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Exceptions
Taxi dispatch is a real-time business where quick decisions must be made. Even under
ideal circumstances, this can be a challenging task. Now consider radio coverage
issues, cancelled trips, late loads, vehicle breakdowns, cheating drivers and you
can appreciate how difficult it is to be a taxi dispatcher.
These are some of the reasons why PiccoloTaxi is designed to make the dispatcher's
job as easy as possible. Many exceptions are automatically handled in the system.
Viewing Dispatcher Alerts
RF Difficulties
If a radio communication is dropped, automatic retries are applied, according
to the importance of the message sent. The system is designed to automatically interpret
conflicting or out-of-sequence messages.
No Trip
Drivers themselves can report when there is no passenger available at the
pickup address and book a No Trip or a No Show. The System Manager can determine
whether No Trip requests should be automatically handled or forwarded to dispatchers
for human resolution.
Flag Request
Another useful feature is Flag Request, which allows drivers to renounce
an accepted radio trip in favor of a flag, subject to available taxicabs who can
serve the radio customer. The System Manager can determine whether Flag Requests
should be automatically handled or forwarded to dispatchers for human resolution.
Old Trip
Many exceptions are linked to various trip timers. If a Trip cannot be dispatched
within a predefined time period, it becomes an Old Trip. Dispatchers can then take
corrective action or call the customer back.
Late Accept
Drivers must accept new trips within a certain time, or be subject to a
Late Accept condition. In this case, the Trip is given to another Vehicle.
Late Load
Drivers are expected to load the trip with passenger within a predefined
time period, otherwise a Late Load condition is identified.
Rapid Meter
If a driver turns his meter on and then off again too quickly, the system
creates a Rapid Meter exception. Many times, driver cheating is the cause for this
behavior.
Dispatch Events in the History Log
History Log
All Dispatch Events are logged in a History Log for convenient review.
A subset of these Events deemed to be of interest to the Dispatcher are added to
a Dispatcher Alert function, as shown above.
Dispatchers can quickly read and acknowledge the Alerts to make them disappear from
the Dispatch Alert page. However, the original Event remains in the History Log,
where deletions are not possible. |