1. Magenta Technologysupplier focus
FEBRUARY 2015 | PROFESSIONAL DRIVER36
company that wanted to use it on a
monthly-priced license model.
It’s been a wise move—already
a number of leading operators have
adopted Echo, including start-up electric
taxi operator eConnect Cars, and the
company that is now Addison Lee’s
number one rival, Transdev, which now
runs Echo across its three brands—
Greentomatocars, Trident Niven and
Black Car Service.
What makes Echo so special? Sales
director Matt Borland tries to explain—
though it’s a lot less simple than a
“booking system” would appear.
“It’s a specialist sophisticated way to
deal with scheduling problems. It uses
multi-agency steps created using artificial
intelligence that deal with complex
problems, very quickly in real time.” OK,
it’s clever, and futuristic…
In fact the technology was not originally
designed for taxi or private hire use—it
was originally deployed in the logistics
industry, for example to schedule global
fleets of oil tankers, or to help Avis Rent-a-
car move its vehicles from depot to depot
in order to match supply and demand.
“It can be deployed in any environment
where logistics can have complex needs,”
says Matt. “The taxi industry can be
quite complex, with demands on services,
different vehicle types, specialised
requirements and so on.”
PRETTY
IN PINK
Mark Bursa
W
HAT DO YOU DO WHEN
you’ve supplied a
benchmark software
system to a market
leader, which then decides to take ongoing
development in-house?
You start again—and build an even
better system, and make it available to
everyone. That’s the journey that logistics
specialist Magenta Technology has been
on for the past decade. Back in 2006, it
supplied Addison Lee with a system called
Shamrock, which continues to provide
the foundation for the number one private
hire operator’s impressive operating
technology.
But once Addison Lee had decided to
continue software development in-house
via its Haulmont subsidiary, Magenta took
a new approach for its next-generation
system, called Echo.
It was originally developed for another
major player, Lewis Day, but when
that company was bought by Addison
Lee, Magenta decided to develop Echo
independently and supply it to any
COLOUR ME GOOD:
[FROM LEFT]
Mark Blakemore,
Nadia Temple and
Matt Borland
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2. Magenta Technology supplier focus
37prodrivermags.com | FEBRUARY 2015
Certainly Addison Lee had become a
very complex business, even in 2006, when
it was half its current size. “They could see
how this would bring efficiency and value
to their operations,” Matt says.
Magenta finance director Mark
Blakemore agrees: “Addison Lee was very
perceptive in realising that the thing that
would differentiate their service from their
competitors back then was technology.”
And it certainly brought results.
Through using Shamrock, Addison Lee
reduced dead mileage by 17.4% and
minimised the overall fuel consumption
by an equivalent of 3 million miles. Drivers
carried out an average of two extra jobs
per week, and this combination of more
work and fewer miles boosted driver
earnings by 10%. Automatic allocation
reduced booking time by 40%, and cut
average customer response time by 7
minutes.
After the Addison Lee project ended,
Magenta developed Echo for Lewis Day.
“Just as we were about to go live, they sold
the business,” says Mark.
So Magenta was left with a state-of-
the-art project and no customer. Matt
continues: “We took what we learned from
the Shamrock project and developed a
standard platform that we could sell to
other organisations.” First port of call was
Greentomato Cars—and Echo was up and
running.
One of the keys is to reduce dead
mileage by matching cars to customers in
the most efficient way. The key to this is
part of the software called an allocation
engine, which Matt calls “the jewel in the
crown” of the Echo system.
“It allows large fleet operators to focus
not just on individual vehicles, but on the
entire value of the fleet, and to deliver
benefits, savings and value to the business
while maintaining customer service.”
Mark adds: “We’re now at a stage where
the Echo product is proven, and we’ve
got great ambitions for it.” One natural
advantage is the fact that the system is
geared around reducing dead mileage—
which makes it ideal for any company
wishing to operate an environmentally-
friendly service—it’s not a coincidence
that early Echo adopters include
Greentomato Cars and eConnect Cars.
The latter is interesting, as it has
requested several features in order
to factor in the specific needs of its
all-electric Nissan Leaf fleet, such as
battery life, and visits to charge points.
This can be done automatically, thanks
to the connected nature of the cars. The
Echo system knows how much battery
charge each car has, and when it needs
recharging, it automatically schedules a
trip to the charge station as the driver’s
next job, taking the car out of service until
it’s recharged—at which point new jobs
are assigned. “It’s really exciting stuff,”
says Matt.
“It gives demonstrable bottom-line
results, and in a world where you’ve got
to compete with Uber, that counts,” says
Mark. Greentomato Cars wanted a lot of
customisation to make Echo suit its needs.
Duncan Fendom, global IT director for
Greentomatocars, said: “Thanks to the
Echo platform, we are poised to scale our
business volume up by 50-100%, which will
deliver substantial bottom line results.
“We are experiencing an increase
in bookings of more than 35% coming
through our new web portal and
smartphone apps for iPhone and Android.
In addition, we are seeing an increase in
electronic booking and dispatch, driven by
the efficiency of automatic allocation.”
Magenta is constantly refining the
system. “It’s a very fast-moving product—
almost like a living entity,” says senior
business analyst Nadia Temple. “We
update every couple of weeks, with new
requirements that the customer has asked
for. All our customers are invited to give us
feedback, so everyone benefits.”
By April, Magenta expects to have 10
companies using Echo—mainly large fleet
operators, or companies such as eConnect
that have ambitions to grow. And while
the focus has been on companies that
concentrate on corporate account work,
Echo is just as much at home handling
cash jobs as well.
“The number one thing on our
customers’ minds seems to be ‘how are we
handling Uber?’,” says Matt. “If they’re a
firm with business on account and cash
work, it’s a worry, especially with the
buying power that Uber has.”
How does using Echo help counter
Uber? By keeping drivers working all the
time, so even the self-employed ones aren’t
taking on crafty Uber jobs in quiet periods.
“Offer your drivers decent rates, pick-ups
on the way in to work, drop-offs on the
way home, and a batter wage at the end of
the week. That’s how you counter Uber,”
says Mark. “And if you give the driver more
work, you make more money.”
Matt sums it up: “Everything we do
is designed to work. And that’s why it
appeals to innovative companies that come
into the market to disrupt. And we’ve got
a very good development team that means
the system will keep on growing. We’re
looking at how you introducing the ability
to book through social networks—tweet
your booking, or book through Facebook.
We want to make it better.”
“ WE’RE NOW AT A STAGE WHERE THE ECHO PRODUCT
IS PROVEN, AND WE’VE GOT GREAT AMBITIONS FOR IT...”
MARK BLAKEMORE
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