Uber: Capitalizing on the global expansion of the ride-sharing phenomenon

There’s no secret to the remarkable global success Uber has enjoyed in its ride-sharing and delivery businesses. Offering its customers, drivers and riders unrivaled value and a consistently awesome (and secure) user experience has been everything. 

No matter which country Uber expands into, it needs to be sure it can deliver the same levels of service quality and safety. Over the years, there have been many interaction and connectivity challenges Infobip has tackled alongside Uber to maintain and raise these quality and safety levels. Here are three of them:

Uber has become famous for the incredible user experience on its ride-sharing app. That’s why it’s so important that the first experience of the app — the registration process — is quick, simple and smooth for both customers and drivers. 

We helped Uber send One-Time PIN codes (OTPs) to quickly verify the identities of both customers and drivers when they register to the app. Thanks to end-to-end encryption and fast and reliable OTP delivery — underpinned by our expertise in global SMS compliance — Uber can ensure fast, efficient and secure registration processes anywhere it operates

Uber wanted to ensure drivers and riders could freely chat with customers on secure, anonymized lines. This would remove the need for drivers to communicate via SMS or in-app chat messaging while in their car (which comes with obvious safety risks).

On this particular challenge, we were against the clock. The issue was attracting media attention, and Uber’s CEO was set to attend a security roadshow where he would be asked about the problem. A viable solution needed to be developed — fast.

Our engineers developed a solution called Number Masking. This allowed drivers and passengers to chat in real time and coordinate pickups using a virtual phone number, without revealing their personal phone numbers.

Our global presence made it easy for Uber to add Number Masking in new and high-priority markets — overcoming any local problems that arose. Once the solution was in place, we proactively communicated any potential service disruptions on mobile networks across the world, making it even easier for Uber to consistently meet high customer expectations of their service.

Ensuring that there are enough drivers operating in peak times is crucial for Uber, as spikes in demand for drivers can increase waiting times and cost for passengers. So when drivers in new markets sign up for the service, Uber needs to quickly inform them about peak demand times. Automated SMS messages help them do this quickly and efficiently.