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Traditional Taxi Industry Tries To Strike Back at Uber and Lyft


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SAN DIEGO - October 27, 2015: San Diego Yellow, the leading taxi company in San Diego with over 300 vehicles, launches its new Concierge service with Bttn, the world-famous internet-connected push button.

Restaurants, hotels and boutiques frequented by large numbers of customers are repeatedly calling taxi companies to place ride orders. Deploying San Diego Yellow branded bttns to these locations, SDY offers a totally new level of service. Dubbed as SDY Concierge, a simple push of a button sends a taxi order to that address, and then displays confirmation light on the bttn.

Taxi operators have for some years been challenged by internet-connected ride-sharing services. Some of the traditional operators have also developed their own app-based services but studies have shown personal apps do not reach all customers and they're not the most convenient way for concierge-served customers. Using a bttn to place taxi orders is both faster and more convenient than app-based hailing.

"With SDY Concierge, we can gain more visibility at the point of sale, improve our customer satisfaction, and strengthen customer lock-in. I see the super-easy bttn as one of the ways for the traditional taxi industry to go on-demand and keep our share of the pie," says Anthony Palmeri, President of SDY.

Harri Rautio, CEO of Bttn is delighted. "The bttn streamlines taxi ordering, saves time and money in the concierge locations, and offers our customers new revenue streams. We're thrilled to work with a market leader like SDY, as well as our local partner ButtonizeIT, who has been instrumental in working with SDY, configuring the solution and providing local support."

Younes Benkaci, CEO of ButtonizeIT continues: "We've been working closely with Bttn for several months now and we are convinced that the bttn solution is the right tool for taxi and limo com­pa­nies as well as many other industries to make the leap onto on-demand business. The value proposition is fantastic on top of being an affordable solution since it there is no upfront capital investments."

About San Diego Yellow
SDY is the leading taxi service in San Diego County operating a fleet of over 300 taxicabs. SDY is recognized as a leader in the taxi industry and its President Anthony Palmeri has served as Board Member on TLPA for over 25 years, was President in 1998, and was selected as the Large Fleet Operator of the Year in 2006.

About ButtonizeIT
ButtonizeIT is a systems integrator helping its customers enter the on-demand era faster and easier than they ever imagined. The bttn is a key component in their arsenal of connected objects.

About Bttn
Bttn Inc. is the creator of the bttn, the simplest internet user interface in the world. It brings the power of Internet to individuals, families, and businesses with its elegantly designed physical push button always connected to the internet. Bttn Inc. is privately funded and based in Helsinki, Finland and New York, U.S. Bttn will be exhibiting the bttn and how it can make on-demand happen for the taxi industry at the TLPA Annual Convention & Trade Show October 27–30 in Las Vegas at Booth #625.

For further information, please contact:

Bttn Inc.
Jussi Mononen, VP Biz Dev
347.248.2363
http://bt.tn

SDY
Anthony Palmeri, President
619.398.2325
http://driveu.com

ButtonizeIT
Younes Benkaci, CEO
619.800.0097
http://buttonizeit.com