Business Info - issue 136

01732 759725 49 magazine APP UPDATE New apps for business and leisure Easy travel and expenses Rydoo simplifies business travel and expenses processes, from logging receipts to booking flights. A snap-and-process feature allows users to log expenses by taking a photo of their receipts, while finance managers can approve expenses in real-time. Users can also book flights, rail tickets and car rentals through the app. www.rydoo.com Privacy guaranteed Usecrypt Messenger claims to be even more secure than talking face-to-face. All communications, including HD quality calls, are encrypted end-to-end and, unlike competitor messaging apps, its servers store no data and don’t collect any private information. The app can also be used to check that a phone is not under any kind of surveillance. https://usecryptmessenger.com Stay connected Panasonic Business has launched a softphone app that enables employees to use their personal smartphone as a business extension. By enabling smartphone users to make and take audio and video calls without using their private number, the app is a cost- effective way to connect remote workers to office communication systems. http://business.panasonic.co.uk Have car, will travel One Transport, powered by Gett, gives businesses access to the largest black cab and executive car fleet in the UK. The web platform lets users select their preferred vehicle class and size, monitor their account and view booking trends. Useful features include customisable business rules, real-time tracking and reporting tools, algorithms to optimise corporate travel cost, and a choice of vehicle options. https://gett.com/uk/one-transport/ Stay organised with Tipi Tipi helps teams exchange, collect and organise information so that it is accessible, searchable and up-to-date. It combines a number of useful features to provide a one-stop shop for internal collaboration. These include public and private folders, direct chat, file sharing, team discussions, ‘likes’ and comments, and user profiles. www.tipihub.com Light control Philips Lighting’s new Interact Landmark Scene management app lets businesses control building façade lighting, from anywhere, at any time, using a smartphone or tablet. Light shows can be programmed remotely to commemorate special events, holidays and important civic causes, such as a request from the mayor’s office to bathe a bridge in pink light to support World Breast Cancer Awareness. www.lighting.philips.co.uk Set the scene In a major upgrade, the Philips Hue app now includes short-cuts so that users can adjust their lighting in just a few taps; 30 new scenes, including a sunset in Honolulu and a night out in Soho, so you can match your lighting to your mood; the ability to create scenes from your favourite pictures; and a new colour pickers feature that can be used to group and ungroup lights in a room or select the exact shade of white or coloured light from a palette. www.meethue.com Chatbot platform Pitney Bowes has released an adaptable chatbot platform, EngageOne Converse. Part of the EngageOne suite of customer engagement solutions, Converse lets businesses automate conversations with customers to help them self-serve through messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger. Authorised personnel can make changes to the chatbot at any time, ensuring customer needs are met in real time. www.pitneybowes.com No more queues Jisp’s Tap & Go app speeds up the shopping process by enabling shoppers to record purchases with their smartphone. When a user puts something in their basket, they just have to tap the NFC- enabled shelf-edge sticker with their phone for the product details to be recorded. Once they have finished shopping, the user can view the check-out basket on their smartphone screen. Once confirmed, Tap & Go automatically takes payment from the user’s chosen card. www.jisp.com Clock this People management software company BrightHR has launched a clocking-in app called Blip that provides a precise record of employee absence and attendance for payroll and health and safety purposes. Staff clock in and out by scanning a QR code. www.brighther.com Robot deliveries Starship Technologies has rolled out a campus offering for its autonomous delivery robots. Suitable for food deliveries or the transport of items from one location to another, the robots provide on-demand delivery anywhere on participating corporate or academic campuses via an app. www.starship.xyz Rydoo Usecrypt Messenger Panasonic Softphone One Transport App overload creating workplace chaos The very workplace apps intended to streamline tasks have sparked an app overload that is costing billions in lost productivity, claims a new report by RingCentral UK. It states that workers today use an average of four communications apps for phone calls, text, web meetings, video conferencing and team messaging. One in five uses six or more. More than two thirds (69%) of workers spend up to an hour each day (or 32 days per year) switching between different apps, with 68% toggling between apps up to 10 times an hour. Almost one third (31%) complain that toggling causes them to lose their train of thought. Two thirds of workers would like a single communications platform to counter app fragmentation. www.ringcentral.com