A national bike-sharing company faces operations bottlenecks

For many rapidly growing companies, building an efficient technology stack that scales with the business can be tough. Complex issues can emerge as teams grow and insufficient technology, coupled with burgeoning operations, causes bottlenecks.

This was the problem facing a major national bike-share company that’s rapidly growing throughout the world.

Keeping the business running smoothly requires van drivers to pick up bikes for maintenance or to redistribute bikes to high-demand locations. To coordinate with operations managers who oversee the repairs, drivers needed a reliable communication tool.

With the strong fit for real-time push-to-talk communications, they tried traditional walkie-talkies. However, obstructions from high-rise buildings in downtown areas and sometimes large distances posed problems. Unable to reach drivers, the company then tried using phone calls as their primary means of communication. However, this meant that drivers would have to pick up the phone to send or receive messages, which was both unpractical and unsafe. With drivers busy loading and unloading bikes, this method also kept them offline for extended periods of time.

Also, while each bicycle has GPS units installed, the vans did not. So to track a vehicle, there would have to be at least one bike in the van at all times. That was a waste of space and a loss of revenue on a bike that could have been rented out.

Improving maintenance officiency and keeping drivers connected with Orion

Management set out to find a tool that met their needs for safe, effective communication as well as location tracking. Their research led them to Orion, where they found a solution that suited their specific requirements.

Each day when drivers report to work, they pick up a smartphone paired with an Onyx, Orion’s smart push-to-talk wearable.

Throughout their shift, the heads-up, hands-free communication that the Orion platform provides enables them to complete their tasks efficiently and safely. With the push of the Onyx button, drivers speak with local operations managers to coordinate tasks. Managers can then use Orion Command Center to track the drivers’ real-time locations.

With Orion, not only was the company able to improve the quality and effectiveness of team communication, but also they streamlined operations under a single solution, the Orion Voice Platform, to address their numerous requirements.

Having this efficiency is vital to help their business run smoothly and scale at the pace needed. Orion’s robust platform lets drivers and operations managers focus on getting the job done better and faster, instead of grappling with multiple ineffective systems. And thanks to Orion’s limitless scalability, they will never outgrow the capabilities of the Orion voice platform.

Read the whole story

To learn more about how this bike sharing company streamlined their operations with Orion, read the complete case study.