# How to switch taxi dispatch systems without losing bookings

> To switch taxi dispatch systems without losing bookings, check your notice period first, get a full export of your bookings, customers, drivers and prices, and set the new system up while the old one still runs. Move the future pre-books on a quiet night, keep the old records for as long as your council asks (at least 6 months), and close the old account last.

By Joe, founder of Dispatch AI. Updated 2026-10-16. The web page: https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/switching-taxi-dispatch-system/

Changing dispatch system is one of those jobs owners put off for years, because the fear is simple: a pre-booked airport run at 4am that lived in the old system and never made it into the new one. That fear is fair, and it's avoidable. This guide takes you through the switch in order, from the contract you're leaving to the morning after the cut-over night.


## When should you switch taxi dispatch systems?

Switch when your notice period ends at a quiet time of year, and never in your busiest month. That usually means steering clear of December and, if you do a lot of airport work, the summer holidays, then working backwards from there.

Before you speak to any new supplier, find your current contract and read four things: the minimum term, whether it renews on its own, the notice period, and how notice has to be given. Some contracts want notice in writing to a named address, and an email to your account manager doesn't count. If the notice period is three months, the date you give notice is the real start of the project.


## What should you check in your current contract?

Check what you're allowed to take with you, not just what you owe. These are the clauses that decide how smooth the switch is:

| Clause | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Term and notice | Minimum term, automatic renewal, notice period and how notice must be given |
| Data export | Whether you can export bookings, customers, drivers and prices, in what format, and whether there's a charge |
| End of contract | What the supplier does with your data when you leave, and how quickly |
| Phone number | Whether your booking number is yours with your own phone provider, or supplied by the dispatch company |
| Apps | Whose Apple and Google developer accounts your driver and passenger apps are published from |
| Website booking | Whether the booking form on your website is the old supplier's, and what replaces it |

The end-of-contract clause has a legal floor for personal data. Under Article 28 of the UK GDPR, the contract between you (the controller) and a software supplier handling your passengers' details (the processor) must say that, at your choice, the supplier deletes or returns all the personal data at the end of the service, and deletes its copies unless the law requires it to keep them. Our guide to [who owns your booking data](https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/who-owns-your-taxi-booking-data/) covers that clause in more detail.


## How do you export your data from the old system?

Ask in writing for a full export, well before your notice runs out, and check it opens. A CSV file you can open in a spreadsheet is the format to ask for.

The export should cover:

- every booking for the period your council says you must keep records, including cancelled jobs and no-shows
- customers and account customers, with their saved addresses and any account notes
- drivers and vehicles, with licence numbers and expiry dates
- your price list: zones, fixed fares, airport prices and extras
- staff who take bookings and dispatch, if the system records them

Open each file, count the rows and compare them with what the old system shows on screen. Spot-check ten bookings by hand. Do this while you can still log in to the old system, because once the account closes you can't check anything.

Under Article 28 the return or deletion of personal data is "at the choice of the controller", so tell the old supplier in writing that you want the data returned first. Only agree to deletion once you have a copy that works.


## How long do you need to keep the old records?

Keep the old booking records for as long as your council's conditions say, even after you've left the supplier. The Department for Transport's Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards suggest keeping booking records for at least 6 months. Some councils ask for longer: Bath & North East Somerset's operator conditions say 12 months after the last entry, and Worcestershire Regulatory Services says booking records must usually be kept for at least 12 months.

Worcestershire also says electronic records must be viewable at your operating base and that you must be able to print a copy if asked. So the export isn't just a backup. An officer can ask to see a booking from last year, and you need to be able to find it.


## What happens to your phone number and your apps?

Your booking number is the one thing customers know you by, so find out who holds it before anything else.

If the number is with your own phone provider, nothing changes except where the calls are sent. If the dispatch company supplied it, ask your new provider to port it. Ofcom describes number portability as "a regulated facility which allows customers to keep their numbers when changing provider". Start the port early and don't give notice on the old service until the number has moved.

Apps take more thought. Apple lets an app move from one developer account to another: the account holder starts the transfer, and the app keeps its reviews and ratings. Google Play has a similar transfer, where the original owner sends the request and the new owner accepts it. Moving the listing doesn't move the software, though. Ask your new supplier straight out whether your drivers and passengers will need to install a new app, and plan for it if they will.


## How long should you run both systems?

Run the old and new systems side by side for at least a week before the cut-over. Load everything into the new one, take test bookings, have every driver complete a test job, and only then pick the night.

Set up the new system as if the old one didn't exist. Load your zones and prices fresh, and check ten quotes against the old system. A wrong fare zone does more damage after the switch than any missing feature. If you're moving to Dispatch AI, bookings go into your Dispatch AI account, which runs your dispatch too, and we set it up with you: zones, prices, drivers and the divert on your phone line.


## How do you plan the cut-over night?

Pick a quiet midweek night, and treat the switch as one evening's work with a clear start time. Here's the order:

1. **Choose the freeze time.** From, say, 6pm, every new booking goes into the new system only. Everyone in the office knows the time.
2. **List the future pre-booked jobs.** Export every booking in the old system with a pickup after the freeze time.
3. **Move them across.** Import or type them into the new system. Count both lists. They must match.
4. **Check by hand.** Pick ten pre-books at random and compare passenger, time, pickup, destination and price.
5. **Switch the front door.** Change the phone divert, the website booking form and any booking links to the new system at the freeze time.
6. **Move the drivers.** Drivers finish any live jobs on the old app, then log in to the new one.
7. **Check in the morning.** Go through the first morning's jobs before they're due. An early airport run that's missing is still fixable at 4am if someone is looking.

Keep the old system open, read-only if your supplier allows it, until the notice period ends. If a customer rings about a booking you can't find, it's somewhere you can still look.


## Who do you need to tell, and when?

Tell people in the right order: your own team first, then drivers, then account customers, then everyone else.

| Who | What to tell them | When |
|---|---|---|
| Office staff | The freeze time, the new screens, what to do if a booking is missing | Before the parallel run |
| Drivers | Which app to use from when, and that a job outside the system isn't a job | A week before, again on the night |
| Account customers | Any new booking link or login, and who to call with a problem | Two weeks before |
| Regular passengers | The new app or booking link, if anything changes for them | When the new route is live |
| Hotels and venues that book for guests | New booking details | Before the switch |

Account customers matter most. They book a lot and they notice when things change. Switch at the start of a month so one month's account work sits in one system, and read our guide to [business accounts in your booking system](https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/business-accounts-in-your-booking-system/) before you set theirs up. If you're still choosing what to move to, our [questions to ask a dispatch software supplier](https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/taxi-dispatch-software-questions-to-ask/) will help.

## Frequently asked questions

### Can I switch dispatch systems in the middle of my contract?

Yes, but you'll usually still owe whatever the contract says for the rest of the term or the notice period. Read the termination clause and work out the cost of leaving early against the cost of waiting. Sometimes it's cheaper to run both for a month than to wait a quarter.

### Will I lose my booking history when I switch?

Not if you export it before the old account closes and check the export works. Ask for the full history for the period your council requires, including cancelled jobs, and keep it where you can show it to an officer.

### What if the old supplier won't give my data back?

Put the request in writing and quote the clause in your contract. For your passengers' personal data, the contract with a processor has to cover returning or deleting it at the end of the service, at your choice. For the rest, such as prices and reports, you're relying on the contract, which is why it's worth reading before you sign the next one.

### Do my drivers need to install a new app?

Most likely, unless your new supplier can update the listing you already have. Ask before you sign. If they do need a new app, get every driver installed and logged in during the parallel run, not on the cut-over night.

### Should I tell the council I've changed dispatch system?

Check your operator licence conditions. Your duty to keep booking records in the form the council sets doesn't change when your software does, so make sure the new system records everything the conditions list. If you're unsure, ask your licensing team.


## Sources

- [UK GDPR, Article 28: Processor (legislation.gov.uk)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2016/679/article/28) 28(3)(g), deleting or returning personal data at the end of the service, at the controller's choice
- [What needs to be included in the contract? (ICO)](https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/accountability-and-governance/contracts-and-liabilities-between-controllers-and-processors-multi/what-needs-to-be-included-in-the-contract/) the terms a controller and processor contract must contain
- [Number portability (Ofcom)](https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/information-for-industry/numbering/number-portability-info) keeping your number when you change provider
- [Overview of app transfer (Apple Developer)](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect/transfer-an-app/overview-of-app-transfer/) moving an app between developer accounts, reviews and ratings kept
- [Transfer apps to a different developer account (Google Play Console Help)](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/6230247) how a Google Play transfer works and what moves with the app
- [Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards (Department for Transport)](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statutory-taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-standards/statutory-taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-standards) section 8, booking records, at least 6 months suggested
- [Private hire operator's general conditions (Bath & North East Somerset Council)](https://bathnes.gov.uk/sites/default/files/jsna/Private%20Hire%20Operator%20Conditions.pdf) records kept for 12 months after the last entry
- [Operator FAQs: staying compliant while licensed (Worcestershire Regulatory Services)](https://www.worcsregservices.gov.uk/all-services/licensing/taxi-and-private-hire-licensing/private-hire-operator-licences/operator-faqs-staying-compliant-while-licensed/) 12 months, electronic records viewable at the base and printable

Dispatch AI is a trading name of CABO TECH SOLUTION AI LTD, registered in England and Wales, company no. 16255667.