A newbie: Trying to buy a system:
I have a problem with Autocab. It was not the system, as we didnt buy it so I cannot say how good it is, or not, as the case may be. My problem was being told a price, then being told it would work with our phone system by the salesman, but being told it would not work with our phone system by the technical chappies. Then being told an altogether different price just as we were about to place an order, the "extra few thousand" being added simply to alter our phone system to suit, even though, at this time, the salesman was still selling us on the fact that it would work with our system.
Having just managed to convince everyone that we needed a computer system, I then lost my fight for it, as the "boss" said "there is no way I am going to spend that much on something that we dont yet even know if it will work with our phone system" or words to that effect.
Thus, all my work getting everyone here to accept a computer system was destroyed. Had we been told the truth from day one, this crisis would not have happened.
Other firms we approached:
Softsol (TaxiMate). Here, we had an entirely different approach from the salesman. The system seemed good and reliable, the salesman seemed entirely honest. Sadly, the system did not suit us, due to its development leaning towards the mobile phone rather than dedicated gear. Perhaps this system will show its head for the future, but it was not for us.
CabMaster. Again here, we spoke to a guy called Dean, and this guy did not even attempt to pull the wool over our eyes. He was totally honest about the goods ands bads of the system as it aplied to our operation, and was more than helpful with all the technical enquiries we had. Personally, I seriously wanted to buy from this chap, as clearly, he had given us the most help. At the end of the day, there were two reasons we didnt buy: the first was the (by now) reduced confidence caused by our first experience (as above), and the second was due to a local operator whom had once had Cabmaster and replaced it. He said it was overcomplex, difficult to train his staff up to speed on, and a bit behind the times viv a vis the other systems. He has now installed Auriga.
Diplomat/Midas. Initial enquiries simply didnt get a reply (as with Auriga). However, when I started talking to the guys from these two operations, they were the most helpful of all, and explained a whole lot of stuff to me, via TTF2 and over the phone. In terms of what I now know about systems, Diplomat have educated me most. Any questions I have had, have been answered promptly and I think accurately. I was a bit concerned about the in-fighting between the two (it seemed a bit like a family fued!). But the fight educated me enormously. But the information they freely gave me, leads me to believe, that Diplomat would come out top in terms of support. Others may care to clarify on that point, as, as I say, it is only opinion at this stage. My problem with Diplomat, is the support costs, and I am a little concerned about its complexity compared to the average controller/telephonists ability to F*** things up. We have no IT specialists on our firm.
Datamaster. This system I loved. And I loved the price. They were pretty helpful too with information, although sometimes it was suspect, depending who exactly you spoke to. My ONLY serious problem with datamaster, was that it kept crashing and this frightened the life out of me.
At the end of the day, my neck (so to speak) would be on the block if I bought the wrong system. While price is of course relevent, reliabilty and foolproof operation is the most important aspect. In price terms, the only factor is: is it cheaper and as reliable as staff costs for a manual system.
Several other firms we approached, simply did not reply to us.
I know from personal experience, a number of firms up and down the country, who have bought one system, then changed it later for Auriga. I know loads of Auriga operators who are happy to show me their gear in operation. They generally seem happy with it, but bemoan the fact that Auriga seem to have a take it or leave it, and rather arrogant attitude with regard to support etc. This would not "gell" well with us, being a small and almost family type of operation.
We also have an attitude problem with support costs ergo: Why should support cost so much? Is the system so unreliable that we need all this support?
So, bottom line. What do I do at the end of the day? What is my safest option?
The answer, sadly, is simple.
Stick with the manual system that we have got. My neck is safe with that.
_________________ There is Significant Unmet Demand for my Opinion.
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