticipated event: ‘green’ mindsets, smaller travel allowances, Icelandic volcanoes, improved communications and – last, but not least – the ever wider geographical spread of markets. But we should watch out, literally even, because not all videoconferencing is equal.

IT consultancy firm Gartner predicts that by 2012, video telepresence will replace around 2.1 million airline trips. Which is bad news for the airline industry, but good news for the video communications industry. The good news doesn’t stop there: this market will continue to grow, by supply-side innovation and improvement in the quality of sound and pictures.

Transmissions in high-definition will become more commonplace. For many business applications, the days of choppy, pixellated images are already over.

Video conferencing is a concept all too often associated with large, expensive systems that consume lots of bandwidth.

However, suppliers these days have a much more varied range of options at their disposal. An overview:

1. Telepresence rooms This is what most suppliers mean when they talk about telepresence, but it’s also the ‘first class’ of video conferencing. High-end systems like these are installed in a room, one entire wall of which is typically taken up by one or more large screens, portraying your correspondents life-size. The goal is to give the impression that you’re in the same room with the people on screen.

Surround sound is there to ensure that the voice of someone sitting to your right also reaches you from the right. Depending on the system, the picture will appear on one or more 65 or 70 inch screens, which have a diagonal of about 1.5 metres (a good-sized kitchen table, say), up to a video wall nearly five metres wide. Such a set-up requires custom furniture to provide the meeting with as real-life an experience as possible.

Prices range from 25,000 to 300,000 dollars, depending on the type of installation. To transmit that mass of data between conference rooms, you need to add bandwidth of 1,5 to 40Mbit/s. Most telepresence rooms have space for 6 to 10 persons, although some admit up to 28 attendees.

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Examples: Cisco TelePresence System 3200 and 3000, Sony 3D Telepresence Integrated Room System, HP Halo Collaboration Meeting Room, Tandberg Telepresence T3 (Tandberg is now part of Cisco), Polycom Real Presence Experience (RPX) series and HD300, life-size Conference Series.

2. Team systems

4. The videophone

These meeting room systems are designed to be of assistance in a conference room and to facilitate team meetings between different sites. They usually involve one oversized screen with a camera, possibly with a microphone integrated into the table.

These systems are more affordable than Telepresence systems, nor do they need to take up too much bandwidth. Screens measure 50 to 65 inch, some suppliers (Sony among them) even offer a screen on wheels, which can be rolled from one meeting room to the next.

Phone-like devices with video screens and cameras have been a main ingredient of science fiction films for decades, but they’ve never really broken through. A number of producers continues to try, however. These videophones are usually aimed at receptionists and personal assistants, but can also be operated by other members of staff.

Examples: Cisco and Polycom are approaching this market from their range of IP phones. These devices look very much like a regular phone, with a small screen. Some phones, such as the Tandberg range, have a bigger screen, but the concept remains the same.

5. The webcam Examples: 1000 or Cisco Telepresence 1300, TANDBERG Telepresence T1 or Tandberg Profile Series, Sony TPT conferencing systems, Polycom HDX series, LifeSize Room series.

3. Personal systems Technologically advanced personal video systems are primarily designed for the offices of CEOs and other senior managers.

They consist of an LCD screen the size of an ordinary computer screen (17 to 20 inch), with a built-in high-def camera and microphone. Interesting detail: they often have a ‘privacy shutter’, so the manager doesn’t always need to look equally presentable…

Most people don’t consider webcams to be on a par with videoconferencing, but it does seem that they have found a new drive. This is all thanks to the new trend towards home working. If you’re working from home, a regular webcam will get you far. A number of systems are compatible with these regular webcams, and others are also selling their software for desktop application, ensuring that it is compatible with continued audio use of the phone lines. Companies like Alcatel-Lucent even offer, via its Omnitouch series, standalone software that works on virtually all platforms. Avaya also has a unified communications offer: software that connects different systems, and permits video communication. Webcams these days also come in high-definition versions. The Tandberg PrecisionHD USB Camera conveys a better picture than the cheaper versions available at your traditional electronics chain store.

Examples: Polycom HDX 4000, V700 and V500, TANDBERG Personal Telepresence 1700, Cisco Telepresence 500.

William Visterin

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Welcome to our world !

Thalys is launching a new brand positioning, strengthening its specific characteristics by adopting a new signature which places the attention paid to clients at the heart of its concerns: “Welcome to our world”.

“Welcome to our world, this is the expression of an approach entirely focused on the client, a simple and universal message of welcome, a promise which lies behind everything we do”, declares Olivier Poitrenaud, CEO of Thalys International.

Mr Olivier Poitrenaud CEO of Thalys International

Welcome on board: “caring” the Thalys way With this new brand platform, Thalys has decided to put the traveller on centre stage. It is the passenger who is at the heart of the brand’s concerns, a brand which uses its attributes (high speed, on-board service) to demonstrate its exceptional performance levels. Thalys is thus putting the spotlight on its personnel, whose friendliness and availability the clients have praised from the very beginning, in one satisfaction survey after another.

“Taking care is a spirit specific to Thalys: it is something which is highly appreciated and recognised in each of the four countries we pass through, and all of our strategic thinking concentrates on this same reality: human warmth, conviviality and generosity of nature are the Thalys personality traits, those of its personnel and of our destinations, and we have to capitalise on this”, states Jérémie Zeguerman, Thalys Communications Director.

“With this new signature and this wide and popular campaign, Thalys sets out its ambitions; gaining client loyalty by emphasising service and satisfaction, becoming the champions in terms of welcome and relations… We state it directly and without ambiguity: taking Thalys is choosing for a unique, rich experience, different from that which may be offered by potential competitors in the future”, explains Charlotte David, Director General of new Thalys agency Havas City.

To find out more and see the film: http://www.thalys.com/bienvenue-chez-nous Welcome to our world

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