Bournemouth's United Taxis Ltd is a classic example.  Established in 1994, the company has grown to the point where, with 158 vehicles, it is by far the largest company in Bournemouth - and this growth has been achieved through a commitment to technology, quality of service, and active promotion of the company and its products.

This is a company which obviously cares about the impression it gives out.  Company director Dlear Raza explains the driver uniform policy: "We have a driver uniform, with logo-branded ties.  We're just generally smarter than the other companies," he says.

Technology is another area where United is leading the way.  They have always been a forward-thinking company, having been the first company in the area to go computerised when (as Streamline Radio Taxis, which later joined with another company to form United) they installed Auriga's Sirius system in 1998 – and they're still the only company in the immediate area with a GPS satellite tracking system.  Sirius served United well, but this is a company that doesn't rest on its laurels: "We are a progressive company," explains Dlear.  "For a company of our size it is essential to invest in technology."

Therefore, Auriga's flagship Evocab data dispatch system was installed in March 2007 to take United to the next level, alongside an all-singing, all-dancing new Meridian phone system.  The reasons for Evocab were two-fold: 1) United wanted to use IVR, Evo's auto-booking add-on module, and 2) they felt Sirius could no longer cope with their requirements: they needed Evocab's Intelligent Dispatch.

Six months later, Evocab has already had the desired impact: "The Dispatch system just gives out as many jobs as possible: it's faster and better," explains company Chairman Ian O'Connor.  "Before, you would sometimes have cars and jobs left over, but now the system finds them.  It's brilliant."

For Director Jacky Emery, the difference is the effect Evocab has had on the office staff: "The dispatcher has less to do, because the system is dispatching more work," she explains.  "The dispatcher isn't worrying about sending out work, so has more time to act as a help desk, or to deal with the drivers."

But the most impressive thing about Evocab is the way that its Intelligent Dispatch system cleverly mimics the way that a human operator would work by allowing the company to use different ‘rules' at particular times.  United have a standard rule, and a ‘night time' rule which rewards drivers for waiting time, allowing cars to run a little further than in busy periods, and ensuring a fair distribution of work.

With Evocab the drivers are getting a better service from the company, but the office staff benefit too.  Before, office staff had a lot of admin work to do for school runs and regular jobs, but Evocab cleverly groups them all together, allowing them all to be edited in seconds.

Of course the IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system was United's other big requirement – and it is working really well.  United have four lines of IVR, which effectively provides four computerised telephonists, on-hand to take bookings.  IVR is already having an impact (20% of all jobs; 27% at peak), but Ian is looking for more: "I think it's great," he says.  "We're really pleased, but we want more.  We want to get that 20% up to 30."

A huge part of the success of IVR is the way the public have adapted to it: "It's so simple: the customers pick up a phone; they press a button; their taxi arrives.  It's brilliant," Ian continues.

A further benefit of Evocab has been in the training area, where new staff are easier to source and train.  "Being a real Windows system, it's easier to train new staff," Ian explains.

With the technology in place and the staff happy, United's attention has naturally shifted to promoting their new services.  Ian explains: "We're the market leader in Dorset in terms of numbers of jobs and services, and that's where we have to stay."  To that end, United have developed a new website (www.556677.com), and are aggressively promoting their company with full-page local adverts and business cards.

Intriguingly, Auriga have helped with the promotion side of things too, thanks to their new Promotion Pack, which they are offering as a free service to customers to help them promote their Auriga products.  The pack contains advertising design templates which can be modified to include a company's logo and phone number, and Dlear is pleased with the results: "We have been using the designs in our new adverts to tell people about our new IVR and Textback products, and they've gone down really well."

Looking to the future, United's focus is on further use of technology and promotion.  Text Points, where customers can use SMS messaging to book an ASAP taxi are on the way, and will be placed in prominent locations around town, such as University buildings.  Clearly this is a company determined not to stand still: we wish them continued success.