General Settings

The General Settings tab contains settings that are important for the overall dispatch functionality as they will affect your drivers and bookings globally.

How Does It Work?

Within the General Settings, you can configure and optimise your dispatch system, ensuring seamless and efficient operation. The configuration options available operate on the principle of promoting fairness and efficiency when dispatching jobs to drivers. Through criteria-based job assignments, the system ensures that bookings are allocated based on predefined rules, taking into account factors such as driver availability, waiting times, and booking priority.

 The sections to configure include the following:

There are also important features that require thorough configuration for your system and other linked features to work effectively. These include:

General

In General Settings, many configurable options can improve your dispatch times and automation:

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• Hold NAK'd Bookings: By enabling the option to 'hold' bookings that have been NAK'd (Not Acknowledged), you give operators a chance to review a booking without immediate dispatch if a driver has not acknowledged it. This prevents drivers from being unfairly burdened with bookings they may not be able to accommodate.
• Enable Dispatch to NAK Zone: If enabled, drivers who have not acknowledged a job and are in the No Acknowledgment zone will be able to receive job offers.

• Default Split Booking Mode: Select which default vehicle type should be used when splitting a booking on Booking & Dispatch. This is required when you have a job with many passengers across several vehicles. You have the following options:
  • Operator Override: Select this option to set it so it is down to the operator to decide what vehicle type.
  • Smallest Vehicles: The system will send the smallest vehicles to cover the amount of passengers in the booking, depending on the size of the booking party, this option may result in more vehicles required. This option may also result in a wait time while vehicles become available.
  • Largest Vehicles: The system will send the largest vehicles to cover the amount of passengers in the booking, depending on the size of the booking party, this option may result in fewer vehicles required. This option may also result in a wait time while vehicles become available.
  • Largest Available Vehicles: Unlike the other vehicle options, this option searches for the largest applicable vehicles that are currently available, ensuring your passengers are sent their vehicles as soon as required.

The following settings are used for configuring your dispatch types:

• Maximum Nearest Dispatch Distance (m): The system will not dispatch a booking to vehicles that are outside of this range when in a backup zone using 'Nearest Vehicle'.
• Shortest Waiting Backup Zone Price Threshold: Any 'Shortest Waiting' backup zones will be changed to 'Longest Waiting' if they exceed this price.
• Nearest VS Longest In Zone Tune Distance (m): If a vehicle is within this radius and has been waiting longer than the nearest vehicle, then it will be given priority.
• Nearest Vehicle VS Longest Waiting Minutes: If a vehicle has been waiting for longer than the set time, then it will have a booking priority over the next nearest vehicle.

• Enable Booking Release Code: Enable to allow operators to set a booking release code for certain bookings. This will be typed on Booking & Dispatch on the booking form & must be passed to the driver to enter on Driver Companion.
• Enable Zone Grouping: Enable to allow zones to be grouped together.
• Overbooking Protection Applies to ASAP Bookings: The overbooking protection feature, when enabled, considers ASAP bookings in 15-minute time slots to prevent drivers from receiving additional work that might cause delays. This ensures efficient operations, prevents driver overload and maintains service reliability.

• Callback Mode: Select which booking type ringback is enabled. This will only work if you have ringback configured and enabled on your system. The configurable options are:
  • Off: Ringback is disabled and will not happen.
  • All Bookings: Ringback occurs on all bookings.
  • Dispatched Bookings Only: Ringback only occurs on bookings that are currently dispatched.
  • All Bookings - On Demand: Ringback can happen on any bookings, but the operator must enable this on the booking form.
  • Dispatched Bookings Only - On Demand: Ringback happens for dispatched bookings, but the operator must enable this on the booking form.

Soon To Clear Mode

The Soon To Clear (STC) mode is important in ensuring automated dispatch. When a driver enters the Soon to Clear status, the system anticipates their upcoming availability for the next booking. This approach ensures that new bookings are directed to drivers who are on the verge of completing their current jobs, minimising idle time, and enhancing overall operational efficiency. The result is a reduction in the need for manual intervention, optimising both resources and time.

The importance of Soon To Clear Mode extends to the seamless functioning of Follow On Bookings.

Soon To Clear Mode provides control over whether vehicles enter the STC status manually or if the system automatically designates vehicles as soon to clear upon entering the destination zone. When configuring the feature, you have the following options:

• None: Disables the Soon To Clear feature, consequently turning off auto-follow on bookings.
• Manual: Drivers can use the STC ( ) icon within the Driver Companion to manually enter soon to clear mode, allowing the system to anticipate their availability for the next booking. This setting offers flexibility but may reduce the number of auto-follow on bookings offered to drivers.
• Automatic: In automatic soon to clear mode, the system automatically designates vehicles as soon to clear when they enter the zone of the passenger's destination. If the driver passes through the destination zone while completing vias, the mode is not triggered until all vias are completed.
• Manual and Automatic: This setting combines automatic STC mode with the option for drivers to manually set their mode to STC, providing a flexible yet automated approach.

Follow On Bookings

A follow on booking is a booking that is sent to a driver while they are already completing another trip nearby. With follow-on bookings enabled, you will receive job offers before completing your current job, improving dispatch times and offering more driver availability. Dispatching to a vehicle earlier means your passengers can track their vehicle earlier too.

To configure, select the Follow On Bookings button which opens a guide/wizard for you to configure which mode. Once ready, use the Next button to move to the Configure tab. Here you can choose the type of dispatch mode to apply to your follow on bookings from the following options:

• None: This disables follow on bookings within your system so drivers will not receive any follow on bookings.
• Manual: Select this option if you would like operators to manually dispatch all follow on bookings.
• Automatic: Select this option for follow on bookings to be automatically dispatched to drivers based on appropriate criteria, such as, the driver is currently at STC status and has no upcoming prebookings that would be impacted by taking said booking.
• Manual and Automatic: Select this option so that operators can manually dispatch follow on bookings while the system also automatically dispatches applicable bookings as well.

For information on the benefits of the feature and how drivers interact with follow on bookings in Driver Companion, see Feature Focus: Auto Follow On Booking.

Route Based Dispatch

Route Based Dispatching considers several factors such as the route, traffic, and speed to determine the route for dispatching instead of a straight line calculation. This will result in more accurate Estimated Time of Arrivals (ETAs).

• Nearest Vehicle: The vehicle closest by distance is dispatched to the booking. The options in backup zones and bidding mode are also changed to 'Nearest Vehicle' upon selecting this option.
• Soonest Vehicle: The vehicle that will reach the pickup first is dispatched to the booking. This takes into consideration the route, traffic and speed. The options in backup zones and bidding mode are also changed to 'Soonest Vehicle' upon selecting this option.

Along with the new routing options, there are settings in Route Calculation that control the routing engine that is used to work out the routes between the suitable drivers and the pickup of a booking. For more information see Route Calculation.

Booking Priority Order

Configuring the priority order for bookings allows you to establish fair criteria for dispatch. Bookings within a certain range or with specific attributes can be given priority, ensuring that drivers receive jobs based on pre-defined criteria rather than random allocation.

There are two configurable options:

• Booking Priority Order: Bookings within a certain range or with specific attributes can be given priority, ensuring that drivers receive jobs based on pre-defined criteria rather than random allocation. Setting a higher ‘Zone/Step Limit’ will make bookings of certain priorities be dispatched quicker. The value entered for that limit represents the number of backup zones or steps that are checked when a booking of this priority first becomes active, if a driver is not found in the first two steps, then the rest of the backup zones will be checked in order.

• Booking Priority Order (m): This is the radius set for the booking priority order, the step size here will be a radius drawn around a booking in meters that will double in size each time a driver is not found in any given step.

We recommend utilising the Booking Priority Order settings to prioritise critical customer groups, such as corporate account customers.

Dispatch Modes

Within the Dispatch Modes section, various controls govern how operators can book jobs in the Booking & Dispatch module. Here's an overview of the available options:

• Multi Pickup: Enable to allow users to book jobs with more than one pickup address.
• All Jobs Are Multi Pickup: Toggle on to designate all bookings as 'multi pickup' jobs. If activated, the operator can press F5 or click ‘Edit Route Point’ after entering the second pickup location. The system prompts the user to specify whether the location is the pickup, a via, or the destination address.

• Map Click Dispatch Mode: Enable this option to allow operators to click on a booking from the active bookings list and dispatch it to a vehicle on the map within B&D.
  • Off: Disables this feature, preventing operators from dispatching via the map.
  • On: Enables the feature, requiring the operator to confirm the dispatch by manually clicking Yes (Y) or No (N) as a keystroke after selecting a vehicle.
  • On (No Confirmation): Enables the feature without displaying a confirmation prompt, streamlining the dispatch process for operators.

Priorities

In this section, you can give priorities to different categories of job types, this would be done to prioritise the four groups on a rank of 0-9, with 9 being the highest priority and zero being the lowest. You can assign a priority to account bookings, advanced bookings, IVR bookings and mobile app bookings.

Priorities should be set for the configuration of the Booking Priority Order.

• Account Bookings Priority: When an account booking is created, the priority here is assigned to the booking automatically.
• Advanced Booking Priority: When an advanced booking is created, the priority here is assigned to the booking automatically.
• IVR Bookings Priority: When an IVR booking hits the system, the priority here is assigned to the booking automatically.
• Mobile App Bookings Priority: When an app booking hits the system, the priority here is assigned to the booking automatically.

Times

You can configure the times of your dispatch configuration here.

• Limit Work Time: Set how long a driver can be in the 'Limit Work' status when using the limit work command. This feature must first be enabled for Driver Companion in Management by navigating to Drivers > Driver Companion > Functionality Group > Interface.
• Dispatch Booking Penalty Time: When dispatching a booking to a vehicle, the vehicle receives a penalty and they are unable to receive work for the specified time. This is to reduce the number of drivers cancelling/rejecting a job they do not want to do.
• Cancel Booking Penalty Time: Set how long a driver must wait to receive work if they cancel a booking.
• Soon To Clear Time: Set how long a driver can remain in the STC status.

Auto Cancel

To control whether your system utilises auto cancellation of bookings after certain parameters are met, configure the settings here.

• Enable Auto Cancel: Toggle on to enable auto cancellation within your system. Following the configuration of the settings below, passenger's bookings will automatically cancel if they meet the criteria set.
• Auto Cancel Timer: Enter a time value in hours and minutes of how long a passenger must wait for a driver to be assigned to their booking when booking through your passenger app before the booking is automatically cancelled.
• Auto Cancel Zones: Use the dropdown menu to select the zones you wish to apply the time limit. App bookings made in these zones are auto-cancelled if there is no driver assigned to the job within the time set in 'Auto Cancel Timer'.
  

Bidding

The Bidding tab contains settings that allow drivers to compete for and secure bookings using Driver Companion. Drivers can put themselves forward to receive and complete a booking using our bidding mechanisms, with our system determining which driver is most eligible based on your configured criteria.

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How Does It Work?

You configure your bidding settings with Dispatch Configuration > Bidding and then your drivers can interact and use this feature within their Driver Companion device.

With Bidding, drivers can place bids on available booking types: active (ASAP bookings) and advanced (prebookings). Our system uses different settings, including bidding modes, to determine which driver receives the successful bidding booking. Our bidding modes promote fairer dispatch, ensuring the most suitable driver gets the booking.

 The sections within Bidding you can configure include the following: