iQ MAGAZINE

Chances are that the last time you visited your car dealership for an oil change, you probably didn't hit some golf balls, practice your putting, get a manicure, enjoy a massage, or check your e-mail via high-speed Internet. Unless, that is, you're a customer of Atlanta Classic Cars (ACC). At ACC, one of the largest and most successful Mercedes-Benz dealerships in the southeastern United States, amenities like these are strictly status quo.

"It's about giving customers another reason to do business with us," says Cathy Ellis, owner of ACC, which opened for business in 1975. "Most people believe going to a car dealership is like going to the dentist. We try to prevent that feeling."

ACC continually seeks new ways to provide its customers with a unique experience. When the dealership, with around 200 employees and $130 million in annual sales, decided to upgrade its location to a massive 20-acre site more than two years ago, it had an opportunity to implement an entirely new technology solution that could boost customer service and employee productivity simultaneously. According to Buddy Conner, ACC's IT manager, the business challenge was threefold:

• Move to a new physical location
• Add a cutting-edge network application that would complement the company's customer service tradition
• Enhance employee productivity

IP Communications, which use the network rather than traditional copper phone lines to transmit voice, proved to be the answer.

Back to Top

Simplifying the Move

Working with the Dealer Services Group of ADP, a Cisco Gold Certified Partner, ACC built on its existing network infrastructure by adding an IP Communications solution. As the location move progressed, ADP helped ACC migrate from its traditional PBX-based phone system to a flexible IP phone platform. It also used Cisco CallManager to implement the core call-processing technology required to integrate the voice system with its dealership management system (DMS) and customer relationship management (CRM) software.

This spring, ACC gained an even greater appreciation for its converged network when it relocated its preowned vehicles division to a second new facility. Although the second location was just across the highway, installing a dedicated wired connection between the buildings would have been very expensive. Instead, ACC took advantage of the network's secure wireless capabilities to establish a wireless connection across the highway.

The staff moved to the new location overnight. "It was pretty impressive," says Kym Schumacher, CFO of ACC. "At the close of business on Saturday, the sales folks gathered their personal belongings, unplugged their phones, drove across the freeway, and plugged into their new offices-without a hitch. You can't do that with a PBX system."

Getting Closer to Customers

While the move showed how a converged network could minimize administrative challenges, perhaps the most significant benefits came from integrating voice communications and customer data. With the converged network, ACC's customer, vehicle, sales, and service histories are now instantly available to employees as they are on the phone with a customer.

When a call comes in to a salesperson, for example, a "screen pop" immediately displays the customer data from the DMS and CRM applications. While the employee has the customer on the line, he or she can instantly see a record of the customer's purchases, service and maintenance visits, any problems that may have occurred (and if and how those problems were resolved), and even some personal information, such as family members' names. "It's a tremendous sales tool," Conner says. "And it works equally well for our service and parts advisers, customer-service people, and accounting."

ACC has about 30,000 customers in its database, and employees share all the information from this single source. There is no guessing what the sales department is doing or what the service department is doing, because everyone sees the same information.

Back to Top

Enhancing Communications and Productivity

Before the move to the new facility, managing the growing phone traffic was becoming a challenge. The PBX system required rewiring every time an employee was hired or changed offices. And customer call volume was beginning to overwhelm ACC's switchboard operators, who had difficulty queuing calls, resulting in longer wait times for customers and calls often being routed back to the operator.

The new IP phones have transformed how ACC handles customer calls:

• The system easily routes each call directly to the right person's desktop IP phone or, if he or she is away from the desk, to a mobile IP phone.
• When an employee moves from one location to another, or gets a new job assignment, he or she unplugs the phone set, takes it to the new location, and plugs it in.
• Mobile IP phones give employees the flexibility to move in and out of the building easily without losing phone contact with the customer.
• Unified messaging features mean employees don't need separate devices for e-mail, voice mail, and fax services. All communications are routed to a single inbox and can be retrieved from an IP phone or from a PC.

Its integrated IP Communications solution from ADP and Cisco gives ACC the ability to take the fullest advantage of its network infrastructure. "We made a smart move in choosing a single voice and data platform that didn't involve multiple vendors," says Schumacher. "It's much more reliable. In the past two years, the network has never gone down. Everything has just worked."

Back to Top

About the Author

Philadelphia-based Tom Starner is a regular contributor to iQ Magazine.

iQ Magazine, Third Quarter 2005