Beyond the Gadget: Egencia Makes Smartwatches Even Smarter for Business Travelers

BELLEVUE, Wash., Oct. 5, 2016 /CNW/ -- Egencia® announced today it has brought its consumer-grade user experience into wearables with apps for Apple Watch and Android Wear. Egencia has supercharged its user experience for business travelers, allowing them to switch between Egencia applications on desktop and mobile—and now smartwatch—without missing a connection.

"Egencia is meeting the demand among business travelers for consumer-quality products. Since we own, develop, and run our own technology, we are able to quickly bring these wearable apps to market based on that demand," said Michael Gulmann, vice president of global product for Egencia. "When travelers are shown a familiar and consumer-like experience, adoption and compliance follow."

Using an average of three devices on the road, today's travelers expect to see their content and settings carry over to each one, no matter the screen size, for a truly continuous experience.

With its sharp design that can be read at a glance, the Egencia watch app is a discreet personal assistant under your shirtsleeve, sending step-by-step alerts to guide you along your trip. The watch app stays on top of disruptions in real time and provides map-driven directions and transportation choices to help you reach your final destination. When you need help, you can summon an Egencia Travel Consultant just by tapping the watch.

The Egencia app for Apple Watch was built for the latest version of watchOS for the best possible performance. When travelers tap their watches to access Egencia, the app shows up-to-the-second information, automatically refreshed in the background. The app also includes features built for other devices, including Egencia AssistMe® and its ground transportation guide with the Citymapper and Uber API integration, originally built for mobile.

Extending the continuous experience even further, Egencia has recently significantly redesigned its mobile hotel experience for business travelers using iPhone, iPad, and Android devices to make it consistent with the desktop version found in every Egencia web site around the world.

Guided by mobile design in use at Expedia®, Hotels.com®, and other sister brands, the company made user-tested improvements in map-based searching and the presentation of hotel inventory and attributes, including travel policy status, cancellation rules, and loyalty point eligibility.

Apps for Apple Watch and Android Wear are now available in the App Store and Google Play. A hotel update for iOS and Android will be available later this month.

About Egencia

Egencia makes business travel better by making it more connected and complete. Egencia puts travelers at the heart of business travel, continuously supporting them with solutions that are more engaging and effective. Driven by consumer insights and technology investments from parent company, Expedia, Inc., Egencia connects everything travelers need - content, technology, service and reporting - in one place. Egencia provides services in more than 65 countries. To connect with Egencia, visit www.egencia.com, Twitter or our blog.

© 2016 Egencia, LLC. All rights reserved. Expedia, Egencia, and the Egencia logo are trademarks of Expedia, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.  CST #2083922-50

*Apple, iPhone and iPad are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

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SOURCE Egencia

Media Contacts, Ashley Keller | Senior Global Marketing Communications Manager, Egencia, Email: [email protected], Office: 425-679-7288, http://www.egencia.com