A Trip on the High-Tech Highway

ond, James Bond, uses a futuristic mobile phone to drive his bulletproof rental car remotely. Most of us don't. But the gizmos and gadgets available to the average business traveler today are awesome. They allow you to stay in touch on the road and do all your business without waiting on hold or standing in line to talk to an actual human being. Here's how to go door to door the high-tech way.

Virtual Planning

You'll plan most of your trip, of course, on your PC via the automated hookup with your travel management office. But to wrap up every detail before you go, you'll log on to the World Wide Web for customized maps of your destinations, complete with door-to-door, turn-by-turn directions.

When you get to the airport, there's no chance you'll have forgotten your ticket, because you won't have one. Your electronic ticket is logged in the airline's computer when you make your reservations. E-tickets are the wave of today.

If you have last-minute arrangements to make or time to kill, stroll over to one of the kiosks that provides Internet access. Insert your charge card or prepaid access card (like a long-distance phone card) and for about 25 cents a minute you can check your e-mail and get travel information, stock quotes, weather updates, maps and more. In the next year or so, these info centers will be sprouting up in airport restaurants and bars as well-even more reason to stop lugging your laptop around.

Tools for the Road

If you bring your laptop along, you could be an easy target for thieves. So, be on guard with a security system like one Bond would use, maybe the one from Port Inc. The system features a cable lock and, for those times you can't secure your laptop to a stationary fixture, a motion detector and alarm. The 110-decibel alarm can be set to sound off when someone tries to move the case or take out the notebook.

And if it's government secrets or theft of intellectual property you're worried about, you'll rest easy once you've installed Port's Private Eye Privacy Filter on your PC: The light-filtering device makes the screen visible only to the person directly in front of it. So you can get a lot done while waiting for your plane, or on the plane, without fearing the person next to you is peering over your shoulder.

With the right tool, you also can recharge your computer on the plane, extending the pathetic two- to four-hour running time of most laptop batteries. Of course, you'll need to be flying an airline that's installed outlets in coach class, and there aren't too many of those yet.

If you want to catch some ZZZZZs while the laptop's recharging, or even just concentrate on your work while your seatmate gabs, bring along a noise filter, like the one from Brookstone, which is designed to block out 95 percent of background noise. It'll more than pay for itself in increased productivity and decreased stress.

Once you land, you should be able to pick up a rental car in just a few heartbeats, thanks to automation. Thrifty, for example, promises 60-second check-in with its Blue Chip Express program; Alamo has Quicksilver Fast Checkout, which some say takes less than two minutes.

If you didn't get your customized maps before you left, or you don't want to take your eyes off the road while you're driving, global positioning satellites will guide you on your way. Either get a car with a GPS hookup (like Hertz's NeverLost) or use Delorme's Street Atlas software and Tripmate hardware to get firm but friendly voice reminders about what lane to be in and where to turn.

Wired for Work

At the hotel, you'll probably have another shot at one of those kiosks. But you won't need it, because your room is wired and then some.

At many hotels, all you have to do is ask and you'll get a business traveler's dream room with dual phone lines, data ports, speaker phones, a printer, paper clips, a stapler, a fax machine, an ergonomic desk chair, good lighting and maybe even a computer. (Some chains charge $15 or $20 a night more for all this stuff.) Hyatt is the standard-bearer in this area, promising to set up every one of its non-resort rooms for the business traveler. The chain also provides pager rentals, graphics services, a notary, videoconferencing, and a shredder on each floor.

Brookstone, Sharper Image and other tony gadget companies can help you stay calm and refreshed while on the road. Consider a white noise machine to help you sleep, a security alarm to give you peace of mind, or a travel-sized humidifier to keep you healthy.

Information Updates

Keeping in touch with the home office is where the really cool toys come in. Laptops are de rigueur but old hat. And while they're getting lighter, smaller, and more powerful, they're being eclipsed by newer technologies that are taking over some of their functions.

Hand-held wireless organizers (like market leader PalmPilot) can do more than ever. At less than 6 ounces, these babies hold 4,000 addresses, 100 e-mails, 2,400 appointments and 750 memos. Unlike a laptop, they run for two months on two AAA batteries. Synchronizing software tells your desktop or laptop everything your hand-held device knows, and vice versa, in minutes. Even if you carry a laptop on the road, a palm-top can help conserve the laptop's limited battery power.

With additional software or accessories, hand-held machines can connect to the Internet and wireless networks. They can download Web pages, so if your agency has an internal site, you can get daily data updates without schlepping a PC.

If the PalmPilot's handwriting system drives you crazy (perfectly understandable), consider the Velo by Philips, which has a true keyboard. And if inputting the dozens of business cards you picked up at the conference (either by handwriting or keyboard) isn't your idea of a good time, CardJet will scan them right into your database.

Some of the organizers are getting so buff that they actually fit in a new category, the "hand-held PC." More than a palmtop but less than a laptop, these new devices may be just the ticket for the government traveler. Microsoft's Windows CE operating system, a slimmed down version of Windows 95, makes the transition to the road virtually seamless. Philips, Sharp and Hewlett-Packard are all players in this new arena.

You will need a phone, though you don't have to use it to talk to an actual human being. Just as organizers are moving into laptop territory, phones are blurring the lines separating them from computers. The latest ones send and receive pages and collect voice mail, e-mail and faxes either directly or forwarded from your office phone. Nokia even calls its latest, the 9000, a "palmtop computer-phone." This high-tech hybrid ties together the most advanced computer and phone functions with digital technology, and it lets you surf the Net to boot.

AT&T's PocketNet service uses a 19,200-bits/sec modem to access your e-mail, calendar and address book, all of which are stored on your private Web site. It also prints to fax and synchronizes data with your desktop. With this service and a phone, you can access news, stocks, travel information, and more.

For international travelers, Global PhoneWorks and Cellhire USA rent digital wireless phones that work in 75 countries and let you use the same number country to country.

Motorola's super-light phones weigh less than 4 ounces. The MicroDigital M75 has pager, sleep mode (so the battery lasts longer on a charge) and a color screen. The company is out ahead with Braille, large-print, and audiotape versions of its manuals and with phones that have speakers compatible with hearing aids.

To make these futuristic phones work, you'll need some gadgets, like a retractable phone cord and a bunch of adapters for hooking up wherever and whenever. Port and Road Warrior are the leaders in this category-they could probably hook you up from the South Pole if need be.

All this technology wearing you out? Maybe you should just cancel the trip. Stay home and videoconference-you'd save on the travel budget and get more done.