Automotive News Canada - December 2021 - F12

FIXED OPS JOURNAL
FUTURE
continued from Page 11
technology offi cer, says consumers who use
dealerships for service are going to demand
convenience, transparency and connected
cars that are integrated. Mining data can deliver
all three, he says.
Shah gives an example of what a repair visit in
the future might look like to the service
department and the customer: Th e vehicle
communicates its health to the
dealership. Th e car sets an appointment.
Th e store orders the parts, ensures
a bay is open and then notifi es
the customer exactly how long the repair
will take.
While the vehicle is in for the repair,
the technician - using data mined
from similar vehicles - checks components
that likely will need service
immediately or in the near future.
" Today, that kind of predictability doesn't
exist, " Shah says. " We know in order to do that
kind of work, we have to connect data from
many sources - the car, the dealer and sometimes
the manufacturer. Neuron is where we
would do that data analysis and connection
across those environments. "
Another aspect of convenience is removing
obstacles for customers to access the service
department.
Brooke, the virtual assistant at the Salt Lake
City Honda store, not only frees service personnel
from unproductive time on the phone,
she also helps prevent potential customers
from hanging up while they are put on hold
for long periods of time.
" If somebody can't answer the
phone, what does that do for a dealership? "
says Skyler Chadwick, director
of sales for Cox's Xtime.
He says at one store about 25 percent
of service appointments are being
booked by a virtual assistant.
As for Brooke's somewhat unnatuShah:
Connect
sources of data
ral speaking cadence, that will improve
the more virtual assistants are
used, according to Conversica, the
company whose AI voice technology powers
Brooke.
" Unlike rules-based or scripted solutions,
our AI assistants get smarter with use and
continuously learn and adapt to new data and
interactions, thereby helping improve outcomes
for dealerships over time, " Sonny
Modern service lane
Virtual assistants: Powered by AI, they
answer customer calls 24/7. A Salt
Lake City dealership says about 25
percent of its service appointments are
booked by the virtual assistant.
Prognostics: Vehicles will soon be able
to detect an issue before it occurs. A
vehicle will diagnose itself and transmit
the data to the store.
Data mining: Manufacturers cull data
from repairs, recalls, warranty work and
other sources to identify trends in parts
failures on various vehicles. The
company will give that information to
techs, who can refer to it when working
on the same make/model, to look for
potential issues.
Convenience: Bringing service to the
customer at home or the offi ce for
everything from oil changes to tire
replacement. Using kiosks for customers
on the go who don't have time to
visit a dealership service department.
Dasgupta, head of product marketing at Conversica,
told Fixed Ops Journal.
In the EV era, fi xed ops directors are likely to
see a dramatic drop in visits from drivers of
see FUTURE, Page 14
Hunter Engineering believes
mobile wheel services in the
EV era could be a growth
area for fi xed ops
departments.
PAGE 12 DECEMBER 2021
Automotive News Canada - December 2021

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