Letter to the editor

We are responding to the letter to the editor published Aug. 30, 2001, in which an anonymous writer expressed concerns about his incorrect expense reimbursement and the performance of his activity's expense management application. Because business travel can be stressful, we would like to take this opportunity to help the writer resolve his issue.

From the information outlined in the letter, it is difficult to determine the actual cause of the error. The writer outlines a couple different scenarios that may have contributed to the payment discrepancy and makes reference to Travel Manager Plus, a name of an outdated product that has been replaced and updated with Travel Manager.

Over the past several years, Gelco Information Network has released updated versions of Gelco Travel Manager, each with progressively greater functionality, developed to make government business travel management more efficient and cost effective.

It appears that the writer's activity may be deploying an obsolete application. If this is the case, automatic monthly downloads of critical information such as per diem rates, which Gelco receives monthly from the Per Diem Committee, and regulations would not occur. Therefore, the information used to compute reimbursements would be incorrect.

Another possibility is that the traveler visited a city that is not included in the General Services Administration's list of published per diem rates. In this case, GSA suggests that individual travelers check with the National Association of Counties to determine the county for the city that was visited. If GSA does not list the county, the traveler will receive the standard rate. If GSA lists the county, the traveler will receive the published rate.

Gelco Travel Manager allows users to link per diem rates for frequently visited cities that are not listed by GSA. These published rates can be easily updated.

Providing outstanding service levels and easy-to-use applications is essential to Gelco's continued success. Currently, Gelco Travel Manager is used by more than 120 federal agencies, installations and activities, and has become the recognized standard for streamlining the government travel management process.

Any user problems experienced by a current or even former customer is of concern to us, and if the writer of the particular letter will contact Gelco customer service at (952) 944-7744, we will be pleased to determine where the problem lies and provide a solution.

Jonathan Klem
President and chief executive officer
Gelco Information Network
A division of Gelco Information Network
10700 Prairie Lakes Drive
Eden Prairie, Minn.
55344
952-947-1500