Worcester Cabs: A Third System That Stuck, After Data Master and TBMS
The Short Answer
Worcester Cabs had used Data Master and then TBMS before moving to Cabica, so a third switch was not taken lightly. Cabica now runs their dispatch and all of their bookings. The council’s dearer night, Sunday and bank-holiday tariff switches itself on at the right times, the caller’s details appear while the phone is still ringing, and passengers book in Worcester Cabs’ own app and website. What the owner talks about most is support.
Awais runs Worcester Cabs, and before Cabica he had been through two dispatch systems: Data Master, and then TBMS. When a firm has switched twice already, the third system has to earn its place quickly, because nobody in the office wants to learn a fourth.
“We had a really rough time with Data Master and then TBMS, so switching again was not something we took lightly. Cabica now runs our dispatch and all of our bookings, and day to day everything runs so much smoother. The support has made the difference — when we need something, it gets sorted. Very happy, thank you.”
— Awais, Worcester Cabs
The details a generic system trips over
Worcester is the kind of firm where the general features are the easy part. What matters is the local detail:
- The council’s Tariff 2. Worcester sets a dearer tariff for nights, Sundays and bank holidays. Cabica now uses it by itself whenever a pickup falls in those times, on the firm’s clock, for bookings from every channel: the office, the website, the app and street hails. Nobody has to remember to switch it.
- The way home on long jobs. A job that starts and ends outside the firm’s area can charge for the road back to base, measured when it is booked. The area is a circle the office draws round the base on a map.
- An Assist option that any car can take. Passengers who need help can book *Assist*; it can go to every kind of car and still be charged like a saloon.
- The drivers’ zones list in their own order, the way their drivers think about the town, not alphabetically.
The phone
Most of Worcester’s bookings still start with a phone call. Their Wavetel phone system is connected to Cabica, so the caller’s record opens on the controller’s screen while the phone is still ringing: their name, their usual addresses and their last booking, before anyone says hello.
Their own name, everywhere
- A booking page dressed as worcestercabs.com, with prices from their own tariffs.
- Their own passenger app, on their own Apple and Google developer accounts, with their own logo and vehicle pictures.
- A website for Worcester Taxis 24/7, their second name, built on the same booking system, with booking, live tracking and quote requests.
If you are about to change systems for a second or third time, our guide to switching taxi dispatch systems is the plan we use. Whatever you choose, ask to see your own council’s tariffs running in it before you sign.
Changing systems again? See your own tariffs and zones in a 20-minute demo.
Book a DemoWritten By
Chief Executive Officer, Cabica
Muhammad Gulfam Asim leads Cabica. He worked in the taxi business for six years as a controller and dispatcher, and now builds the dispatch and booking software independent taxi and private-hire firms run on, working on pricing, product direction and the operator conversations that shape both.
LinkedIn profile