Taxis drive the IT highway

By Adam Turner
June 15, 2004

The anywhere, any time culture that keeps information workers chained to their virtual desktops is coming to a taxi near you.

The MD-X touch-screen computer, giving passengers telephone and internet access charged to the meter, is being sold to taxi companies by Raywood Communications, which has 85 per cent of the dispatch systems market for taxi fleets.

Launched at the recent 2004 Australian Taxi Conference in Sydney, the MD-X is a 6.5-inch, touch-sensitive widescreen display connected to a computer stored under the seat or in the boot. The display features a built-in microphone, speakers and a wired or Bluetooth headset.

The MD-X initially replaces in-car dispatch devices, but the modular, upgradable system allows taxi companies to offer a range of features to drivers and passengers. Future options for drivers include email, SMS, electronic street maps, GPS, turn-by-turn navigation and an integrated security camera.

By 2005, the system will be able to offer an integrated meter, along with chargeable services for passengers such as telephone and internet access.

The system allows taxi companies to offer value-added services, particularly location-based services, says Raywood Communications chief executive Steve Watt.

"They could work with businesses in a particular area, such as Circular Quay, and as they're taking customers to those destinations, make them offers in the vehicle such as meal vouchers or discount accommodation."

After considering a Linux system, Raywood built the MD-X system on Microsoft's Windows Mobile platform, using .NET, XML and web services. The system can run on any Windows Mobile device, such as a hand-held PC, allowing drivers to leave the vehicle but access dispatch calls via a wireless link.

"Microsoft is less work for developers. We can't afford the amount of work we need to do with a Linux/Unix environment. It's a great environment, but Microsoft provides lots of tools," Watt says.

Raywood Communications plans to release a Software Department Kit to allow third parties to develop applications to run on the MD-X system.

Currently, taxis are in touch with head-office dispatch systems via dedicated, low-bandwidth Private Mobile Radio networks, but the MD-X system uses public networks such as GPRS and, soon, 3G.

"For the past couple of years we were seeing the benefits of data dispatch, GPS and Interactive Voice Response," Watt says. "These are still going strong, but it's time to look at the next generation of products. By going down the public network path, the world is our oyster."

This story was found at: http://smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/14/1087065076782.html

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