If you’re an established taxi company, you may be looking to improve your service in this increasingly competitive marketplace. Ensuring excellent customer service and efficient pick-ups is key to any private hire firm’s success. But, if you’ve been in the industry for many years, you may have neglected to improve your service compared to newer competitors on the scene. Upgrading your tech or maximising its potential is a sure-fire way to improve your service to all your customers. Here’s how to improve taxi services with tech.

Improving Taxi Services with Tech

Many taxi firms already utilise these features. However, we wanted to share the most common upgrades we see firms take when looking to up their offering. You can easily improve taxi services with tech updates.

Integrate your app and phone system with your booking software

A booking software system is vital for taking bookings and organising pick-ups. However, if your staff input this information manually, you could be losing hours and, therefore, money. Automating systems is one of the most common methods businesses employ to improve their service and enhance efficiency. And the best way to do this with your taxi bookings is to integrate with other software. Booking apps and phone systems are the way to do this.

App Integration

With an app to booking system integration, you automate the booking and send the pick up directly to drivers whilst still logging it in your main software. Some of the biggest taxi firms of the past few years (Uber, we are looking at you) have expanded rapidly because of their streamlined app process. Apps provide consumers with an easy-to-use interface with live information such as pick up times, costs and instant booking. Taxi riders today expect this ease of booking, and without it, you’ll fail to capture new customers or keep your existing ones for long.

Phone System Integration

As with app integration, phone systems can be merged with a booking system to provide automated bookings and more efficient call handling from staff. Phone system integrations can allow for many features that improve customer service, such as;

  • Caller number recognition. – You can see who is calling and where their address is if a repeat customer.
  • Screen Popping. A window will emerge on the dispatch operator’s screen, presenting information from the call they just answered. As a result, the screen can rapidly display more information on their system, such as whether they are a problematic customer or require additional help.
  • Automatic Back On Phone (ABOP). After making a reservation, customers who phone back can get real-time information on the driver, their car, and their current wait time. Furthermore, they can be directly put in touch with the driver if needed.
  • Call masking is a technique for hiding a phone number, using a temporary phone number for each side to enable private communication. This is useful if a driver cannot identify or find a customer and must contact them. Personal information should be kept confidential to guarantee the safety of both parties.

Set up auto responder & IVR

While we discuss phone systems, ensure that yours has Auto Responder, and IVR features enabled. These features significantly improve customer retention and enhance your service offering as a taxi operator.

Auto Responder provides customers with options to choose from when they call. For example, these could offer tailored options to recognised numbers such as “Press 1, for10 Cherry Tree Lane, press 2, for The Black Swan or press 3 to speak to an operator.” This feature delivers quicker responses for callers and makes them feel like valued customers. As a result, they will be more likely to call your firm next time too.

To automate bookings, IVR provides for text-to-voice translation and speech recognition. Many consumers will continually ask for the same location, such as their home address. IVR can quickly handle these queries, freeing up your workforce. This increases contact centre efficiency while lowering costs. Customers will have a better experience due to the quick response because they will not have to wait to talk with an operator. The faster a booking is registered, the quicker a taxi can be dispatched, and that’s all that matters to passengers.

Expand Payment Capabilities

Traditional taxis only accept cash payments; if this is still the only option you offer, you miss out on countless fares. Transactional usage of cash has been declining for the last decade, falling from over 50% to only 17% of all payments in 2020, with this trend accelerating during the pandemic. Instead, taxi operators should offer card payment options within the vehicle using a card reader. This ensures improved service for customers. Plus, it is safer for your drivers as they will be less at risk of theft or assault.

But, to really enrich your payment, offering integration with an app will provide a more streamlined service for customers. For example, a booking app not only integrates with your booking system but can take all booking payments online. This secures the money with a prepayment ahead of time and ensures that customers can’t run off without paying.

Improved Taxi Services with Yestech Tech

While we can’t help with apps or payment support, we can provide your taxi firm with a fully integrated phone system. Our VoIP for taxi operators provides all the best features you need to successfully run a private hire firm. They will help improve taxi services with tech built for the 21st century.