World Nomads Group, a Sydney-based online travel insurance company, is planning to add email and SMS notifications to its Tripwise iOS and Android mobile app so it can contact customers about specific dangers.
Customers who are insured with the Group can use the app to download their travel insurance policy to their smartphone. They can also access information about the country they’re visiting.
World Nomads Group head of technology Nick Payne told Computerworld Australia that the email and SMS notifications would include details about natural disasters or terrorist attacks in the country the user is visiting.
The enhancements are due to be rolled out later in 2014.
“The traditional challenge when travelling with a mobile device has been data roaming and paying a fortune for it,” he said.
“The app is designed so that you download content before you go overseas. Once you connect to a free Wi-Fi service overseas, you can update the [travel] information.”
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World Nomads Group has also invested in its internal IT systems. During June 2013, the company implemented a Nutanix virtual computing platform which combines compute and storage in one appliance.
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According to Payne, there are long-term plans to shift its e-commerce sites off the storage area network onto the virtual computing platform.
“One of the challenges we face is that we hold a lot of personal data about customers which can include medical information. This means we’re not comfortable about putting that data out into the cloud,” he said.
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