To say that the last couple of months have been busy is an understatement. But to say that our coverage increased satisfactory to meet the demand is something that I'm afraid I can't do. Increase in demand puts pressure on all of us, but the pressure can be reduced providing all concerned play their part. Pressure begins in the Call Centre when the number of telephone calls increases. Despite having a sufficient number of lines, there are at certain times - early morning, lunch time, evening and early hours of the morning - when staff are asked to work like robots, handling call after call. It's not uncommon to experience all of our call takers talking to clients and still have as many as 30/40 calls waiting to be answered.

Following a Trip Through the System
Once a trip is fired into the system, if it isn't covered immediately that is when all sorts of problems occur. Controllers are the first in line to be hit with the problem. They make decisions whether to offer additional run-ins, send out begging messages or add premiums to get the trip covered. If the trip is still not covered after all this, a great deal of clock watching is done. The right time has to be chosen to inform the customer that we cannot allocate their trip to a taxi. Telephonists inform customers of this and quite often such calls spark off so much anger that it tests their customer service skills to the limit. Customers do not understand and very often do not accept that booking a taxi in advance cannot guarantee them a vehicle.
   It's not uncommon for staff to be sworn at and verbally abused and calls of this nature are swiftly passed to the shift supervisor. Their job can become almost impossible. They have to take what ever the client throws at them and with a smile they express their compassion to the problem and apologise on behalf of the Society. It's becoming more common that customers require written answers as to why we failed to supply a taxi. Staff on our help desk deal with these

and while the answer as to why drivers do not cover the work is always the same unfortunately; we cannot use the same letter for all situations. Their skills play an important role within the Society and often their ability to communicate professionally with the client is the key to the account remaining with Dial-a-Cab.
   The scenario I have given is happening too frequently. Multiply the scenario by the number of unmatched trips you see on your terminals at times, then I hope it goes someway towards drivers understanding the pressure placed on the Call Centre.

Wrong Passenger?
I can also name other problems that add even further to the workload. Drivers picking up the wrong passenger for example. Can you guess how many members of staff are drawn into a problem of the following nature? Customer enquires with telephonist where their cab is? Telephonist speaks with controller. Controller questions driver. Controller informs telephonist. Telephonist informs customer. Customer is not happy wants to speak with Supervisor. Supervisor speaks with customer. Customer requests written apology. Supervisor informs Helpdesk supervisor who writes to customer.
   We also have the situation when a client waits to receive an invoice before they contact us and then relates the problem of a taxi arriving late. Their demands are for a full refund for the poor service. The decision of the Account Manager is again vital to retaining the account. Before any decision is made, the trip in question has to be recalled from the system. A recording of the original booking has to be taken to establish that the telephonist entered the information given correctly. If it was, how do you tell the customer that they have to pay because the driver has to be 

paid? Not an easy one and more often than not we offer a good will gesture.
   Staff can and do at times, make mistakes. We can monitor them and address this by offering retraining. By doing this we ensure standards of service are controlled. But what can we do with the driver? How can we encourage the driver to take the work? How can we appeal to their better nature to ignore the street the work and accept the account work offered to them? How can we explain to drivers that a trip from Kensington or Hampstead or Earls Court to Canary Wharf with a premium is equal or better value than a trip to the airport? How can we get across to you that the service you are prepared to give is ultimate to this society being successful?

Regrouping
We constantly look at ways in which we can adjust the method of despatching to improve coverage. EC5 has been all but reverted back to how it operated for almost 30 years. We have accounts that are purposely despatched 'as directed'; there are some that are despatched to ranks. All this to get a journey allocated to a driver. Between now and the end of September, we have the chance of regrouping before the battle commences. Clients depend on our service. The Board and Staff have no control over the service provided by our drivers. This is a unique situation for any business, not to have control over its work force. It is a situation that has been there since day one and there is no reason why it should not continue; except for one. If we do not take a leaf out of the book of those drivers who started this Society and offer again a service to be proud of, we will be dead in the water. I know that a small number of drivers do nothing but account work and for them to accept more is impossible. I also know that there are a few cabs that are doubled and it would be difficult for them to do more, but what about the rest? Accept the work, as it's offered and this will reduce the pressure we all work under. Accept the work and it will increase your earnings. It is your Society, please help it to remain the best...

Keith Cain