If you’ve ever had the experience of trying to call for a ride while standing in a loud bar or restaurant, and having to yell at the phone while straining to hear the other end, you’re going to like SMSCab. It’s a new service that was quietly launched in Brooklyn this winter, that lets users text their location to hail a ride. It consists of a fleet of about 30 town cars currently, and promises to let you know within three minutes if a car is available and when it will arrive. If a car is available, you’ll receive confirmation as well as the car number, driver name, and contact information. If nothing is available at the time, they’ll let you know within three minutes as well, to keep you from wondering. In the words of the owner;
“…If you are really in a rush, don’t call us (yet). But if you can afford to wait a few minutes, give us a shot. Either way in 3-5 minutes we’ll let you know if a car is on its way or not…”
The company offers limited service only in parts of Brooklyn, but the technology will most likely be adopted by most car services all over the world. (If they’re smart..)
With the introduction of services like Google Ride Finder that uses GPS to locate and track nearby taxis and other for-hire vehicles, we’re already seeing a shift in how we’ll be hailing a ride in the very near future. Imagine being anywhere and needing a ride. You could simply pull out your mobile device, input your location into a simple application or WAP site, see what taxis are near you currently, and finally, send them a text message to ask for a ride. All this, while sitting in booth surrounded by loud music, and loud people. No more shouting into the phone, waiting on hold, and hoping to hear “we’ll be there…”
