You can now check the condition of a car and the driver’s appearance without a visit to the office. The driver photographs the car on their phone, and the dispatcher accepts the photos in the dashboard.

How it works

A driver enrolled in photo inspection takes it regularly, at an interval set by the service. When it is due, a task appears on the screen, for example: «Photo inspection: Front of the car», «Left side», «Rear interior». The service chooses the set of angles: the car from different sides, the interior, a photo of the driver.

The camera in the app helps take the right shot. A neural network on the phone checks that the right angle is in frame and highlights the frame in green when everything is fine. Photos are sent with one button.

Review in the dashboard

• Auto-accept. If the angle is confirmed by the neural network, the photo is accepted immediately, and the driver keeps working without waiting.
• Manual review. All of a driver’s photos open on one page, and a photo expands to full screen on hover. You can accept or reject them one by one or all at once.
• Rejection with a reason. The driver sees what is wrong and retakes only that shot.
• «Send to inspection» button. If a car raises questions, the dispatcher sends the driver to an unscheduled inspection in one click.

Until the photos are accepted, the driver has the «Photo inspection» status. Once they are accepted, access to work is restored automatically.

Who takes part

Photo inspection is enabled through the «Photo inspection» bonus: it can be issued from the console or with a button in the dashboard, and new drivers get it automatically when they register through the application form. Drivers without the bonus work as before, and enabling the feature does not send everyone to inspection at once.

Photo storage

The system deletes old photos on its own and saves space on the server. The latest inspections of each driver are kept, rejected photos are kept longer in case of a dispute, and photos of dismissed drivers are deleted after a set period. All retention periods are configurable.

How to connect

Photo inspection is available in the latest version of the driver app. To turn it on for your service, contact support: we will set up the set of angles and the photo acceptance mode to match your rules.

In some regions mobile internet is now restricted from time to time: only services on so-called «whitelists» remain reachable. For a taxi service this is a serious problem. The driver app loses its connection to the server, new orders do not arrive, statuses do not update, and the dispatcher no longer sees cars on the map. The orders do not go away: clients keep calling and writing to the bot.

We have added a backup channel for connecting drivers to UpTaxi. If the regular connection to the server is unavailable because of restrictions, the driver app connects to the program through the backup channel and keeps working.

What works through the backup channel

• receiving orders and automatic dispatch to the nearest drivers;
• order statuses: «arrived», «client in the car», «order completed»;
• pickup and destination addresses, changes to stops in an active order;
• driver chat with the dispatcher;
• cars shown in the dispatcher console.

Nothing changes for the dispatcher: orders are dispatched, drivers stay online, the console shows current statuses.

What it means for your service

The service keeps working on restriction days instead of losing orders and drivers while the internet is down. Drivers do not need to look for Wi-Fi or call the dispatcher to get an address. Clients keep ordering the usual way: calls are answered by the voice robot or an operator, and the order bot in Max keeps working during restrictions because Max is on the «whitelists».

The backup channel complements the driver bot in Max that we released in spring: the bot lets drivers work without installing an app and on a weak connection, while the backup channel keeps the «UpTaxi Driver» app itself working when the network is restricted.

How to connect

For current clients the backup channel is included in the existing plan at no extra cost. Message support, and we will turn it on for your service and tell you what drivers need to update. New clients get it right away together with the 30-day free trial.

To connect or ask a question: prices and trial request, support — taxisoft@list.ru, phone +7 900 28-28-328.