FMS/AUSTROSOFT | SOFTWARE | NEWS
fms/Austrosoft pushes digital solutions for taxi and courier services
fms/Austrosoft uses the time during corona restrictions to bring modern innovations for tomorrow’s mobility solutions to market today.
Vienna/Graz, 17.09.2020 – fms/Austrosoft is a leading technology provider of complete solutions for dispatching of vehicle fleets. During the corona-induced restrictions, all forces were bundled to consistently progress the digital mobility solutions for tomorrow. “We have used the last few months intensively to develop more new mobility solutions than ever before in the company’s history,” stresses Michael Weiss, founder and CEO of the company group.
Overview
- The new fms Callbot is the digital agent of the 21st century and is already being used in the first taxi control centres in the DACH region.
- A compact fms fiscal total solution with digital basic recording, cash register and working time recording consolidates the different fiscal solution requirements in different European countries
- The dispatch software was expanded with a total solution for Mobility-On-Demand offers. These have the potential to become a real additional mainstay for the taxi industry. In order to ensure that these offers can also be used in pan-European initiatives in the future, fms/Austrosoft is working on standardised interfaces (myCorridor and TOMP) in a leading role for the taxi industry.
- Furthermore, the latest generation of the successful customer app will be launched this autumn, with the taxi.eu app also being the only taxi app to be offered in the Huawei App Store to date.
- The Internet ordering channels are being expanded with the business portal especially for the processing of employee trips and provide the taxi industry with a good opportunity to retain new business customers.
The fms Callbot takes the call centres of taxi centres to the next level
The fms Callbot is the digital agent of the 21st century for automating telephone ordering in taxi centres. It accepts pre-orders and immediate orders and can process any number of calls simultaneously. In addition, it is fully integrated into the dispatch system and checks the availability of vehicles with house number accuracy for each order. Since all calls are recorded, taxi dispatch centres no longer lose callers in the queue during peak periods. During the night hours, resources are used optimally. The fms Callbot reduces personnel costs, as costs are only incurred when orders are actually generated for the vehicles. The fms Callbot provides the caller with a completely new ordering experience and opens up networked and digital telephone ordering to the passengers.
The fms Callbot knows all addresses, all POIs, all public transport stops, all zones with special situations for ordering and all local exceptions. It can adapt to different language regions by modifying all language texts in real-time via an easy-to-use portal. The fms Callbot is already in use in the first dispatch centres in the DACH region and, in combination with the existing fms automation tools, fully automatically services 60% of taxi orders after the first weeks of operation.
Fiscal solution: three strong modules – comfort on a solid basis
Throughout Europe, legislation on digital data recording and the correct keeping of accounts is constantly being revised. This has also affected the taxi business for some years now. The aim is to record cash transactions chronologically and completely so that they cannot be manipulated afterwards.
In Austria, the fms/Austrosoft cash register solution has been successfully used in thousands of taxis for years. In Germany, the pilot operation of the digital basic recording of taximeter data is also running very satisfactorily. In the Netherlands, the regulations of the Hardware BCT will remain valid for a few more years, but considerations for a digital solution are already underway. And in the Flemish part of Belgium, following the partial liberalisation of passenger transport since the beginning of 2020, the requirements for digital recording have now also been tightened.
“In order to take greater account of pan-European developments in the different fiscal solutions, we are consolidating the fms/Austrosoft fiscal solutions into a compact overall fiscal solution with digital basic recording, cash register and working time recording,” emphasises Robert Abel, CEO of fms GmbH. Portals are provided for the entrepreneur in the secure fiscal cloud of fms/Austrosoft, which also covers the legally required archiving and data export. At the same time, the cash register solution is currently being adapted to comply with the TSE guidelines of the cash register security ordinance applicable in Germany. It will be ready for use in autumn 2020. All receipts, which taxi drivers will then generate digitally directly in the vehicle via fms vehicle equipment and print out if necessary, will be electronically signed by a technical security device (TSE) operated in the cloud and stored in accordance with the regulations already in force.
“The aim of the overall fiscal solution from fms/Austrosoft is to provide the driver with simple operation and the taxi company with not only legal security, but also maximum possible simplification and automation of his accounting. From our point of view, fiscal solutions only make sense if the entrepreneur receives real added value,” says Robert Abel.
Mobility-On-Demand: The future starts now
Under the heading of “on-demand mobility”, more and more initiatives are emerging throughout Europe that combine traditional public transport with complementary, demand-based services to provide innovative mobility offers. The focus here is increasingly shifting towards digitisation and integration into the overall offer. By adding ecological aspects and broad usability to social motives, demand-based offers can now actively contribute to changing mobility behaviour towards public transport.
Smartphones represent the most important transport innovation of the 21st century for mobility consumers. They enable mobility on demand with less timetable and more flexibility. For taxi companies, these services not only offer a new source of income, but they have the potential to become a real additional mainstay.
fms/Austrosoft extends the shared taxi software already in use in countless cities by the components that are asked in on-demand solutions. This effects especially the real-time on-demand solution. Additional passengers can be added to an already occupied vehicle who need a taxi at the same time along their original route – without any lead times. In addition, the dispatch system will be expanded to include capacity planning specifically designed for on-demand solutions, in order to allow large fleets to provide additional services tailored to their needs and to avoid overcrowding of a few vehicles for small fleets.
The innovation of the new fms/Austrosoft total solution for Mobility-On-Demand is especially the focus on the integration of these new mobility offers into existing fleets. Only this enables new services to be operated sustainably and at the same time ensures the full utilisation of the on-demand vehicles. This interaction enables the completely seamless integration of on-demand offers and individual taxi orders in one customer app.
“These extensions are the basis for a wide range of on-demand mobility services and can be freely configured by our customers, resulting in a mobility solution that can be flexibly adapted to regional requirements,” explains Alexander Bokor, head of the fms/Austrosoft support team. In addition, fms/Austrosoft is working on pan-European initiatives such as myCorridor or TOMP, which aim to develop standardised interfaces between the individual mobility providers in order to enable faster installation of new service offers in the future.
First taxi app in the Huawei App Store and the business portal opens up new customers for the taxi industry
Regarding customer order apps for smartphones, there was already news in summer: taxi.eu was the first and so far only taxi app to be certified for the new Huawei App Store, so that taxi orders via smartphone are also possible in the new Huawei device generations. With a market share of 20%, China’s largest smartphone manufacturer has already become an important global player. A modification of the order app was necessary, as Huawei is no longer allowed to offer Google functions, which were previously required in the taxi.eu app.
In general, the latest generation of fms/Austrosoft apps will be launched in autumn, offering numerous usability improvements and new functions under Android, iOS/Apple and Huawei. This app generation will not only support state-of-the-art on-demand booking processes, but also optimally integrate business account functions.
The business accounts enable pan-european business bookings with cashless payment on company invoices as well as the administration via a separate business portal of authorised employees, trips and invoices. The business portal enables supra-regional applications for large companies, such as those currently being implemented for Deutsche Bahn as part of the project “Digitisation of Taxi Replacement Trips”. This solution, developed under the leadership of fms/Austrosoft together with the Bundesverband Taxi and other manufacturers of dispatching systems, will enable the stress-free and digital invoicing of all train voucher trips throughout Germany and represents both a milestone and a beacon project in the digitisation of the taxi business.
FMS/AUSTROSOFT | SOFTWARE | NEWS
fms/Austrosoft pushes digital solutions for taxi and courier services
fms/Austrosoft uses the time during corona restrictions to bring modern innovations for tomorrow’s mobility solutions to market today.
Vienna/Graz, 17.09.2020 – fms/Austrosoft is a leading technology provider of complete solutions for dispatching of vehicle fleets. During the corona-induced restrictions, all forces were bundled to consistently progress the digital mobility solutions for tomorrow. “We have used the last few months intensively to develop more new mobility solutions than ever before in the company’s history,” stresses Michael Weiss, founder and CEO of the company group.
Overview
- The new fms Callbot is the digital agent of the 21st century and is already being used in the first taxi control centres in the DACH region.
- A compact fms fiscal total solution with digital basic recording, cash register and working time recording consolidates the different fiscal solution requirements in different European countries
- The dispatch software was expanded with a total solution for Mobility-On-Demand offers. These have the potential to become a real additional mainstay for the taxi industry. In order to ensure that these offers can also be used in pan-European initiatives in the future, fms/Austrosoft is working on standardised interfaces (myCorridor and TOMP) in a leading role for the taxi industry.
- Furthermore, the latest generation of the successful customer app will be launched this autumn, with the taxi.eu app also being the only taxi app to be offered in the Huawei App Store to date.
- The Internet ordering channels are being expanded with the business portal especially for the processing of employee trips and provide the taxi industry with a good opportunity to retain new business customers.
The fms Callbot takes the call centres of taxi centres to the next level
The fms Callbot is the digital agent of the 21st century for automating telephone ordering in taxi centres. It accepts pre-orders and immediate orders and can process any number of calls simultaneously. In addition, it is fully integrated into the dispatch system and checks the availability of vehicles with house number accuracy for each order. Since all calls are recorded, taxi dispatch centres no longer lose callers in the queue during peak periods. During the night hours, resources are used optimally. The fms Callbot reduces personnel costs, as costs are only incurred when orders are actually generated for the vehicles. The fms Callbot provides the caller with a completely new ordering experience and opens up networked and digital telephone ordering to the passengers.
The fms Callbot knows all addresses, all POIs, all public transport stops, all zones with special situations for ordering and all local exceptions. It can adapt to different language regions by modifying all language texts in real-time via an easy-to-use portal. The fms Callbot is already in use in the first dispatch centres in the DACH region and, in combination with the existing fms automation tools, fully automatically services 60% of taxi orders after the first weeks of operation.
Fiscal solution: three strong modules – comfort on a solid basis
Throughout Europe, legislation on digital data recording and the correct keeping of accounts is constantly being revised. This has also affected the taxi business for some years now. The aim is to record cash transactions chronologically and completely so that they cannot be manipulated afterwards.
In Austria, the fms/Austrosoft cash register solution has been successfully used in thousands of taxis for years. In Germany, the pilot operation of the digital basic recording of taximeter data is also running very satisfactorily. In the Netherlands, the regulations of the Hardware BCT will remain valid for a few more years, but considerations for a digital solution are already underway. And in the Flemish part of Belgium, following the partial liberalisation of passenger transport since the beginning of 2020, the requirements for digital recording have now also been tightened.
“In order to take greater account of pan-European developments in the different fiscal solutions, we are consolidating the fms/Austrosoft fiscal solutions into a compact overall fiscal solution with digital basic recording, cash register and working time recording,” emphasises Robert Abel, CEO of fms GmbH. Portals are provided for the entrepreneur in the secure fiscal cloud of fms/Austrosoft, which also covers the legally required archiving and data export. At the same time, the cash register solution is currently being adapted to comply with the TSE guidelines of the cash register security ordinance applicable in Germany. It will be ready for use in autumn 2020. All receipts, which taxi drivers will then generate digitally directly in the vehicle via fms vehicle equipment and print out if necessary, will be electronically signed by a technical security device (TSE) operated in the cloud and stored in accordance with the regulations already in force.
“The aim of the overall fiscal solution from fms/Austrosoft is to provide the driver with simple operation and the taxi company with not only legal security, but also maximum possible simplification and automation of his accounting. From our point of view, fiscal solutions only make sense if the entrepreneur receives real added value,” says Robert Abel.
Mobility-On-Demand: The future starts now
Under the heading of “on-demand mobility”, more and more initiatives are emerging throughout Europe that combine traditional public transport with complementary, demand-based services to provide innovative mobility offers. The focus here is increasingly shifting towards digitisation and integration into the overall offer. By adding ecological aspects and broad usability to social motives, demand-based offers can now actively contribute to changing mobility behaviour towards public transport.
Smartphones represent the most important transport innovation of the 21st century for mobility consumers. They enable mobility on demand with less timetable and more flexibility. For taxi companies, these services not only offer a new source of income, but they have the potential to become a real additional mainstay.
fms/Austrosoft extends the shared taxi software already in use in countless cities by the components that are asked in on-demand solutions. This effects especially the real-time on-demand solution. Additional passengers can be added to an already occupied vehicle who need a taxi at the same time along their original route – without any lead times. In addition, the dispatch system will be expanded to include capacity planning specifically designed for on-demand solutions, in order to allow large fleets to provide additional services tailored to their needs and to avoid overcrowding of a few vehicles for small fleets.
The innovation of the new fms/Austrosoft total solution for Mobility-On-Demand is especially the focus on the integration of these new mobility offers into existing fleets. Only this enables new services to be operated sustainably and at the same time ensures the full utilisation of the on-demand vehicles. This interaction enables the completely seamless integration of on-demand offers and individual taxi orders in one customer app.
“These extensions are the basis for a wide range of on-demand mobility services and can be freely configured by our customers, resulting in a mobility solution that can be flexibly adapted to regional requirements,” explains Alexander Bokor, head of the fms/Austrosoft support team. In addition, fms/Austrosoft is working on pan-European initiatives such as myCorridor or TOMP, which aim to develop standardised interfaces between the individual mobility providers in order to enable faster installation of new service offers in the future.
First taxi app in the Huawei App Store and the business portal opens up new customers for the taxi industry
Regarding customer order apps for smartphones, there was already news in summer: taxi.eu was the first and so far only taxi app to be certified for the new Huawei App Store, so that taxi orders via smartphone are also possible in the new Huawei device generations. With a market share of 20%, China’s largest smartphone manufacturer has already become an important global player. A modification of the order app was necessary, as Huawei is no longer allowed to offer Google functions, which were previously required in the taxi.eu app.
In general, the latest generation of fms/Austrosoft apps will be launched in autumn, offering numerous usability improvements and new functions under Android, iOS/Apple and Huawei. This app generation will not only support state-of-the-art on-demand booking processes, but also optimally integrate business account functions.
The business accounts enable pan-european business bookings with cashless payment on company invoices as well as the administration via a separate business portal of authorised employees, trips and invoices. The business portal enables supra-regional applications for large companies, such as those currently being implemented for Deutsche Bahn as part of the project “Digitisation of Taxi Replacement Trips”. This solution, developed under the leadership of fms/Austrosoft together with the Bundesverband Taxi and other manufacturers of dispatching systems, will enable the stress-free and digital invoicing of all train voucher trips throughout Germany and represents both a milestone and a beacon project in the digitisation of the taxi business.