HOWEVER much IT firms promote their products, all fleets really want to know is whether they will improve profits.

Tangible results are the only proof that technology is worth the initial investment. British Telecom (BT) is one company that has gained substantially by installing new technology.

The telecoms giant has introduced a new management system that has helped streamline its daily rental needs.

National Car Rental (NCR) supplies BT’s daily rental vehicles and has developed a range of online management tools to aid reservations as well as e-billing and management information.

NCR’s online rental management system carhirebooker.com enables BT to complete quick and easily-managed bookings and allows individual drivers to book their own car rentals.

Sally Routledge, buyer, travel procurement at BT, said: ‘As BT is such a large organisation, we needed a cost-effective and convenient rental solution to meet the individual needs of each area of the business.

‘The introduction of carhirebooker.com has been a major development, which has helped us streamline our booking processes and given us greater control over our booking procedures.

‘It has given our staff the ability to book their own vehicles direct, which has proved extremely convenient. In July this year, 49% of bookings made by our staff were conducted online.’

NCR’s PC-based reservation system Speedlink is also run alongside manual telephone reservations.

‘The combination of these booking routes allows us to keep tight control of expenditure, while ensuring everyone has access to car rental as and when they need it,’ Routledge said.

BT also uses a Management Information Reporting (MIR) suite which enables the company to monitor its daily rental usage across the whole of its business and identify areas where cost savings can be made.

Routledge said: ‘The use of management information allows us to identify popular rental locations, length of hire and types of cars being used.

‘We can even track complaints and calculate how much fuel is being used. We receive monthly reports and NCR identifies where money can be saved, helping us control expenditure with minimal administration costs.

‘In addition, we also use e-billing, which means each BT booker receives his or her own invoices straight into their email inboxes, speeding up their expense claims and reducing administration costs.’

NCR has worked with BT for the past 10 years. Neil McCrossan, NCR’s vice- president, sales and marketing, explained how the company developed the technology for BT.

He said: ‘We worked very closely with BT to ensure we were introducing the right type of rental solutions to meet the changing needs of the business.

‘Each system has been chosen to effectively manage every element of the rental process within each area of the business.

‘It is our aim to provide cost-effective, streamlined rental solutions for BT without compromising the level of service we provide across the company.’