Egencia, the B2B travel technology platform, has expanded its Egencia Chat capabilities with the integration of messaging service Slack on desktop and in the Slack mobile app. Egencia Chat is a purpose-built virtual assistant with advanced support from artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies. 
 
Globally more than 600,000 businesses use Slack. According to Egencia, with the integration, when travelers activate Egencia Chat in Slack, they can use the tool to change travel dates, while travel managers can approve, request more information, or reject a booking request. It also provides site navigation, and offers relevant help articles to answer simple queries. More complex requests are supported by Egencia’s travel consultants. Virtual agent support is available in several languages 24/7, 365 days a year.
 
Egencia says it conducted a pilot program with select customers to test features and gather feedback prior to the global launch. 
 
“Our Slack integration with Egencia Chat could not come at a better time when travelers need more self-service choices the most,” said John Sturino, Egencia’s VP product and technology. “We’re committed to using AI and ML to constantly improve the process of both arranging and managing business trips on the road. We want our customers to have a smooth, seamless experience in whatever platform they are already using, and Slack is the first of many initiatives we have planned to achieve that.”