By all accounts, if 2012 wasn’t the year of mobile then 2013 definitely will be. EyeforTravel aims to reward those firms that are innovating in mobile and as voting for the ‘best mobile technology solution’ draws to a close next week, we put the eight nominees through their paces to find out why they think they deserve the top spot.

The winners will be announced at EyeforTravel’s Social Media & Mobile Strategies for Travel in San Francisco from March 18-19. Here the nominees are in alphabetical order

1. ATIV Software has launched EventPilot, a mobile meeting and conference app. Cofounder Silke Fleische had this to say.

EFT: When choosing a mobile event app, what is the one thing a travel brand should consider?

SF: Venues have notoriously slow WiFi connections that are quickly overburdened by a few hundred active users. Go for a native app, written specifically for the native operating system rather than a hybrid/web app, which is based on HTML5 and requires WiFi for many features to work. A true native app provides attendees access to all event information at any time – with or without WiFi. Test any previous apps by the vendor using airplane mode and you'll quickly know what experience your attendees would have.

EFT: Why should EventPilot win?

SF: EventPilot enables organisers to create paperless meetings, giving travellers instant access to all planning and organisation tools in one convenient app. People can take notes on individual session slides so no more carrying around heavy binders filled with paper handouts. 

2.     Next in line is Des O’Mahony, Chief Executive, Bookassist, a booking engine technology provider.

EFT: Should you invest in apps or look instead towards a mobile web presence?

DM: It depends on your consumer. If a travel brand already has a strong draw and regular repeat custom, then an app might make sense. But only if people might actually go to the app store and search for you. For many other travel services the requirement to download an app before information can be accessed can be a barrier as customers typically do web search on their mobile device. The solution should have an adaptive web presence that adjusts content to the device requirements.

EFT: What makes your solution the best or most unique?

DM: Being just one tap away from search results. Our solution best serves the hotels' mobile customer based on real analysis of customers’ needs. For example, while we saw significant usage of tablets, we saw little difference in content being consumed on tablet versus regular websites. On mobile phones, we saw a strong change in the content consumed. Our mobile web app platform for hotels focuses on delivering the most popular content for mobile users right from page 1.

3.     Runtriz, a developer of software solutions for the hospitality industry. We hear from Baptist Parravici, the company’s marketing director.

EFT: You say flexibility is really important when choosing a mobile solution. Tell us why?

BP: A brand should always ensure that the platform they choose is flexible enough to fit the brand standards and service experience. It should work seamlessly on all platforms and devices and not exclude any guests. The user's perspective should always be thought through so guests get what they really need, when they need it, before, during and after their stay.

EFT: And what makes Runtriz unique? T

BP: TheRuntriz platform is flexible in design and functionality. Hotels can achieve a highly customised look and feel with no limitations of templates; they can change features for the guests to experience in real time with no development. Also we have a strong ecosystem of partners to continue to enhance the guest experience and drive incremental revenue.

4.  Luke Schneider, the chief executive of Silvercar, a mobile app for car rental, had this to say.

EFT: Why do we need a mobile app for car rental?

LS: Nobody wants to stand in a queue for a car and Silvercar is designed to give a breath of fresh air to business travellers by revamping the often frustrating car rental process.

EFT: And why do you deserve to win?

LS: We leverage the integration of Web, wireless, mobile and vehicle technologies to eliminate critical friction points in the car rental process. The mobile solutions we’re leveraging make the vision of a better car rental experience a reality and help produce a seamless car rental experience for our customers.

5. Jack Loop, program manager, developer.aero SITA says their solution is anything but trivial.

EFT: What should travel brands be thinking about when choosing a mobile solution?

JL: There is no singular ‘mobile solution’.With application programming interface (API) to multi-client architecture being the dominant way mobile user experiences are created, it is about access to content. Instead, solutions are made up of the sum of their parts.

EFT: What makes your offering unique?

SITA Lab has submitted an API that powers a feature - the creation and distribution of mobile boarding passes. It makes absolutely no sense for every airline to create and develop their own solution when SITA has one that they can customise and tailor to their needs - and the airlines own SITA. Boarding passes are just a small part in the overall experience but by awarding SITA, this will push airlines to focus more on mobile and adoption of time-saving conveniences we can all enjoy.

6. Sixth on the list is Natasha Sanchez, marketing manager, Tripcase, a firm which allows you to have all your trip details in one place – even inflight.

EFT: How should a brand going about choosing a mobile solution?

NS: First, the solution must help the brand operate with efficiency and better serve their customers. The brand must be sure to pick the mobile solution that offers them a unique value and caters to their specific needs. Thirdly, the mobile solution must also work well for the brand’s end customer.

EFT: So why TripCase?

NS:TripCase is a website and mobile app that not only organises all their trip details in one place but also provides free flight alerts, weather tools, roadmaps, traveller documents and sharing capabilities that help the traveller simply… take better trips.TripCase and TripCase Connect also stand out from other mobile solutions because of their affiliation with Sabre.

7.     TrustYou is a standard for reputation management and in the travel industry that is pretty important. Dean Schmit the firm’s senior vice president of business development had this to say. 

EFT: What are the most important things to consider when choosing a mobile solution?

DS: What do you want the solution to accomplish?  Why do you want this to be mobile (vs desktop) in the first place?  How do your users behave with mobile devices today?  What elements need to be featured or removed as part of the streamlining process? Do you or your staff have the appropriate tools to put this into practice ie: Does everyone have an iPad?

EFT: Managing an online reputation is really important. Why is the TrustYou ReviewAnalyst the application travel brands need?  

DS We help hotels generate more positive reviews, which will help increase ratings and popularity, and in turn have an impact on revenues. We also quickly recognised this was a practice that needed to be made portable so we streamlined and the design for iPad. No other company has this type of intuitive, touch-screen compatible user interface experience.  Best of all, our gradual reveal design allowed us to provide a tool that can still provide more robust data if that is desired.

8.     Last but not least we hear from Darlene Rondeau, VP Best Practices, Online Merchandising at online visual content management and distribution systems firm VFM Leonardo

 EFT: What should the ideal mobile website look like?

DR: Consumers expect many of the same elements they find on standard desktop websites when using smartphones and tablets.  Yet many mobile websites are stripped of nearly all of the features offered on desktop websites.

EFT: Why your solution?

DR: The VPowered Mobile Website for Smartphones and Tablets offers mobile users a well organised and easy to navigate mobile hotel website. Among the advantages are that it is optimised for mobile devices, integrates a book now button on every page, includes a special offers feature that allows hoteliers to promote preferred rates and is designed to display large, rich visuals, click to call, mapping capabilities and much more…

To hear more social and mobile insights – and to meet ‘best mobile tech solution’ winner - join us at Social Media & Mobile Strategies for Travel in San Francisco from March 18-19