Firm works with Google maps to provide fleet management software

Greater Anglia rail company will roll out a taxi-booking app in 2014, developed by fleet-management software provider T Dispatch and powered by Google Maps.

The software firm is developing the app for rail operator Greater Anglia to allow customers to book cabs to and from stations.

T Disptach, a provider of software solutions for the fleet management industry, such as cab firms or the AA, is using Google Maps to provide its clients with a customisable “tool kit” to build driver monitoring and dispatching systems. Bryony Cooper, CEO of T Dispatch, said: "The whole system is totally web based and we've built it around Google's mapping tools."

The use of Google Maps with a T Dispatch system enables it to provide customers with the capabilities they need, using a name that is trusted worldwide. Cooper explained: "We needed something that was as comprehensive as possible, and especially because we're selling the system globally." 

The accuracy of Google Maps, coupled with the personalised systems provided by T Dispatch, is being used to improve efficiency. "Generally in the [taxi cab] industry drivers would spend around 30% of their time with the car empty, and they call it dead mileage because it's just wasted" Cooper said. "By using our system, and using intelligent auto-dispatching algorithms, we're working to reduce the time with the car spent empty."

T Dispatch is also developing a system for the AA. Cooper said: "The AA would actually be able to locate their customers and send out a driver to go and collect them on the side of the road using Google mapping tools."

T Dispatch’s software is a cloud-based application. "Dispatch systems have been around in transport companies for the last 20/30 years. But the legacy systems are very costly hardware instillations", Cooper said. "The advantage of having something cloud based is they can actually access the system anywhere, it's much lighter and faster and they just pay for the amount that they're using." 

T Dispatch can also be used to upgrade legacy systems that currently cannot be used with other systems on the market. Cooper said: “We can actually use our API to integrate with existing booking apps.”

In the future T Dispatch also aim to help companies reduce the environmental impact of transport by developing cab sharing systems. Cooper said: “If we can show them the environmental benefits by calculating the shortest routes so they’re cutting down CO2 emission and getting rid of that dead mileage, it’s something really positive for a company branding image as well.”