AI phone answering for taxis
The artificial intelligence picks up when you cannot: it conducts the conversation, understands the pick-up location, destination and time, enters the ride and sends it to the driver. Around the clock.
As of: · Publisher: TaxiAgentur.de, Focustrend advertising agency, Günzburg
The most expensive call is the one nobody answers
Every taxi operator knows the situation: the phone rings just as the passenger is getting in, the suitcase is being stowed in the boot or the car is crossing a junction. Answering is out of the question. The caller does not wait – they dial the next number.
At night and at weekends it is the same on a larger scale. Anyone who does not keep a staffed control centre is unreachable precisely when the most rides are driven. Voicemail does not help: hardly anyone leaves a message for a taxi company.
AI phone answering closes exactly this gap. It picks up when nobody else can – no hold music, no keypad menu, and without any of you having to be awake.
What happens during the call
The caller speaks quite normally. The AI listens, asks about anything that is missing and at the end repeats what it has understood. It recognises name, pick-up address, destination, date and time as the caller speaks – even when the address is mentioned in passing and not in reply to the question about it.
No date means today
If someone only says “at half past eight”, the day of the call is meant. No appointment is created in the wrong week.
Addresses are resolved
“To the hospital” or half a street name is turned, via Google, into a complete address with house number.
Several rides per call
There in the morning, back in the afternoon: if two rides are discussed in one call, two rides are created.
Withheld numbers too
Anonymous callers are served quite normally; the AI asks for the call-back number during the conversation.
And afterwards it carries on by itself
The finished ride goes straight into the calendar and onto the control centre’s map. At the same time it goes to the drivers – as a message on their mobile phones and, if you set it up that way, additionally by WhatsApp. The first to accept gets it.
Three things remain of every call: the recording to listen to, the transcript to read and a short summary of what it was about. If a query comes up later, you do not have to rely on memory.
Not every call is a ride. Sales calls, wrong numbers and voicemail announcements are recognised and produce neither a summary nor an appointment. Your call list shows what really was taxi business.
You keep your hand on the receiver
The AI is switched off by default. You decide whether and when it picks up – always, only outside office hours, only at night, or only if nobody answers within a certain time. Every setting can be defined separately for each company.
If a call is in progress and you want to take it yourself, you switch the AI off for exactly this call with one click – from the control centre as well as from the map.
And if for any reason the AI does not pick up, the phone rings for your drivers as before. This fallback is built in. A call never goes nowhere because the technology has a hiccup.
Your number remains your number
You receive your own service number and forward your existing phone number to it. Nothing changes for your customers – they keep dialling the number that is on the car. Anyone who runs several companies or locations can have several numbers, each leading to the right company.
Billing is based on actual call time. How much that comes to in your case depends on how many calls you receive and how long they last – in the demo we work it out for you using your own figures.
Frequently asked questions about AI phone answering
Does the caller notice that they are talking to an AI?
They hear a natural voice and can speak quite normally – no keypad menus, no spelling out. The greeting says at the start who is answering. Anyone who would rather speak to a person is put through to you.
What happens if the AI does not understand something?
It asks, just as a person would. If a detail remains unclear, the ride is created anyway and the unclear part is marked in red so that the control centre can follow up. In addition, the recording and transcript of every call are available.
Can I switch the AI off for individual calls?
Yes. You can switch the AI off completely, set it for certain times – for example only at night and at weekends – or take over a call in progress yourself with one click.
What if the AI does not pick up for once?
Then the phone rings for your drivers as before. The fallback is built in: there is no situation in which a call goes nowhere because the technology has a hiccup.
Do I need a new phone number?
No. You receive your own service number, to which you can forward your existing number. Your customers keep dialling the number they know.
Does the AI also answer calls from withheld numbers?
Yes. Even when the number is withheld, the conversation takes place and the ride is created – the AI then asks for the call-back number during the conversation.
Hear for yourself how the AI answers
In a free live demo via Zoom we make a call together so that you hear the conversation yourself – and see how the ride then arrives in the calendar and with the driver.