Zingo

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A taxi hailing system launched by Manganese Bronze Holdings plc in January 2003 and sold to [Computer Cab] (a large London Taxi radio circuit) in November 2004.

Zingo uses Cell of Origin technology to locate callers, a service provided as an API by each of the four main UK mobile network operators; Vodafone, Orange, O2 and T-Mobile. It uses the caller's location to connect the incoming call directly to the mobile phone of nearest available taxi driver on the system, rather than using a conventional call centre to dispatch a cab.

The system operates only in London, UK, where taxi drivers have to demonstrate a detailed knowledge of the city's 23,000 streets ("The Knowledge"). The service has generally attracted positive comment from users independent user reviews and despite being fully automated has benefitted from the personal touch of connecting the passenger directly to the cab driver.

The incoming call from the passenger is processed by an Interactive voice response system, which obtains the caller's location from the relevant mobile phone network, matches it to the location of the nearest available taxi and then automatically routes an outgoing call to that driver's mobile phone. The taxis on the system are tracked using GPS receivers.

GPS is able to provide taxi locations to within a radius of about 10 metres, whereas Cell of Origin accuracy varies widely - from a radius of around 600m in city centres to 1500-2500m in suburban areas to much larger radii in rural areas.

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