CALL CENTRE CHAT

Looking back at the tube strike…
From our experiencing a couple of really quiet months, the tube strike on that Wednesday and Thursday soon gave us all a swift reminder of what the good times were like!
   While it was difficult for drivers to get around due to heavy traffic, the response by Dial-a-Cab members to start work early was well received and coverage was, without any shadow of doubt, the best I have ever experienced on a strike day. Our staff also played a crucial role by responding to my request to start work earlier and finish their shifts later. It made such a difference to the speed in which we answered calls and allowed us to put more work into the system.
   Many of you would have seen trips offered to you that might have been an hour old. It was because the Call Centre were proactively speaking with clients days in advance about the strike
and were advising them to book their cabs an hour before they needed them. That made all the difference with the number of complaints coming from clients

being minimal over the two-day period.

Who do you call for…?
What was very clear to see was that when the going gets tough, everyone looks towards Dial-a-Cab to get them out of trouble. As you’d expect on a tube strike day, Sod’s Law dictated that on that Wednesday morning it would rain heavily and this threw any cost-saving measures the clients considered using right out of the window!
   What was also very pleasing was that the average speed to answer a call was just 12 seconds. Considering that it can take 10
seconds for a caller to hear the

greeting and instructions message, our telephonists on all shifts did a truly remarkable job on a day when undoubtedly it was all hands to the pump.
   Our Controllers, who also did a sterling job, meticulously managed the whole operation on those two days. On the Wednesday, we even had around fifteen bookings picking up from Wembley Stadium following the England match. I have to admit that I believed under the circumstances those trips would not be covered, but I was to be proven wrong. Excellent DaC coverage…
   It may have been several weeks ago by the time you read this, but non-the-less I, on behalf of the Board, would like to thank all the drivers that went the extra mile to give our clients the best possible service, and to thank all the staff who without their extra commitment, would have made the two strike days far more difficult to handle.
   Well done everyone…

Keith Cain
Call Centre Manager
Driver Operations Manager

Dodgy Money?

On a recent Sunday afternoon, Dial-a-Cab driver Mike Galton (J05) was cruising eastbound along Oxford Street towards Oxford Circus, when he was hailed by a male of Eastern European appearance who wanted to go to Warren Street tube station.
   "No problem," was Mike’s reply, until in the next breath the punter stated that he only had a £50 note.
   "Big problem," was Mike’s retort as his mind raced about large value notes for short distance journeys. So he politely declined the trip on the basis of insufficient change, which would have seriously depleted his float for the rest of his shift.
   While pondering the possibilities of the legality of that £50 note for a cab ride only a few hundred yards long, Mike moved on along Oxford Street towards Tottenham Court Road, where he encountered yet another Eastern European male who flagged Mike down.
   "This man did not even want to go anywhere, but asked me if I could break his £50 note!" Mike told Call Sign that the two incidents were too closely related