Keith Cain From The Dial-a-Cab Call Centre

Signal Problems
With the quiet time now upon us, there are a small number of you who find it necessary to get one over on your fellow drivers. You will (or not as the case may be) be pleased to know that controllers have been instructed to take a more active roll in monitoring the system by using the GPS facility. With GPS working well now, it is reinforcing our beliefs that some of you do book into zones that you are nowhere near. Many of you can't see the harm this does, especially when a trip that is offered is not taken. Rejecting trips is not that serious, but when added to the number of unnecessary rejects and the other types of messaging going on, all this activity is attributed to the intermittent signals we experience.
Another messaging formula that could be reduced is the Queue Position function. We have viewed stats that show drivers doing a QP request every 3/10 seconds. This is understandable if we were very busy, but it often applies to drivers who are on ranks - and especially on EC5. We are aware that the signals have got progressively worse since the introduction of the

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new computer terminal and we
have carried out a number of tests which have proven that the messaging - that's the number of times the terminal communicates backwards and forwards with the host computer - has increased a great deal. The design of the terminal and the additional functions that are built in is the cause for the increase in messaging and also the failures that take place.
I recently took a snapshot of the host computer and in exactly 60 minutes between 13:00 to 14:00 hours there were 11,500 different types of messages sent out to your terminals and 9,658 messages received by the host! That's over 21,000 communications taking place of which it's impossible to know how many packets of information are simultaneously travelling backwards and forwards at the same time. And at no time during the hour did we have more than 1000 drivers logged on to the system. The messages recorded were everything from Meter On to POB, QP, AAR, STC, CLJ, T/O, No-Show Requests and Trip Accept - everything you see at the bottom of the screen to the messages that appear on the screen.
The problems of intermittent signals can be resolved to meet the demands placed on the system, but initial costing for this

has amounted well into six figures.
All I'm saying is that if drivers can ensure they only book into
zones when the procedural rules permit and if the unnecessary messaging could be kept to a minimum, it will help reduce the number of times drivers lose trips and that messages are received when sent. I hasten to add that what I'm asking you to do is not a complete cure, it's only a step in the right direction to ensuring the best functionality from the system. The Board will continue to source a better solution in the future, but until such time it would be appreciated if you all play your part to assist.

Ach Aye, It's A Wee Problem!
On a more delicate note, it has been brought to our attention that drivers have been using an area to the rear of 200 Aldersgate Street (motorcycle parking bays) as a public convenience. While the client cannot be specific as to which company these drivers belong, we have been asked to issue a gentle reminder that the area is not intended for that purpose and any further incidences will be highlighted by the fact that a CCTV camera is now positioned on that area. Please do not let this apply to one of us...

Keith Cain
DaC Call Centre Manager