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GOING TO FLORIDA?
If your children are pushing you to take them to Disney World,
Florida, why not try one of the Dial-a-Dream villas? The charity,
originally founded at DaC by Tom Whitbread and Bob Heath, has a
2-bedroom / 2-bathroom villa for 4 / 5 people with spa and swimming
pool or a 4-bedroom / 2-bathroom villa for 8 / 9 people with swimming
pool.
Also due for completion in September is a 6 bedroom / 5 bathroom villa
with swimming pool. You can view the properties on www.thedreamvillas.com
.We can also arrange your flights and car hire.
For further details contact Bob on 0208 530 5589 for rates and
availability. You can see the Dial-a-Dream story on
www.dial-a-dream.co.uk .
Unfortunately, last month's Call Sign gave one of the two
websites an automated end-of-line hyphen for which we apologise...
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MAUREEN COYNE CELEBRATES 25 YEARS WITH
DIAL A CAB
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On a rather windy day - 20 February 1978 to be precise - a
youthful Maureen Coyne stood on the doorstep of DaC's previous premises at
144 Shirland Road, W9. As the door opened, she was greeted by Board member
and DaC elder statesman Jack Taylor, who asked if she had come regarding the
job vacancy?
"Yes," came the nervous reply.
"Go downstairs and tell Hazel I said you've got the job!" he said
in his usual, no-nonsense manner! And so began a 25-year career with
the-then Owner Drivers Radio Taxi Service that developed into the Dial-a-Cab
of today.
Her DaC career has seen many changes in staff, technology and
dare we say it, a heightened awareness of customer care.
"It was all manual in those days," Maureen recalled, "manual
telephones with paper dockets that were written out by hand and then slotted
onto a conveyor belt. They went along to the dispatcher who then
called the jobs as they tumbled onto his desk," she continued.
Call Sign asked Maureen if she remembered the first call that
she ever took?
"Oh yes," she said, "I had worked for a finance
house using the telephone quite a bit, so that gave me confidence. The call
was from a house-boat by Little Venice."
Did she think it might be a 'wind-up' our reporter enquired...?
"Back then, I didn't know that people lived on boats in
the city, but
I carried on taking the details and afterwards Hazel said I had done very
well. That was it..."
As DaC has moved with the times, so has Maureen, regularly
re-training as our technology advances..."I recall the day we went live
with Data Dispatch. Michael Portillo
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(then Minister of Transport) was standing right behind me
in the Control Room. It was a really tense time wondering if it would
work!"
DaC's concern for Customer Care and Maureen's confident telephone
manner and patience with callers led her to become one of the 'Golden Girls', a
term attributed to team members Val Gomez, Janet Russ and Mo., whose diplomacy
and sensitivity made them ideal candidates to handle the Westminster TaxiCard
Account callers.
But life has not always been so kind to Maureen. Her partner of 25
years, Jim, passed away four years and four months ago from cancer.
"Nursing Jim was a tough time," she confided
nostalgically, "it drained me, but he was worth it. Anyway, I have to
carry on," she added.
Maureen's own health is not as strong as it once was. "You
have to carry on though, don't you? I've reduced my hours now and I've got my
friends here. I'm very grateful," she stated firmly.
Finally, Call Sign's reporter posed Maureen the $64000 question.
What's in store for the future? "I'm looking forward to another 25
years!" she laughed...
(c) Call Sign Magazine MM3
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