Auckland Taxi Co-op - New Zealand

The Customer

Auckland Co-op Taxis is Auckland's, and New Zealand's, largest taxi company with a fleet of around 850 cars working in the upper North Island.

The Challenge

Managing a fleet of taxis is a major logistical challenge for Auckland Co-op Taxis.

Having used Tait T198 radios for more than 15 years Auckland Co-op was operating a SMS system (a basic plotting system with no GPS) that was designed and built in England. The company wanted something that would allow them to communicate with their drivers by voice and data, and that would also provide them with the ability to pin point the positions of vacant cars.

After considering a range of options Auckland Co-op settled on a system based on Tait mobile telemetry radios connected to a Raywood interface and GPS unit. The flexible Tait mobiles are the link between the Raywood interface, Raywood GPS and mobile data terminal.

The Solution

A conventional system was the most effi cient form of communication for Auckland Taxi's operation. Because of the company's high volume of short calls the benefi ts of a trunked system didn't suit this situation.

By staying with a conventional system Auckland Taxi was able to use its existing conventional network based on Tait base stations/repeaters. These operate via Telecom infrastructure using Tait base stations/repeaters from around 14 different sites through the North Island.

More than 50 per cent of a taxi company's costs are in operating a call centre and the remainder is the hardware in the vehicles.

By setting up a centralised control centre, Auckland Co-op Taxis can provide a bureau for other taxi companies in Auckland and other regions of New Zealand. This system will allow the company to add up to 2,000 vehicles and offer considerable cost efficiencies for them and their customers.