5I work for a software house which produces software for the taxi industry and am just wondering if I could get some feedback on the suitability of the system being used by couriers.
I would imagine that in the way our software used to be sold that the answer would be no - there used to be long term contracts and the whole system was sold as one unit with features like automated texting to the customer that their taxi is waiting etc included that wouldn't have a use in this industry. However in light of the development of a new system the existing system has now been released at a massively reduced price. Customers can now download the "voice" system (where the bookings are taken on the system but the work is dispatched over the radio) for a free trial for 30 days and then they pay a once off fee of £75 if they want to go ahead. But then if they want to attach PDA's to the system they then pay £3 per week for licences (no contracts they just pay per week as they want this function & this can be done during the 30 day trial period). This is why I'm wondering if this would be of use to the courier trade.
Realistically you would have to pay £80 for the UK address file which gives the system all the grid references for all the postal addresses in the UK. The system runs on android so these would be the features you would get for the £155 one off payment and then £3 per PDA software licence;
Booking and dispatch software where you put in the pickup, drop-offs and any stops along the way.
Village level mapping showing the GPS locations of vehicles in close to real time.
Live vehicle tracking and historical vehicle tracing
The software for the PDA's which has quite a few gizmos - messaging ability, integration with Google Maps, ability to update status in real time ie Clear/ Passenger (or in this case cargo) on board etc.
Then there are a load of other optional extras which may or may not be of use in the courier business.
If anyone is willing to give it a go and give me some feedback the web address is cabmasterpayg the cheapest way to trial the system is just to download it for free and buy 1 PDA licence for a week and all you will pay in total is £3. You just don't buy the pervaisive licence at the end of 30 days. (I will warn you in advance though you do need at least a basic working knowledge of computers to get it all up and running). The system is guaranteed and supported for HTC WildfireS and above in the HTC range of androids but it will work on a range of android devices although you would need to test how they run.
Any feedback would be appreciated as to whether or not the software is suitable for use by couriers.