TaxiCaller Newsletter - August 2016
Recent releases
We added some new features to the system in our August release, so we'll go over those here below to give you more detailed information.
- IVR booking channel
We've now added an IVR (interactive voice response) booking feature which will allow passengers to call your company to make address selections from their phone keypad based on the options provided by recorded messages at the receiving end for quick and easy booking.
This will help automate the booking process and save a lot of call time for the dispatchers!
We will send out a separate email with the tutorial for the IVR booking feature.
You must have an account with Twilio to use the IVR feature.
Once an IVR booking is placed, the job will be offered to drivers according to your assignment settings. You will know it is an IVR booking because of the phone icon as highlighted above.
- Scheduled messages
To increase the ease of communication, we've added a feature in the dispatch console that allows you to schedule messages to dispatchers, drivers or all employees and add filters on those messages with the vehicle and driver tags.
- New zone check in rules
You are now able to set limits on how drivers can check in to zones. In the Dispatch settings of the Admin Panel under Zones Queues in the Assignment tab, you can set the maximum distance and time for a driver to check in to a zone. If they are too far from a zone or they don't make it within the time limit set, they won't be able to check in and they will revert to their current zone position.
The driver will see a timer count down how much time they have to reach the new zone. If they don't reach the zone in time, it will flash in red and they will remain in the current zone.
- Short trips
Now, we have a “short trips” rule which will give the driver back his zone position. You can choose the maximum distance and/or time to establish what a “short trip” is for your drivers, and if it should be in the same zone. This is to help encourage drivers to accept these short trips.
- New dispatch console updates
You can now toggle between different vehicle and user tags (and other criteria such as how many passengers, bags, wheelchairs and cars are needed for a job) to show only the vehicles that suit your choices. There is a toggle icon in the dispatch console in the bottom right corner of the map which you can press to show the criteria to filter vehicles (see below).
Check the setting “Filter vehicles on job options” in the Preferences tab to be able to see only those vehicles that fit the criteria you choose when putting in a new booking in the dispatch console. We've selected 8 passengers and one wheelchair in the toggle section so only those vehicles show on the map as we see above.
Here, we've chosen 8 passengers and one wheelchair in the Job Info field, so only those vehicles that support that many passengers and have support for at least one wheelchair show on the map.
We've also added new features for corporate accounts in the dispatch console. In the new booking tab, you can search for accounts by name or account id in the Account # field and press enter to have the information pop up. You can also click the Search button to bring up the account in the Customers tab in order to edit the account right from the dispatch console.
You can now put an expiration date for the account, and when it has exceeded the date, the account will show as red and won't be bookable until updated.
- Permits
There is a new section called “Permits” under the Settings tab of the Admin Panel. Here, you can add any permits such as driver/taxi licenses, equipment checks (such as cameras) or anything that has to do with dispatchers, drivers or vehicles that has an expiration date.
Access this feature here: https://admin.taxicaller.net/admin/settings/permits.php
To add a new permit, simply click on the green plus icon. Then choose an ID number, a name for the permit and a type. You can either choose “User” or “Vehicle” as a type. If you choose “User,” you can decide whether the permit applies to dispatchers, drivers or both.
In the Users tab, you will then be able to set the validity of the permit (forever or an expiration date). If a user then tries to log in after the expiration date, the system will prevent it.
Feature Highlights:
- Default setting for new version of dispatch console
You can now set the new version of the dispatch console as your default in the settings of the admin panel so that it automatically loads when logging in as a dispatcher.
Please follow the link below and click Edit at the bottom of the screen to choose Version 2 in the drop down of Dispatch Version under Appearance. Remember to click Save when finished.
https://admin.taxicaller.net/admin/settings/dispatch.php
Contact
If you have any questions or would like to learn more about something in this newsletter, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Skype: firstlinesupport.taxicaller
Telephone: US (NY): +1 646 583 0590
US (CA): +1 805 626 8268
UK: +44 208 123 1441
INT: +46 8 5592 1950