Yellow Cabs sets the standard

February 2002

Situation
As the taxi industry continues to change one taxi organisation in Queensland, Australia, Yellow Cabs Queensland, has taken its high tech operation to the next level and is turning taxi industry heads. It seems that this Australian company is setting new international standards in terms of calls taken and jobs dispatched and at the same time is reaping the rewards.

In December 2001 Yellow Cabs Queensland reached some incredible targets when Yellow Cabs Co. South East Queensland region peaked with 31,317 calls taken and taxis dispatched in just one day. With a population service of over 2.7 million people this figure is staggering even on a world stage.

The company can also brag that on the same day, in just one hour they accepted comfortably 2,086 calls and dispatched vehicles.

So how is this taxi company setting new standards in taxi operation?

Solution
Yellow Cabs Queensland adopted the use of state-of-the-art computer technology over nine years ago. A long term and well thought out strategy was conceived to assist in gaining not only market share but to improve customer service and, in turn, generate a bigger turnover and greater profitability. Various components of the high tech and cutting edge systems have been employed gradually over the past decade.

Yellow Cabs Queensland currently operates a fleet of 1,050 taxis and enjoys a staggering annual turnover of $50 million (AUS) (or $25.5 million US) a year. This success has come from a lot of hard work and foresight from Yellow Cabs Queensland’s current owner and Managing Director Neill Ford.

Ford, who started as a taxi driver in the early 70’s, worked his way through the industry to become one of Australia’s most respected taxi operators and in the driver’s seat of one of Australia’s most successful taxi organisations.

Since taking over the company in 1989 Ford has been passionate about maximising and leveraging technology to improve Yellow Cabs’ business and sights his aggressive technological investment as the companies’ predominant tactic for success.

In 1989, the first year as Managing Director, Ford quickly introduced the best in communications equipment and software.

“I was aware that if we wanted to expand and keep up with the market trends it was imperative for our fleet to offer fast and efficient service. We have a massive area to cover and in this day and age of fast, furious and convenient, taxis were expected to be the same. We weren’t going to do that with just radio communication.”

Ford travelled the world searching for the best systems for his company. It seemed that literally thousands of options were available and that at the time many taxi companies were eagerly lining up to buy the latest and greatest in computer dispatching equipment.

“It was the early 90’s and the technology industry was in a rapid expansion so thousand of tech companies popped up overnight. They all claimed to be the best but few had taken into account the practicalities that face the taxi industry” said Mr Ford.

“I travelled the world. If there was a new system being switched on by a taxi company somewhere in the world – I was there to see it in operation. I learnt more from that than anything else. You can read a glossy brochure or be told by a sales person that it will work and how it will benefit your business but until you see it operate and see it work in a real world application you can’t honestly say it passed the test” continued Mr Ford.

“I saw so many systems. Taxi operators all around the world appeared more attracted to being the first to have this technology but it didn’t necessarily help or suit their business operation. Many of the earlier computer dispatch systems had problems but some didn’t appear until after they were fitted or you were already under contract. Everyone claimed to make the best. The problem was they weren’t.” said Mr Ford.

“I recall one technology factory I visited in North America and they wanted to show me through the production area. I was surprised to find that the production area wasn’t in operation. I moved away from the group and questioned one of the men on the floor about it and he told me that they hadn’t built any hardware for over six months!” continued Mr Ford.

“If I hadn’t taken the time to investigate the technology properly Yellow Cabs Queensland could be in a very different position today” said Mr Ford.

By 1992 Ford established, what has become a long term and successful relationship, with technology giant and taxi communications experts Raywood Communications Pty Ltd. Yellow Cabs discarded their voice dispatch solution and deployed the Raywood Dispatcher III computerised dispatch solution. Satisfied that Raywood were the technology company of choice, in 1993 Yellow Cabs added a Raywood bureau service for the Toowoomba area and in 1995 they added Ipswich. A bureau service enables smaller fleets, located in regional centres to utilise the same advanced dispatch technology and state-of-the art call centre of a larger fleet.

Continuing with their philosophy of being at the forefront of technology, In 1997 Yellow Cabs upgraded their Raywood dispatch system to include Global Positioning System (GPS). This was ground-breaking technology at the time and gave Yellow Cabs the ability to locate customers and cabs using GPS satellites and dispatch work that was closer to the driver and the customer, reducing dead miles for the driver and decreasing waiting time for customers. Ford claims the introduction of GPS made a significant impact on the business, increasing the number of calls and the number of cars in the Yellow Cab fleet.

In late 2001 Yellow Cabs adopted an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system, to handle the volume of incoming calls.

“We were initially sceptical about the IVR system. We weren’t sure how our customers would respond but the system Raywood have developed with us identifies the caller’s address immediately and asks only for a one number response to tell us if they want the taxi immediately and if there are four or less passengers. It’s so simple and user friendly our customers use it and like it.

Ford said he realised that voice recognition technology was now available but believed that the technology was not yet suitable or acceptable to Yellow Cab Queensland customers.

“I feel there are still some glitches with voice recognition technology at this point. Even the best software doesn’t recognise everyone’s voice or doesn’t pick something up and the person has to wait to be transferred to an operator. I believe we will eventually get there but not just yet.”

Yellow Cabs Co. however still maintains a call centre of 40 operators and the IVR is still only for overflow calls. Of the calls taken on that record-breaking day in December over 5,700 calls were taken by IVR.

“Our abandoned call rate was a minor concern but only in peak times. But you have to see a missed call as lost revenue. No company can afford to miss out on bookings. If my customers call we will get them a taxi and with our technological infrastructure we will get it to them within minutes. Our customers don’t wait and our drivers are getting fares more often and we are rapidly growing our market share thanks to this philosophy.”

A Yellow Cab Queensland taxi will now receive details on a job and an address even whilst a caller is still on the line. The “smart” system sends the message to the nearest taxi to that address and has provided drivers with greater distribution over the entire service region.

Ford went onto say that he didn’t believe that, even internationally, there were many taxi companies handling anywhere near Yellow Cab’s call volumes.

Outcome
Since the Raywood job dispatch system was implemented, the average monthly job count has steadily increased by almost 100,000 jobs per month. Over the past 10 years, this has seen a staggering 90% increase in the average number jobs per month to now sit at approximately 500,000 – 600,000 depending on the month.

“Our figures are impressive and certainly demonstrates that any taxi company could achieve the similar volumes with the use of new technology,” he said.

This increased number of incoming jobs has substantial positive effects for the rest of the business. The number of taxis in the fleet has also doubled from 550 in 1992 to 1,110 in 2002. There are more jobs for drivers so consequently more drivers want to be a Yellow driver. Drivers can make more money and companies can make more money from leasing plates, cars and increased depot fees.

“Our aim is to provide unbelievable customer service. If a customer can’t get us (Yellow Cabs) on the first call or if they have to wait too long for a taxi they will try a rival company. With these systems there is little chance of that happening. The systems provide the best in quality and in turn, improves our return,” he said.

When Ford was questioned what next, he was confident that his technology adoption strategy would continue.

“Technology is changing at a fairly rapid rate but you can be confident that the system you put in now will possibly last your business for 8 to 10 years. You don’t just change because there is new technology otherwise we would have implemented voice recognition now. You change to offer the best in service, our customers expect us, like any other business to offer service equivalent to the service they receive elsewhere. That means less wait on phone queues and a faster pickup.”

The question remains. Is this technology worth the investment? It seems for Yellow Cabs in Queensland, Australia, it most certainly is.

For more information
For more information about Raywood computerised GPS job dispatch solutions visit www.raywoodcommunications.com. For more information on Yellow Cabs QLD...

visit www.yellowcab.com.au

or to book a taxi, call 13 19 24.

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