PeaSoup partnership with Virtual Rank the driving force behind PHV firms rapid expansion
THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN COPIED FROM THE TAXI POINT NEWS
Cloud infrastructure and data specialist firm PeaSoup has partnered with Virtual Rank, a cloud platform, to deliver a secure infrastructure that is powering the spectacular expansion of one private hire vehicle (PHV) firm – which has seen turnover grow six-fold.
Recently a PHV firm based in the South West needed to automate its key business processes. None of the available off-the-shelf taxi management software solutions were able to fulfil its back-office or API integration requirements. The operator manages a fleet of private hire vehicles and business services to airports and seaports across three counties as well as nationwide.
Virtual Rank, in conjunction with PeaSoup, developed a solution specifically to manage this geographically dispersed rural private hire business. The platform encompasses management of all the company’s back office operational systems – from enquiry to booking, delivery to fleet management, billing and automatic invoicing to reconciliation and financial reporting.
PeaSoup’s infrastructure as a service (IaaS) solution facilitated the smooth running of the Virtual Rank SaaS solution. According to PeaSoup, the IaaS has the flexibility and simplicity of operation that allows the ongoing development of user acceptance-tested systems to roll into live services without disruption to the taxi firm. It also removes the costs that would have been incurred to develop, test and deliver on-premise management.
One of the key features of PeaSoup’s IaaS is that it comes with ‘hot add’ capabilities for an instant increase in resources to a live server without incurring downtime. This provides the ‘horsepower’ for smooth and safe computing. Developers can access a fully featured portal interface and have the ability to deliver additional bandwidth and build new servers in minutes as the Virtual Rank solution continues to expand to meet demand.
The IaaS has a firewall layer for remote connectivity and the security required to protect the customer and company data from attacks by hackers. Another layer of protection ensures business continuity for Virtual Rank’s software; there are also backup and recovery (BRaaS) schedules.
Partnering PeaSoup as the backbone of the management and operational systems supplied by Virtual Rank has enabled the private hire company to expand from four cars and eight drivers to 24 vehicles and 34 drivers. Turnover has grown six-fold over the last decade with no corresponding increase in IT overheads.
PeaSoup says the system’s functionality has expanded beyond basic fleet management and booking controls to also incorporate more in-depth customer information and staff time management. Benefits include minimising the staffing levels required to manage the taxi company’s fleet, including automated accounting and reporting.
