How to choose dispatch software for a car service or limo company
Updated · 3 min read
Dispatch software is hard to change once your rates, accounts and drivers are in it, so it is worth choosing carefully. This guide covers what to check, the costs that hide in pricing pages, and the questions to ask in a demo, whichever product you end up with.
Start with how your bookings come in
Some dispatch systems are built around a passenger app, like a ride-hailing service. Others are built around a dispatcher taking calls. If most of your work arrives by phone, email and standing orders, a system designed for app bookings will make your desk slower. If you need customers booking themselves in an app, make sure the system has one that works, and ask to see it.
Understand what it will really cost
Software pricing comes in a few shapes, and they diverge sharply as you grow:
- A commission or percentage of each fare. This is cheap when you are quiet and expensive when you are busy, and it grows with every rate increase you make.
- A fee per trip. It is predictable per ride, but your software bill rises with volume.
- A flat monthly subscription, often based on the number of drivers or dispatchers. It stays the same in a busy month.
Work out the cost at your real monthly volume, and again at twice that. Then check for setup fees, minimum contract lengths, per-driver app fees, and features sold as paid add-ons.
Check that it prices the way you do
Bring your actual rate sheet to the demo. If you price by zone, by mile, hourly with a minimum, or with flat airport rates, the software should calculate those prices itself, including waiting time, tolls and surcharges. If accounts have their own negotiated rates, check that the system applies them automatically when a ride is booked on that account.
Look hard at accounts and invoicing
If corporate, hotel or medical accounts are a large part of your revenue, invoicing is where software saves the most time. Check whether account rides collect on the account as they complete, and whether invoices build themselves from those rides. Look at a sample invoice: is it itemized per ride, with each charge shown separately? That is what your clients’ accounts payable departments need.
Try the driver app yourself
Install the driver app on an ordinary phone and run a test ride through it. Check that it works on both iPhone and Android, that drivers can use their own phones, and that you can see each driver’s location live from the dispatch screen. Ask whether drivers pay for the app or whether it is included.
Make sure your data stays yours
Your customer list, account rates and ride history are the business. Ask whether you can export them at any time, and in what format. Ask how your data is kept separate from other companies on the same platform, and whether the software company ever contacts your customers directly.
Plan the switch
Ask who moves your existing customers, accounts, rates and standing orders into the new system, and whether that costs extra. A free trial is only useful if you can run real rides through it, so plan a quiet week to try it on actual calls before you commit.
Questions to ask in every demo
Take this list to each demo and compare the answers side by side:
- What will I pay per month at my volume, and at double it?
- Is there a commission, a per-trip fee, a setup fee or a minimum contract?
- Can you price my five most common trips from my rate sheet, right now?
- How do standing orders work, and can I change one date without breaking the series?
- Show me an account invoice. Is it itemized per ride?
- Do drivers use their own phones? Is the driver app free for them?
- Can I export all my data whenever I want?
- Who imports my existing data, and how long does switching take?