Taxi Driver Online

Hi

Any views on the ideal combination of comms equipment in a fleet? Voice only, data only, or do you need both? What do drivers prefer? Controllers?

And if voice and data, any views on the best way to provide this? All on the same device/comms path or separate, like radio and GPRS?

Cheers!

Cashjob

Welcome to the forum.

I don't work in a taxi office although I do seem to spend half my life in them. My view on this is that while it's possible to have a data system with the odd car on voice, mixing the two does cause confusion for the opperators and so the ideal is one OR the other but never a mix of both.

One of the misconceptions of data is that you don't ever use voice but there are times when it just makes sense to talk directly with the driver rather than sending text type messages.

As to what drivers and controlers prefer, that's easy both think the other is a pain in the neck and if they can do without having to listen to each other then so much the better. That's one of the only downsides to data use; it's anti-social.

On your final point, conventional data systems use a standard radio to carry the data information so the radio is used to talk back. Much the same I guess for a GPRS system although I stand to be corrected on that one.

Hope that helps.

Bill

As an old fuddy duddy I'm a great fan of voice, and if someone can combine data with voice in a sensible way, then I might be a bit more pro data.

Data is fine when it's quiet, but IMO when it's mobbed good operators can clear the work a lot better than data.

And of course data can't sell a job to a driver better than voice. Dead easy to blank a blip on the screen, a lot harder if the boss is operating.

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IDFIMH

Sussex

Strange, I would have said exactly the opposite. When it's quiet turn the data off and have a chat. When it's rush time, just let it run and keep answering the phones. Small companies maybe but large inner city companies on a Friday night no way would an operator beat a data system.

Bill

Isn't the answer to have both.

That way in the points/zones where drivers are booked on, or dropping shortly, work can be despatched without the need for voice, but where there's work outstanding and/or priority work, surely the jobs will get cleared quicker if a driver is asked by a voice.

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IDFIMH

Hi
Sorry Sussex but I believe your wrong. The time it will take to voice the correct driver for the job, then call it out and hope you dont have to argue with other drivers who are closer than him etc.

The best bet is to send out broadcast messages and allow the drivers to bid for the work.

If you take the whole fleet to voice then you can cuase problems to the data dispatch as the system (depending on which one) might not know the car is on the voice channel and will continue to keep on trying to send the job.

If you dont like data then stick with a voice system. You will never get something in between.

regards

But we both know that when it's busy driver just ignore repeated messages.

But if someone came over the air saying a job, or jobs, need desperately to be cleared, then they would be cleared.

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IDFIMH

As a controller i prefer having drivers on data as the work gets dispatched so much quicker but we do have about 5-6 cars on voice and i wish they went onto data to make life easier.

However not all of them can read so its a good thing to combine the two and we are also thinking of adding pda's for the ones that can read but dont know their way around.

So why will the driver not ignore the requests made when taken to voice?

I think drivers are far more likely to help clear outstanding/priority jobs if they are asked by a voice. Also if a driver does a favour to a voice, then that voice will remember.

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IDFIMH

Bill (datamaster) will be familier with the system i work on (ABBA) and it's the bee's knees, we have data and voice, i think it would be impossible not to have a voice option, imagine picking up at a superstore with 4 enterances and not knowing which one the customer's at? you have to radion in to find out.
I also worked on a more up to date system (CROWN) who have it linked to GPS but it was set up wrong, the old nearest car routine didnt work at all! it was dragging cars 4 miles to a job when someone was mobile to that area.
It was proberbly something to do with the owner who couldnt listen to advise from drivers and ended up losing most of them!

Set correctly the GPS link would be far better.

spelling!! we need an Edit option!

SSmiffyz i wonder what GPS system you used?

I'll find out which two we use (2 companies operate from the same base) both use autocab data head units, one more advanced that the other, but as to which software they use i'll have to check.
i'm sure Bill will know even if he doesnt supply it.

BTW, at the moment we're looking for a more up to date Phone/Dispatch system, with forced calls to the phone staff etc.
The age old problem of staff not answering phones raises it's ugly head once again.