So you’re looking for a new phone system for your taxi firm? Maybe because you’re facing one of these problems with your current phone system:
- Your current phone system is out of date.
- You feel like frequent engaged tones may be leading to frustrated customers and a loss of revenue.
- You feel like enquiries may not always be dealt with in the best way so you want to monitor and improve the way your staff interact with your customers.
- You’d like a phone system that links to your booking management software, such as Autocab, so you can great callers by their name and save time.
If so, Yo Telecom is here to help you successfully overcome these challenges. In this short article, we’ll outline the differences between the phone systems available.
What is the Best Phone System for Taxi Firms?
There are three main types of phone system available to you:
- Digital phone systems
- Internet (VOIP – Voice Over Internet Protocol) or cloud based phone systems
- Hybrid phone systems
I’ll briefly introduce each system and give you its pros and cons to help you find the right phone system for your taxi firm.
Digital Phone Systems for Taxi Firms
A digital phone system is a physical phone system that is located in your taxi firm’s office. It is a small box that is usually mounted on a wall or stored in a cabinet. They connect to your phone lines and all the headsets you have in your building. The main benefit of a digital phone system is its reliability. However, as it is restricted to physical phone lines, it’s not the most future proof type of system.
Internet (VoIP) Phone Systems for Taxi Firms
An internet, or VoIP, phone system is a virtual phone system so it will not be located in your taxi firm’s office. Instead, it will be located in a data centre somewhere in the world. This can help you to save money on your call charges. However, if your internet cuts out, so will your calls – leaving your customers unable to phone up to make a booking.
Hybrid Phone Systems for Taxi Firms
The hybrid phone system is a mixture of a digital and internet (VoIP) phone system. It will be located in your taxi firm’s office and offers flexibility with your choice of cordless or fixed handsets. Hybrid phone systems have so many benefits to offer you. Their main advantage is that if one type of line fails for you, it will automatically route calls in and out from a backup line. Meaning you can take calls at all times! Hybrid phone systems don’t really have any disadvantages, they really are the best of both worlds.
The Hybrid Phone System is the Best Phone System for Taxi Firms
As well as being the most reliable phone system you can buy, hybrid phone systems also offer a range of other useful features for your taxi firm. These include:
+ Call Logging
Never let an unanswered call turn into a missed opportunity, bad impression or upset customer again. You may miss a few calls here and there, but they all soon add up. Call Logging works exactly like the call log on your mobile phone, alerting you as soon as you miss a call. Allowing you to call your customers back instantly.
+ Call Recording
If a caller has a bad experience on the phone with you, it can be damaging to your reputation. So, monitor the way your staff interact with your callers with call recording. This feature will record every call you make or receive, allowing you to see where improvements need to be made. This feature can also help to settle disputes quickly and easily. If your callers get aggressive towards you on the phone, you can use your recordings as evidence.
+ Auto Attendant
Auto Attendant is a feature that will allow you to give your callers a message before you have even answered the phone to them. For example: ‘If you are calling to book a taxi immediately from [address] please press 1. If you need picking up from a different location, please hold the line and we will put you through to one of our telephone operators.’ This helps to save your staff time and gives your callers peace of mind that they are speaking to the right person.
+ Business Continuity
We know how important receiving calls is to your business. If you are unable to make or receive calls, the number of bookings you’ll get will drastically decrease. If your internet fails, this feature will allow backup lines to kick in so that your customers can always get through to you.
+Statistics Wall Board
With the number of calls you receive each day, it can be hard to keep track of them all. With a statistics wallboard, you can track important information such as how long it takes your staff to answer, how many calls they’ve taken, how many they’ve missed and who answers most calls. You can use this information to help set targets for your staff and praise their good work.
+ Smart Inbound Call Routing
We know calls are crucial to your line of work, so it’s important that you don’t miss any. With Smart Inbound Call Routing if one phone or group of phones isn’t answered quickly enough, the call will automatically be sent through to another phone or group of phones. This ensures that your customers can always get through to you to book their ride.
3 Step Plan to Increase the Success of your Taxi Firm
1. Book a Demo
Book in for a free demo of our phone systems by calling us on 02382 146115.
2. Sign up for the Option That Suits the Needs of Your Taxi Firm
One of our specialist consultants will come to your golf club and discuss all of your options until we have come up with the perfect solution!
3. Let us Take Care of a Hassle Free Installation & Training
Your delivery and installation date will be booked on a day that suits you. We’ll take care of the whole switch over and will train you to make the most of your new phone system.
