Now Ola is just a message away!
Ola introduces an offline booking feature
Now Ola is just a message away!:- Ola, the taxi based app has introduced an ‘offline-booking’ feature on its mobile app, which would enable passengers to book cabs without an active internet connection, a key competitive advantage over the smaller rival Uber.
“While connectivity continues to be one of the infrastructural challenges, we are constantly building innovative technology, which would further help fill the gap, and the launch of this Ola offline feature is a major step in that direction,” said chief technology officer Ankit Bhati.
The feature will be automatically appearing when the user is offline that would allow him to send his location via SMS. The user will then receive a text message with the details of cabs available around, along with the steps on how to make the booking confirmed, he will later get another text message with the driver details.
Since few months, Ola has been aggressively stepped up the focus on differentiated India-focused technology innovation and the launch of multiple categories and consumer experience initiatives in a bid to further maintain its market leadership.
Changes made due to internet access to people
As per Ola, only 34% of the population have access to the internet and the majority of even those who do struggle to get further adequate data connectivity at all times. “In India, users are very much inclined towards the prepaid mobile service, which make them more vulnerable to running out of data. Spotty 3G and 4G coverage also accounts for a fair amount of data connectivity issues, even in tier-I cities,” the company has said in a statement.
Ola used to offer the phone-based cab booking until the middle of last year — it was somewhere similar to traditional taxi-booking services. In July 2015, Ola went app-only, discontinuing cab bookings on its website and on the phone, since it claimed that it was receiving as much as 99% of the bookings through the app.
