Alaska Cab's Safe Ride.

This cab company has gone digital to protect its drivers and improve customer satisfaction.

Taxi drivers rank seventh in occupational fatalities nationwide with an estimated 40.3 deaths per 100,000 workers. Alaska's rate is even higher.

Seven of Alaska's estimated 380 cabbies lost their lives between 1992 and 1998-three in Anchorage alone in the spring of 1998, reports Talitha Lukshin at the Alaska Department of Labor.

According to Anchorage's Transportation Inspector, Dave Lewellen, those deaths spurred the Anchorage Assembly to require all cabs to install safety shields, infrared video cameras or a global positioning system locator by Dec. 15, 1999. Lewellen states that most of Anchorage's four major taxi companies chose Plexiglas(R) safety shields as the cheapest and seemingly best choice in deterring crime.

Dean Paul, owner of Alaska Cab and Handicap Dispatchers, was not among the majority who chose shields. Paul sought a way to make his investment go beyond just complying with city mandates. He hoped to improve company efficiency and customer service as well.

Yet Paul's $350,000 investment into the Digital Dispatch System was primarily to safeguard Alaska Cab drivers. DDS is a small, flat computer screen and keyboard (about the size of a stenographer's notepad) attached to the cab dashboard. It utilizes the 24 orbiting GPS satellites to track each taxi every minute of every day. If a driver feels threatened, a touch of a button sends help instantly. The cab's location is updated every seven seconds until police arrive.

Paul states that the DDS system can receive data farther away than with radio communication. This gives the drivers better chances of being able to call for help in areas where radios are out of range.

The GPS locator also helps improve company efficiency. The computer determines which driver is closest to the fare request by comparing each taxi location with the pickup address. The computer tags the closest driver. With a push of a button, a driver accepts the call.

Dispatching for about 70 cars citywide, Paul says that with voice dispatch Alaska Cab could generate about 300 calls per hour. Now, with digital dispatch, call generation can reach 1,000 per hour. Paul maintains that Alaska Cab is generating 30 percent more calls with the new system compared to voice.

DDS Customer Service Representative Manjit Dhillon (a former cabby and dispatcher) says that it takes an average of two to three minutes to dispatch a call by radio--and as many as five minutes during busy periods. With computerized dispatch, it takes 30 to 40 seconds to input a call. To reduce further time delays or miscommunication, each dashboard screen displays all service call addresses, special information, and maps of the destination.

This adds up to better customer service by reducing the time customers have to wait for a cab. Other system features geared to the patron offer high-use customers a preferred status allowing them to call a special telephone number that sends them to the top of the queue for faster pick-up. Even for occasional repeat customers, addresses are stored with the caller ID telephone number, further reducing data input time. Non-English speaking customers can come in and set up service specifically for their needs. When they call the dispatch office, their information is automatically displayed and the cab is sent.

One feature of DDS that helps with customer service, efficiency and safety is the call-out function. With a few strokes of the keyboard, drivers can signal the computer at headquarters to automatically call customers and inform them that their taxis are within a few minutes of their homes or waiting outside.