Taxi Driver Online

Andy 7, great post again.

Will answer more fully in pm later.

Auriga hasn't lost the plot but has a new system out that currently lives in the past.

I don't want system currently confined to PMR.

I don't want a credit card system just released that is not chip and pin compatible.

The Mercury sales pitch is good because the guy thinks like I think, not how many operators I know think. Does this make it the best system for me? Time may tell.

I am in the process of reviewing where I might go. Without sounding conceited the Mobisoft cost wouldn't be a factor, I could justify spending that on my business if it was the best for me.

The real searching I will do will be in the Accountancy packages and how they work. I don't mind paying people to take bookings and get them in the system, though Mercury's web booker is better thought out than Auriga's. Where I begrudge the money going is administering the bookings after they are done.

I need automated credit card payments systems where I am not paying another 2 or 3% in commission on top of the card company.

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A member of the Hire or Reward Industry

Jason, I formulate my opinions based upon what I see. As far as I see it.

Thus, when I say that, I am just saying what I have seen. I have no knowledge of the code behind the systems, just what they look like. Mercury looks like Navigator which in turn looks like Midas. From an operators point of view, I cannot see many differences in Mercury from Midas. I said that I think Diplomat appears to have had a number of updates since Midas that have made it better, and I cannot see those updates in Mercury. (I refer purely to the operator interface as thats all I really give a monkeys about - how it works matters not a josh. Just that it does).

Mercury, clearly, have gone down a path towards full PDA implementation which is probably the way the market will go. Fine if you are doing a new installation I suppose, and want to pay the airtime costs.

My point, was that your communications package (as explained to me by yourself) was multi-platform, rather than singular, and that as such, you could use a range of devices within your system that could not be run simultaneously with Mercury.

That, was my point. If I am wrong, then I have clearly either had it explained wrongly to myself, or, I have got the wrong end of the stick. You tell me which?

Now to something I do fully understand. As for your comments on staff. Perhaps you could tell me how many staff I can get rid of when I computerise?

Note: We run with one controller at a time. How many can I sack? How many less hours can he work? How does this save me money?

For us to set up with the full system will cost us £160,000 by Mobisoft's figures and £48,000 by your Peter's figures. And then, there are the on-going support costs.

Now, I can't make that money out of getting rid of any existing staff, so where does it come from?

R.S.V.P.

Eureka!!!!

I have now decided what to do.

I shalll wait until you have made a decision Tom, then tell my boss "Buy Tom's system"

Saves me doing all the same analysis work as you.

Some Questions: (Anyone can answer them)

1. Why oh why, do none of the systems just use an existing package for accounts, such as Sage Line50/100 ? And why do they do the job once in the taxipack then again in Sage.

2. Are the VAT systems in the taxi packages actually approved by Customs and Excise?

3. Why do none of the systems use Autoroute for the street database?

4. Why should we be so tied to a particular supplier for everything in the system? It creates captive market and pushes up prices.

5. I don't think that I am a particularly stupid person, so why can I not understand what the salesmen tell me about how much extra money we will all make?

6. And finally, If everything in the adverts is as good as they say, why aint we all stinking rich?

Blimey I can't resist the plug
Answers to your Questions
1) Diplomat Navigator Exports to Sage and many people use this
2) Sage is approved so yes
3) To use Autoroute as the street database would be in breach of their licence.
4) You are not tied with Diplomat, you can buy your PBX, your street data, your PDA,s your radios and PCs from whoever you want.
It just works out cheaper in the long run to purchase from us as it is all configured and works properly.
When you purchase from other suppliers and it does not work properly you would have to pay us to sort out third party problems.
I know we do it everyday.
5) Probably because they are lying
6) I really can't comment... I love my job

6a)I think Andy said money was no object so maybe he is stinking rich.. I wouldn't be so rude as to ask though..

With ref to NavLite.
There are now over 300 sites using Navlite. There are no catches at all. It works just the same as NavPro.

So why do we give it away??

It costs in the region of £500- 1000 to send out a suited salesman in a flash car to maybe get a sale based on a lead from an advert.

It costs £5.00 to send you our software free off charge.

If you don't like it then we lost a fiver.
If you do like it then we won customer for a fiver who continues to by PCs radios, PDAs data modules PBX's and if they are a success will eventually purchase NavPro.

This is not an idea it is exactly how it works.

Everytime we get a Navlite customer we just saved at least £500 on sales overheads, which means we need to make less profit than our competitors.

[Press here to apply for your free copy now...

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Diplomat Delivers
www.diplomat.co.uk

First of all I must apologise for seemingly hijacking a Mercury thread.

Andy, there is no need to be defensive about your perception about the softwares' history; I was just pointing out the facts.

What computerisation means (eventually, and done in the right way) is that either you need less staff, or less active working hours overall, to do the same amount of work. Or you do more work with the same staffing level. Or you provide a better quality of service to customers (e.g. welcoming customers by name when you answer the 'phone). Or you need fewer filing cabinets to store records.

I do agree that there will be a lower threshold, underneath which you can't benefit from any efficiency gains because the staff would be twiddling their thumbs a lot. Quite where that is in terms of bookings per hour I don't know.

I vaguely remember you wanting a 3 seat system? If your company is as quiet as you indicate, then that would seem a tad excessive.

How much time do you put in running your firm?

As regards the quote, firstly that looks rather steep, secondly there isn't anything in our system that verifies that. This was a direct consequence of us employing someone who routinely didn't follow procedure. Peter no longer works for us, so please let us quote you again, and hopefully quote you happy

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Next time you wave, use all your fingers.

Hi Stewart,

I hear you got married recently. Congratulations.

Regarding your post:

1). Diplomat downloads to Sage AFTER it has already made the sales ledgers up, and calculated VAT etc. Sage is not an integral part of the system. The cost of your including the sales ledger in Diplomat, must be more expensive than if you just left all that to Sage. That was my point.

2). Sage is approved, yes. But Diplomat does all the calculations prior to the download to Sage. Sage just believes what its told. I will talk more on this issue maybe if I see you at Sandown. I have some quite possibly significant poblems in this area, concerning the lack of transparency in HOW Navigator deals with VAT. However, not an immediate problem, and maybe due to my lack of training.

3). AutoRoute (Microsoft) don't grant user licences?. . But, this is rather an aside.

4). Yup. I take your point on that one. When things don't work it's always everybody else's fault.

5). LOL. Yup.

6). OK. Fair answer.

6a) I NEVER SAID THAT !!! It was Tom Thumb who used that phrase.
I am actually an extremely poor single-parent, struggling to earn enough to buy a loaf of bread.

I fully support your modus operandi with regard sending out NavLite free. I think it is a briliant idea, as it gives us, the end user, a real chance to evaluate the system before we spend a substantial amount on something we might not otherwise want. Secondly, it also shows supreme confidence in your product to let someone have it free to find out about it.

Sending it out free is a definate step towards becoming the market leader.

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There is Significant Unmet Demand for my Opinion.

The firms I know who have gone onto Data have kept all their staff, infact some have hired more.

I'll answer your points in order:
1. I wasn't being defensive.
2. Agree your comment in its entireity. But we are going to computerise for another reason: Basically, that we are going to do something new, and in this area, unique. I refer you to IGT, Tampere Finland, and The University of Corpus Christie - San Francisco A.D.A.R.T.

The taxi side of our business makes us too small a company to do this in all honesty, but sod it, we will do it anyway. I get bored just running cabs sometimes and need another outlet for my dubious talents.

3. You are correct about the three seat system. It may seem a tad excessive for the present, but because of the way we work, it's not always the same person in the same office doing the same job. I never said we were quiet, you took that as an inference because we can still do the job manually. We do about 500 jobs a day. Not a lot, I know, but quite a few are over £100 each job, and regular same job every day. They don't really need controlling, and all our controller does is infill the minibuses with cash work in the off-peaks. We thus need to duplicate. We can afford three pens and three bits of paper. That means we need a three seat system minimum. (I am now looking a five seats for the new building actually - but that is for expansion). Rarely, will we have more than two in use simultaneously. But, we need to pay the support costs on all five, don't we. PS. I am waiting to hear about your routing engine.

4. I work 60 hours a week on average. I could save perhaps two hours a day on average, by computerising some of the tasks. But, then if we were fully computerised, I would be responsible for everything, so could expect more phone calls in the evenings and at weekends, couldn't I. So, would I save time, or make myself more work? It's an academic question anyway, as we have chosen to computerise everything we can anyway.

5. The costings I have are taken from Peter's earlier quotes and your most recent published price list (again, I commend you on publishing your prices and putting all the detail Up-Front).

Finally, Diplomat is still front runner for our installation, once our new block is completed. Until then, I still have more information to find, and more analysis to undertake.

Let me know when you can implement full IGT with street level routing, as our County Council want to see it demonstrated.

Therein lies a clue as to our future...

kindest regards,

Andy

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There is Significant Unmet Demand for my Opinion.

Another question then:

What exactly, can Mercury do, that Diplomat can't?

And, will Mike Scott write us a few lines of code to make the system do something different, like Jason does?

... or used to do. I don't know if he still finds time to do that.

And, of course, how much an hour does code-writing cost?

The 'catching up with reality' phase of software development on Navigator is essentially over so you cannot expect Jason to drop everything for one customer's specific request.

There had to be a huge flurry of development to get Midas into any kind of shape to become worthy of having our own name associated with it and quite a lot of customers got their wildest dreams pampered to create the Navigator that we know today. That's why we know there are now enough features in there and working that we can cater for the vast majority of potential customers and come up with workarounds for any of the more specific needs of an individual company.

Of course, feel free to deposit large sums of money in used notes to Jason personally for any particular software requirement you might have...

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Having a picnic

Ivor.

you cant use midas let alone have your name associated with it!

you have a legal aggreement not to use that nme at all.

I think you need to double back.

Mercury is not the old version of diplomat, far from it, or anything like it.

Diplomat is a version of clever code messed about with by college students who know not what they do.

not suprised Andy you left the code, you was told there was no cheeap way in.

Mercury is the most advanced code on the market by far a class of its own.

Alex as been moderating again
this posting has been altered.
why is it that if you tell diplomat straight the posting is a;ltered

how much do they pay you Alex?

I think they don't need to pay a bean. Your actions give them loads of free publicity.

Now if you made a constructive critque of them, then more people would take notice. But I suspect the more you curse them, the more it makes you look a plank, and them a sound outfit.

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IDFIMH