Telephone call placement

1. A computer-implemented method for connecting a telephone call between a vehicle driver and a customer, the method comprising:

receiving a driver request message from a device associated with the vehicle driver to place a telephone call between the vehicle driver and a customer;

using the driver request message to match the vehicle driver with a job allocation record in at least one database and identifying from the record the identity of the customer;

retrieving a telephone number relating to the device associated with the vehicle driver and retrieving a customer telephone number from the at least one database; and

causing an external telephony service to use the telephone numbers to place the telephone call between the vehicle driver and the customer,

wherein the driver request message to place a telephone call is sent in response to actuation of a call-out soft button displayed on a user interface of a driver device which does not divulge a telephone number of the customer, actuation of the call-out soft button causing sending of a message code to a vehicle management system for indicating to the vehicle management system that the vehicle driver wishes to establish telephone contact with the customer, and

wherein causing an external telephony service to place the telephone call comprises sending an instruction message from the vehicle management system to the external telephony service, wherein the instruction message is an encrypted XML message which comprises an instruction for the external telephony service

to act as a host for the telephone call so that the telephone call does not pass through the vehicle management system,

to first call the driver device, and in response to the driver device answering the call,

subsequently to call the customer device such that the customer device displays a number so that the customer is made aware of who is calling them.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the driver request message comprises a driver identifier.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising using the driver identifier to identify a job to which the vehicle driver has been allocated and obtaining customer information relating to the job.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising retrieving a customer phone number from a customer database or from an accounts database.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the external telephony service is a conference call host.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the instruction message contains the telephone number of the driver and the telephone number of the customer.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising causing the driver telephone number to be displayed on the customer device during the telephone call.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising causing a telephone number of the private hire service to be displayed on the customer device during the telephone call.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the driver request message code is received in the form of an SMS or MMS message.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-readable code, which, when executed by computing apparatus, causes the computing apparatus to perform a method of managing a private hire vehicle sharing facility, the method comprising:

receiving a driver request message from a device associated with the vehicle driver to place a telephone call between the vehicle driver and a customer,

using the driver request message to match the vehicle driver with a job allocation record in at least one database and identifying from the record the identity of the customer,

retrieving a telephone number relating to the device associated with the vehicle driver and retrieving a customer telephone number from the at least one database; and

causing an external telephony service to use the telephone numbers to place the telephone call between the vehicle driver and the customer,

wherein the driver request message to place a telephone call is sent in response to actuation of a call-out soft button displayed on a user interface of a driver device which does not divulge a telephone number of the customer, actuation of the call-out soft button causing sending of a message code to a vehicle management system for indicating to the vehicle management system that the vehicle driver wishes to establish telephone contact with the customer, and

wherein causing an external telephony service to place the telephone call comprises sending an instruction message from the vehicle management system to the external telephony service, wherein the instruction message is an encrypted XML message which comprises an instruction for the external telephony service

to act as a host for the telephone call so that the telephone call does not pass through the vehicle management system,

to first call the driver device, and in response to the driver device answering the call,

subsequently to call the customer device such that the customer device displays a number so that the customer is made aware of who is calling them.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the driver request message code is received in the form of an SMS or MMS message.

12. Apparatus having at least one processor and at least one memory having computer-readable code stored thereon which when executed controls the at least one processor to manage a private hire vehicle sharing facility by:

receiving a driver request message from a device associated with the vehicle driver to place a telephone call between the vehicle driver and a customer,

using the driver request message to match the vehicle driver with a job allocation record in at least one database and identifying from the record the identity of the customer,

retrieving a telephone number relating to the device associated with the vehicle driver and retrieving a customer telephone number from the at least one database; and

causing an external telephony service to use the telephone numbers to place the telephone call between the vehicle driver and the customer,

wherein the driver request message to place a telephone call is sent in response to actuation of a call-out soft button displayed on a user interface of a driver device which does not divulge a telephone number of the customer, actuation of the call-out soft button causing sending of a message code to a vehicle management system for indicating to the vehicle management system that the vehicle driver wishes to establish telephone contact with the customer, and

wherein causing an external telephony service to place the telephone call comprises sending an instruction message from the vehicle management system to the external telephony service, wherein the instruction message is an encrypted XML message which comprises an instruction for the external telephony service

to act as a host for the telephone call so that the telephone call does not pass through the vehicle management system,

to first call the driver device, and in response to the driver device answering the call,

subsequently to call the customer device such that the customer device displays a number so that the customer is made aware of who is calling them.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the driver request message code is received in the form of an SMS or MMS message.