Phone Systems for Taxi & Private Hire Firms

Feature by feature: why SwitchboardFREE works for taxi and private hire firms

Every SwitchboardFREE account comes with over 40 features. These are the ones that make the biggest difference to taxi and private hire firms, and why.

Call queuing

At chucking-out time on a Friday or Saturday, a caller who hears an engaged tone simply rings the next firm on their list. Call queuing holds callers with music instead, and queue position announcements tell them their place, so they hold on for the next free operator rather than booking with a competitor.

Ring groups

When the queue builds, an operator sitting idle while one phone rings is a lost fare. Ring groups ring every operator's desk phone, softphone or app at once, so the first free person takes the booking.

Local and national numbers

Customers trust a local number, and in many towns they still ring the number on the card they have kept for years. A local 01 number for each town you cover can ring the same booking office, with extra numbers added through the paid multi-number package.

Call screening

With several towns' numbers ringing one office, an operator needs to know which town the caller rang before saying hello. Call screening plays a short message first saying which number was dialled, so they answer with the right name.

Calls from your business number

Drivers ringing passengers from their own mobiles puts personal numbers in strangers' phones, and passengers then ring the driver direct for the next job. Calls made from the SwitchboardFREE app show the firm's number, so drivers' numbers stay private and repeat bookings come back to the office.

Unlimited UK callsIncluded on Unlimited

Ringing customers to say the car is outside, or to confirm an early airport pickup, adds up to a lot of outbound calls every shift. The Unlimited plan includes unlimited UK calls (fair use applies), so operators and drivers do not have to count minutes.

Time-of-day routing

Late at night, one controller may handle every call while the day team has gone home. Time-of-day routing switches calls to the night controller's phone at the hour you set, and back to the full office in the morning.

Divert calls to your mobile

In a smaller firm, the controller is not always at a desk, especially on a quiet weeknight. Calls to the booking number can ring the SwitchboardFREE app on a mobile or a softphone, or divert to any UK landline or mobile, so whoever is on can take bookings.

DepartmentsStandard & Unlimited plans

Business account customers should not wait behind Saturday night street bookings. Departments add a menu option such as press 2 for business accounts, ringing whoever manages them, with its own voicemail.

Music on holdStandard & Unlimited plans

On a busy night, an operator often has to hold a caller while checking which car is nearest. Music on hold plays while they wait, so they know they are still connected and do not hang up.

Call recordingPaid add-on

When a fare, a pickup time or a complaint about a driver is disputed, it usually comes down to what was said on the booking call. The call recording add-on records all or some calls so you can play back and download them. Tell callers when calls are recorded.

Voicemail to email

Not every call is for a taxi right now: account customers book next week's airport runs, and local businesses ask about contract work. If they reach voicemail, voicemail to email sends the message as an audio file with a written transcript, so the office can confirm the booking in the morning.