Dear Customer,
This article will go through some commonly asked themes regarding the relationship between yourself (the vendor) and your integrated iGo aggregators (the agent) and how to make sure you're in the right place to receive work.
Our Aggregators.
Aggregators have different operational practices, so speaking with the aggregators directly is the best way to introduce yourself and understand how each other functions on a day to day basis. It's also a great way to understand everyone's expectations, pricing structures, areas you both cover, as well as the types of jobs available that you can mutually accommodate.
Note: Aggregators cover different areas of the UK, so it's important to speak to them. With this in mind, this is also so we can map your iGo coverage appropriately to accommodate the aggregators' coverage areas. This is to ensure you're able to receive bookings or perhaps to expand your coverage so you're able to take on work for aggregators which you wouldn't normally cover in your day to day.
Cancellations and Capacity.
In a bid to keep aggregator cancellations down, firstly we need to make sure your coverage area is setup properly as mentioned above, this will reduce the chances of jobs being cancelled due to distance to pickup issues, as although this may not be your fault, it will disincentivise aggregators in sending work to operators with a high cancel rate - this is also true for vehicle availability, particularly with ASAP jobs, we want to make sure both parties are happy with the exchange of work, which is why communicating your areas of availability and capacity is important.
Regarding Onboarding And Aggregator Relations.
Please view the following link for a full list of available aggregators, as well as brief explanations on how they operate pricing-wise, be it a direct payment to your iGo wallet or an invoiced account, and how some send their pricing directly as opposed to using your own tariffs.
https://support.autocab.com/hc/en-gb/articles/12996899327901-Aggregator-List
As mentioned in the above article: "You must contact the remaining aggregators to arrange the connection from their end to your system, and to sign any required contracts or agreements with them."
This is of course during your initial setup of iGo, however, if you've been on the iGo network for a while, this is a great time to contact new aggregators who you've never worked with or get in touch and re-establish communication with those you may of worked with in the past.
On Aggregator Optimisation.
Communication is key for your work with aggregators, once you've established communication with their team, there's a few things we can do to optimise and what to look out for.
1. Coverage Area.
Your iGo Coverage area is a crucial part of your job allocation on the iGo network.
Note: If you're still in the onboarding process and don't have a coverage configured, please submit a google maps image showing your desired area on the onboarding ticket.
You'll want to map your iGo coverage to the areas you are able to cover; or may want to cover, as previously mentioned above. Taking on work in new areas is a key aspect of iGo, which is where a change of coverage can come in to play, or to simply tweak your existing area to better cover and receive more work in places you traditionally operate.
Alternatively, if you only wish to receive pre-booked work consistently out of area, we can extend this coverage within reason to accommodate this.
It really comes down to what is best for your business, as well as where particular aggregators may want to dispatch work from. As such, it's best to communicate your coverage area with them and to also learn about their operating areas too.
Note: Your iGo coverage applies to every aggregator you're integrated with, we cannot define per account coverage, so bear this in mind.
Please book in a call with us to review your iGo coverage @ support@igomobility.tech
You can view your current iGo coverage via the iGo Portal via https://igoportal.autocab.net/ under the My Profile > Coverage Tab. We recommend that you send a screenshot of this to aggregators.
If you require access to your profile on the iGo Portal, please raise a ticket @ support@igomobility.tech
2. Pricing.
Your pricing for aggregator account work can vary from aggregator to aggregator, e.g. Arriva send their own pricing from their system directly on the booking they send you via integration, as such, tariffs on your system will not take effect. Whereas aggregators such as Addison Lee and Jyrney will simply use your default variable pricing or a tariff you've assigned directly to their account.
It's important to speak with the aggregator to find out how they operate so in the case of Arriva, you can agree on the pricing they send, or in the case of Jyrney, you can setup a bespoke tariff for them on the account, using the "Use Selected Tariffs Only" Tariff Mode shown below. You're also able to add surcharges to these accounts to uplift the price if you'd prefer to use your default pricing as shown:
If you're able to assign tariffs or apply surcharges, we advise you keep these at a reasonable level, as this is a marketplace, the aggregators can choose the best pricing available to them if there are multiple operators in within the same coverage. However, this is not always a deciding factor in why fleets are chosen over others.
4. Booking Controls.
If you wish to control iGo bookings on your system, you must use Booking Controls and enable / disable the Cab Exchange option to block or allow iGo work based on the specific zones and times you have set on the configuration. Below is a basic guide for this, but you can always raise a ticket with support if you're struggling to implement this.
https://support.autocab.com/hc/en-gb/articles/4419530491281-Configuring-Booking-Controls-365-Management
5. iGo Capabilities.
The way in which aggregators assign specific capabilities to jobs is through the Cab Exchange capability configuration found in 365 Management > Booking > Booking Source > Cab Exchange > Capabilities Tab.
Here you will see a list of categories, i.e. Vehicle Types, Vehicle Categories and so on; underneath which is the type to capability mappings, we must have a system capability mapped in here to required types etc i.e. An aggregator will send a Saloon vehicle type with their integration job, if you have an assigned capability which is in turn assigned to a vehicle on your system, the mapped Saloon capability will be added to the booking in ghost and will therefore be passed to the respective vehicle.
Therefore, it's important to make sure that a corresponding capability is mapped to vehicle types or facilities which the aggregator requires.
They can provide you with a list of types they would send for you to ensure there's a proper capability assigned to it, or you can let them know you don't provide certain types of vehicles too.
Most aggregators will use a few types, like Saloon, Coach, Minibus, but there may be some Wheelchair or executive jobs too. You can let them know which types and which capabilities are assigned.
Note: Enabling the "Override Standard Mappings" checkbox will allow you to assign passenger app & iGo capabilities separately. Please bear in mind that the iGo config applies to all iGo jobs and cannot be configured per account.
6. iGo Agreement - Terms and Conditions.
For your reference, here is a web version of the iGo T&Cs.
https://www.igomobility.tech/en/termsconditions.php
Please note the agreed booking KPIs.
If you have any questions about this article, please raise a ticket with support@igomobility.tech
Link to the main iGo help section:
https://support.autocab.com/hc/en-gb/categories/4846778702109-iGo-Portal
7. iGo Addons.
Local National Mode / iGo App.
Local National Mode is an add-on for iGo that enables your Passenger App to be used outside of your iGo coverage area. This allows other iGo Local National enabled operators to offer jobs outside of their area if it is within their iGo coverage area. In addition, you will also receive job offers when customers are booking in your area via another operator's passenger app, which opens up your services to a wider range of customers.
See the below article for a more comprehensive explanation:
https://support.autocab.com/hc/en-gb/articles/16032752561821-Local-National-Mode-iGo