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ShoreTel's Integration with Automotive Apps Cures CRM Hiccups

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June 02, 2011

ShoreTel's Integration with Automotive Apps Cures CRM Hiccups

By Linda Dobel, TMCnet Contributor


There is no question that in the automotive industry, customer relationship management (CRM) and the ability to easily connect with customers are paramount factors in achieving success. A hiccup, however, often occurs when a dedicated IT staff is needed to manage a complex communications system to make those customer connections possible.


 

Understanding this issue, ShoreTel (News - Alert), a leading provider of IP phone systems with fully integrated unified communications (UC), says transformative IP-based communications solutions that offer integration with leading automotive business processes can be the key to addressing the customer relationship management (CRM) challenge, and an increasing number of organizations in the automotive industry are adopting ShoreTel solutions for this reason.

 

The driver for these automotive businesses turning to ShoreTel, in the company’s estimation, is that its UC solution is easy to deploy, use and administer. The company says this makes it an ideal choice for companies in the automotive industry with more than 50 employees (there are 2,000 in the U.S.) that need a simple way to connect with customers while reducing the IT resources solely dedicated to managing a complex system. In addition, it says that because the solution is based on an open architecture, automotive dealers can implement third-party solutions providing greater capabilities for system administrators and users who ultimately deliver extended value to their constituencies.

 

One of ShoreTel’s customers who can attest to those assertions is Greg Bennett, IT director at Downtown L.A. Motors.

 

"ShoreTel gives us the scalability and growth opportunities that other systems simply do not offer,” said Bennett. “With ShoreTel we were immediately able to save thousands of dollars a month by eliminating PBX (News - Alert) programming costs and handling adds/moves/changes on our own.”

 

In addition to the cost savings Bennett said Downtown L.A. Motors achieved, he said ease of programming and gaining the ability to have employees work from any location were also reasons he is pleased with the choice of the ShoreTel solution.   

 

“In the automotive industry there are always many changes going on including staffing, locations and office arrangements and ShoreTel makes it easier for us to take care of these changes quickly and with minimal impact to our users,” Bennett concluded.

 

Another way automotive businesses’ CRM efforts can be improved is with the tools offered by ShoreTel Innovation Network validated member bridgeSpeak. Using the ShoreTel open APIs (application programming interfaces), bridgeSpeak offers tools that enable auto dealers to connect their telecommunications tools with their databases for the DMS (data management systems), CRM (customer relationship management) and BDC (business development center). The company says this unlocks many new possibilities for how dealers can conduct their business more profitably and eliminates complexity caused by disparate, disconnected information systems.

 

"Customer service is a key differentiator in the automotive industry, and companies rely on the latest communications technology to optimize the customer experience,” said Mark Murawski, manager of implementation and support at bridgeSpeak. “ShoreTel's ease of deployment and use, along with its ability to easily integrate with our software solutions, lets automotive companies add the capabilities they need while reducing costs and closing more deals."

 

In other news, TMCnet reported on ShoreTel’s recent success. The  company is coming off an extremely strong third quarter of fiscal year 2011, where its revenue increased to $51.6 million, up 39 percent increase from the same period of last year.

 

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2011, taking place Sept. 13-15, 2011, in Austin, Texas. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.


Linda Dobel is a TMCnet Contributor. She has been an editor in the contact center space for more than 25 years, and has the distinction of being the founding editor of Customer Inter@ction Solutions (CIS) magazine. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by John Lahtinen







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