Taxis Melkior, Belgium implements Sherlock Taxi dispatch to optimise customer experience and operations
- Implemented passenger apps
- Significantly reduced time taken to process bookings
- Increased automation
Background
Taxis Melkior was established in 1912. It has an extensive fleet of modern vehicles and is now the largest taxi company operating in the Liège area of Belgium.
Prior to implementing Sherlock Taxi, the business had been using a well-known dispatch system in the European market. Senior stakeholders wanted to upgrade the business’ technology to offer a customer experience that is both simple and high-end, reflecting service levels across the business.
A key part of the customer experience improvements would be implementation of a passenger app to meet the digital needs of consumers. Additionally, they wanted to improve optimisation of all operations from booking and dispatch through to mapping, job completion, invoicing and account management. Part of this optimisation would also include a system that could process bookings more rapidly.
In 2024, Taxis Melkior approached Sherlock to discuss upgrading their dispatch system.
First impressions
Business needs and scoping
Taxis Melkior did not have any telephony integration, online credit card payments or mobile apps in place.
It was clear from the start that the whole team was motivated to switch dispatch systems and had many goals to achieve. These included:
- An improved customer experience through quick app bookings with price estimates before ordering and the ability to track the driver before they arrive in-app
- Route optimisation which considers real-time traffic
- The ability to automate taximeter data relating to driver shifts
- A more stable and innovative technology system in general
- A system that would be continuously developed, with the ability to request new features and functionalities
- A mechanism to manage drivers using their own cars in the future (for this, the business needed flexible Driver Grade systems and wages settings)
What did we implement?
An integration with taximeter devices
This integration involved a newer model of Hale devices which meant that Taxis Melkior could upgrade their existing in-car meters. Sherlock also developed the ability to access data legally required regarding the taximeter reading of every job, even those not priced by the meter. This is stored for reporting purposes.
Driver Shift Reports
Previously, Taxis Melkior drivers had to manually record all activity and meter readings for every job on each working shift. A ‘Driver Shift Report’ was implemented which allows a ‘Shift Report’ to be generated at any time from the driver app, with taximeter data automatically collected for the report. This report is also visible in the Sherlock operational system for office staff to view at any point in time.
An integration with Adfinity accounting software
Taxis Melkior is part of the Keolis Group which means they need to provide invoicing information to the accounting system, Adfinity. Sherlock implemented invoice data exports to the accounting system and the ability to import data on new customer accounts from Adfinity.
What were the main challenges involved in implementation?
The main technical challenge was changing the taximeter installed in the vehicles at the same time as changing dispatch system – this meant that drivers experienced changes in both hardware and software at the same time.
Unfortunately, Taxis Melkior were unable to give drivers extensive training on the new meter prior to go-live with Sherlock as it was not possible to operate both the new and old meter concurrently. To ensure a smooth transition despite this, Sherlock’s technical team developed the integration between driver app and taximeter in the most efficient and automated way possible. Driver statuses are carefully managed and drivers cannot switch status too early, for example, it is not possible to switch to ‘Passenger on Board’ if the driver has not turned the taximeter on. Instead, a notification to do this will be flagged to the driver. Additionally, drivers cannot ‘Finish Job’ with the taximeter running and will be prompted to turn it off. These features reduce human error and ensure the app and meter are both simple to use for drivers.
Outcomes
Taxis Melkior has benefitted from many improvements including significantly reducing the time taken to take a booking, more automation of allocation, the lifecycle of a job and driver statistics.
The business has also been able to start using an app to generate more bookings through an automated channel. They can also automate payments through online card payments in-app and Apple / Google Pay.
For operations staff, the call centre is much easier to manage through telephony including CLI and driver-customer call masking to protect privacy. Admin processes have been streamlined through driver shift reports/taximeter interactions being automated.
"Sherlock has exceeded all expectations, delivering exactly what it promised and more. The system runs flawlessly, and if I ever need support, the Sherlock team is incredibly responsive."