Uber is adding a new update to its assortment of business tools by the name of “Uber Central,” which allows business users to order multiple Uber cars for various customers or client using a single app. The tool was originally announced in July and is being put into action from now.
Uber Central is the answer to the problem businesses have while ordering a number of cars for their guests and customers, but are restricted to a single car per app at a time. This limitation was fine for customers who require individual cab rides, but is an issue for the businesses which need to call several Ubers at a time.
Travis Bogard, Global GM at Uber for Business told TechCrunch that businesses have raised their voice against this limitation on multiple occasions, and many of them have even resolved to tricks like buying several phones and setting up multiple Uber accounts for the sake of ordering many cars at a time.
Uber’s new update is virtually similar to the consumer version, except from now on despite of ordering a single ride, you may order multiple cars from the Uber Central interface. In the consumer version, the user enters his pick-up location and the destination and the program calculates the cost of the ride. Since all this is connected to Uber for Business, each ride gets charged to the single business account automatically, and the customers can take advantage of this history to avail other features of the business tool.
The passenger is free from the obligation of having an installed Uber app, or even a smartphone instead. Once the car is ordered, they will receive an SMS with the make and model of the car, the license plate and the name of the driver while the car is on its way, and after it has arrived.
Customers could also maintain “Drafts” of the most commonly used routes, such as the way to an airport or train station, or your work place.
At the time of its announcement, Central was only being considered as a stand alone product, but while it was being tested in beta, Uber started to realize that it would make more sense to incorporate it into its Business platform, said Bogard. The company is in fact planning on layering on additional products on the business platform over time.
Customers opting for Uber Central will have to pay a separate fee in addition to Uber for Business.
