Zoho@Zoho: Travel Management, The Penny and Pound wise way

Following the front office, stardom for this week is to the Admin team for effectively managing our travel requests.Travel is inevitable. Just as interesting as it can get. The thrill and exposure of a new culture, very much different to the one we are rooted to, is simply sensational and more, only if you have someone to help you with making travel arrangements. Try doing it yourself, and you might change your mind about the trip 😉
This is just about what we went through, especially the sales and support teams. They were expected to travel to the customers’ locale for numerous reasons: setting up data centers, trade-shows, training, conference, etc. The admin team offered to take care of the arrangement part of the trip, so that the support people could focus on what they enjoy doing.

Before these trips, the traveler needs to notify the management of it and get it approved. Location, duration of stay, mode of travel and other preferences were conventionally notified to the Admin team by email, but did not work well for us on the long run. Too many email being sent back and forth, but with very little advancement, was truly a bother. What we came up with, to handle this tedious process, was this: Travel Request Application.

Here is a peek at how it works.

All information required to make travel arrangements, such as passport, visa details and personal information are filled in this application by the requester, which on submission, is sent across to the manager on an automated email notification for approval. What additionally we have done is dedicating a view to managers, as they get many such requests to verify. The link to this view is included in the notification email, and all the unattended requests are listed with Approve/Reject options. This helps greatly in assessing all the travel requests on a unified view. Managers alone have access to this view, thus isolation is achieved. Once approved, these requests are forwarded to the Admin team for proceeding with making travel arrangements; booking travel tickets, accommodation, etc.

The three-part form filled by the applicant consists of Personal, Passport and Visa processing information. All details are ordered in such a way that every department involved, has access only to the data which they can’t do without. Also, everyone concerned is kept informed of the status of the request by an automated email notification. In addition to all these, there is a form to track all the expenditure during the trip. A detailed report can be generated upon returning, and can be submitted for claiming reimbursement. What’s more, the Admin team has designed a dedicated page on Zoho Wiki, on which this application is embedded. This page has valuable guidelines on how and where to apply for Passport, Visa for specific countries, accommodation details and much more valuable information.

If we had turned towards getting a  custom software built for this purpose, it would not have been a sensible decision. Certainly not with an online database software as Zoho Creator at hand. The fact that it cost Rajesh four days of effort can wholeheartedly be ruled out when taking into account, the ease of handling travel arrangements.

Just as our previously flaunted applications, this one here too is available at the Marketplace for you to try.

Comments

10 Replies to Zoho@Zoho: Travel Management, The Penny and Pound wise way

  1. @Raagavan: As someone not being a programmer, simply able of adjusting some HTML and Deluge Script, is it possible to include the Approval Module into the Expense Tracker Application myself?

  2. @Raagavan: As someone not being a programmer, simply able of adjusting some HTML and Deluge Script, is it possible to include the Approval Module into the Expense Tracker Application myself?

  3. This application is simple but amazing at the same time. The 3-step process flow with the approval functionality is especially interesting. I wonder whether it can be modified to become an expenses application which is not just tracking expenses but also contains the request/approval functionality?

  4. This application is simple but amazing at the same time. The 3-step process flow with the approval functionality is especially interesting. I wonder whether it can be modified to become an expenses application which is not just tracking expenses but also contains the request/approval functionality?

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