Frequently Asked Questions
Can I enter pay-ins myself, or do drivers have to do the pay-in entry?
Many of my drivers have no computer experience - will they be able to use TaxiCab Manager?
How are faults recorded by the drivers?
Can I enter my own types of faults?
How many driver terminals will I need?
Is TaxiCab Manager a full accounting program?
Can TaxiCab Manager handle different tax structures?
What operating system do I need and how fast do the computers need to be?
Do I need to make daily backups?
Do the computers need UPS's (Uninterruptable Power Supplies)?
What savings and other benefits am I likely to achieve?
What does it cost?
Can I enter pay-ins myself, or do drivers have to do the pay-in entry?
The choice is entirely yours and would probably depend on your method of operation, number of vehicles and number of drivers. In a smaller type of operation, pay-in entry would probably be done by yourself or a member of your staff. The real savings are realised when the drivers do their own entry, thus saving you the time of doing it. Where your drivers are in a subcontractor or bailor-baillee agreement this makes even more sense, since they are responsible for entering their own correct figures.
Many of my drivers have no computer experience - will they be able to use TaxiCab Manager?
Drivers use meters, despatch systems and EFTPOS terminals on a daily basis so they have some knowledge on entering data and waiting for a response. This is all the knowledge that is needed. Currently there are about 954 drivers on the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Byron Bay, Nelson Bay, Adelade, Casino and Ballina using the driver-entry terminals. These drivers range in age from 20 to 82 years old - many had never used a computer before. What we have found is that drivers who know how to use TaxiCab Manager are happy to show others how to use the system and in fact take some pride in doing so! The program is designed to minimise typing - for example, the fault recording uses a simplified point-and-click diagram of the car to isolate faults.
All on-screen buttons in the driver-entry section are made especially big, so that they are easy to see and easy to click on.
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How are faults recorded by the drivers?
When a driver comes to the faults section and clicks the YES - THE CAR DOES HAVE FAULTS button, the faults section appears which has large buttons for the different sections of the car, such as brakes, tyres, mechanical, upholstery, suspension, transmission, lights etc. If the driver clicks on the brakes, tyres or lights buttons, a diagram of the car appears where the driver clicks on the faulty item, such as hail light or right park light. For brakes and tyres, the driver clicks on the offending item, such as the left front wheel, then clicks a button such as Worn, Losing Air, Pulling To Left, Pulling To Right etc.
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Can I enter my own types of faults?
You most certainly can. The latest version allows you to enter your own fault categories and then to enter faults into those categories. For example, taxi cameras have recently been introduced, so a new fault type was added by the administrator, with items such as 'warning light on'; 'not self-testing' etc
The fault categories that rely on a graphic for drivers to click on, such as the brakes diagram shown above, lights, tyres, seatbelts and body damage are fixed and cannot be changed - however even with these you can change the fault types. So for example, you can change the word 'shuddering' to 'sticking' if you prefer.
How many driver terminals will I need?
We have found that one terminal for fifteen to twenty-five cars is sufficient. This depends on the time of your change-over and whether it is staggered or not. Obviously if you have drivers forming a long queue to use a single terminal, they will not be well-disposed to the system! On average it takes a driver between one and four minutes to enter a pay-in, depending on the number of dockets the driver has and the level of detail you require your drivers to enter. Depots that enter dockets into an accounting program for remittance will find substantial time-savings in having the drivers enter the docket information, such as passenger, pickup, destination, voucher number, amount etc. A list of dockets can be printed for any date range summarised by docket type - this then becomes a pro-forma invoice which can be sent to your docket providor. All you need do is enter a single total amount in your accounting program, rather than each individual docket - you can then send this one-line invoice along with the docket detail print-out to your providor. It is possible to transfer the individual docket detail directly to your accounting program - this is an optional extra and the cost depends on which accounting program you use.
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Is TaxiCab Manager a full accounting program?
From the perspective of being able to produce a profit and loss report for your vehicles, it IS an accounting program. From the perspective of double-entry book-keeping, it is NOT an accounting program. Income is generated from your pay-ins, which are either entered by the drivers themselves or by admin staff. Expenses are recorded via the expenses module, and the profitability module correlates all income and expenses for each month to give you a profit and loss report for each vehicle. General ledger expenses such as heat, light, power, telephone, general insurance, staff wages etc would still need to be recorded in your accounting program.
Can TaxiCab Manager handle different tax structures?
TaxiCab Manager allows you to set up two different tax structures - you can enter your own names for the tax, such as VAT, GST or simply TAX. You can also enter your own tax amounts and can easily update them if the tax rates change in the future.
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What operating system do I need and how fast do the computers need to be?
TaxiCab Manager is fully cross-platform and runs on Windows Vista, XP, 2000 as well as on Mac OS X 10.3 and above. Where a server is required Mac OSX 10.3 and above or OSX Server, Windows Server Pro 2003 are suitable. In fact, some depots operate a mixed platform, with all of the above operating systems working concurrently. For printer and scanner driver compatability, newer operating systems are the simplest to set up.
As far as machine speed goes, the driver machines can be any type of budget machine - some depots have recycled their older office PC's for the driver entry and bought new machines for the administrative functions. Certainly the faster the administration PC's are and the more RAM they have, the better the performance. - that said, most depots are using standard PC's running at between 2 and 3Ghz with 512Mb RAM and this provides ample performance. Nowadays the cost of a quad-core processor is reasonable enough to use that for desktop machines.
If you will be using a total of more than five PC's (including the driver terminals) then you will require a server and the appropriate server software. For optimum performance and data integrity, the server should be running the database and nothing else. The term server needs a definition, as for most people it brings to mind a large and expensive machine. For the purposes of running the database, the server can be a high-end desktop machine, preferably running a quad-core processor at around 3Ghz and with either SCSI or serial ATA hard drives. Using a server with redundant power supplies and a RAID configuration will increase the stability of the system. We are happy to provide advice on server configuration.
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Do I need to make daily backups?
Apart from the two constants of death and taxes, the other constant is that at some point, all computers will eventually fail. After implementing TaxiCab Manager, you will probably find as other depots have found, that it really becomes the king-pin of your business as it becomes the repository of all of the car, driver, owner and expense data. Certainly the operation of your depot is not dependant on the program being up and operational - in an extended power outage, for example, drivers will be still be out in the cars collecting fares. and pay-ins can be entered at any later date. In the event of a computer failure, IF you have been making daily backups onto tape or CD, the most you will have to re-enter is one shift worth of pay-ins which would entail about an hours work.
So the answer to the above question, in short, is YES, YES and YES. If you are using a server, the installation procedure includes setting up automatic backup schedules that backup the entire database at intervals during the day onto a location on your hard drive and/or preferably to another hard drive. You still need to have your IT person set up a backup procedure that puts these backups onto either CD, DVD or tape for storage off-site.
If you are not using a server, the machine hosting the program can be set to also make backups. These also need to be then copied onto a CD, DVD or tape drive or to some remote internet location..
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Do the computers need UPS's (Uninterruptable Power Supplies)
On the server an unqualified, absolute yes. If your depot is smaller and you are not running a server, then the machine that is acting as the host of TaxiCab Manager MUST have a UPS. The size of the UPS (as in how long will the PC run on battery power) is not critical - the most important thing is that in the event of a sudden power loss, the computer is still able to continue running for a time, allowing the operator time to close the database files.
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What savings and other benefits am I likely to achieve?
The main saving that users have reported is time - this will vary according to the number of vehicles you own or are managing. The program is based around a single point of data entry - the pay-in. Once this is entered, all of the reports and the creation of figures to give your accountant are available at a click of the the button.
Users of the single-owner version typically save 10 to 25 hours a month. In addition, the tedious process of checking to make sure that all the EFTPOS dockets and other vouchers have been paid is usually so time consuming that most owners just don't bother - TaxiCab Manager makes this process quick and easy. Depending on who your provider is, the program can even perform an electronic data match to instantly tell you which EFTPOS payments are not paid or incorrect.
Fleet owners report savings of 2 to 5 hours per day - as well as being able to instantly access management information which previously would have taken hours to collate. ALL data pertinent to drivers such as driver statistics, accidents, fines, monies owed due to overs/unders and savings, holidays taken, no-shows for shifts and driver training is stored with each driver profile. Over time you are thus able to instantly see the past performance of drivers.
Users of the workshop version have found that using TaxiCab Manager has resulted in workshop profitability increasing - mainly due to the ease with which mechanics record parts onto service invoices. No more deciphering of illegible, grease-smeared handwriting. The mechanics themselves enjoy using the program since it makes their jobs easiers - all they are doing when collecting parts is to scan them with the barcode scanner. The other benefit reported is the fact that a vehicle fault report is produced on a daily basis - according to the faults that the drivers have entered. This means that small problems with cars can be checked before they become big, expensive problems.
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What does it cost?
The cost of TaxiCab Manager varies according to the size of your fleet, the number of terminals etc. Contact us for further information.