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AUTOBYTEL.COM INC. ADDS LEADING-EDGE INTERACTIVE EDUCATION PROGRAM TO ITS DEALER COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM
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| New features, such as streaming video and text-to-speech, accelerate implementation of Autobytel.com's unique car selling model. |
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| Updated |
Jun 10, 2004 22:40:56 |
| Rating |
 153 ( 2 +1.3% ) |
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Description:
San Francisco, CA-February 7, 1999
Autobytel.com inc., the premier Internet car-buying service, today announced the implementation of an interactive online education program. Developed in a close working relationship with Intel Corporation, this application is designed to further empower its Accredited Dealer Network. Autobytel.com's Dealer Real Time®U.S.Pat.Pend. (DRT) Interactive Education Program delivers rich, interactive training tools to Autobytel.com Accredited Dealers. Incorporating Flash movies, streaming video, and text-to-speech technology, the program will not only improve interaction between Autobytel.com and its dealers, but will further increase Autobytel.com Accredited Dealers' ability to provide consumers with the best possible car-buying experience.
"Autobytel.com's success ultimately lies with the ability of its Accredited Dealer Network to exceed consumer expectations. Our DRT system, an industry first, has been tremendously successful at enabling our dealers to service consumers with the highest levels of efficiency and professionalism," said Mark W. Lorimer, President and CEO of autobytel.com inc. "With the development and deployment of the DRT Interactive Education Program on Intel's Pentium platform, Autobytel.com delivers a streamlined training process to our dealers which we believe will result in even higher customer satisfaction."
"Intel is working closely with a number of companies to develop e-commerce solutions that take advantage of the Internet," said Jon M. VanWinkle, Channel Development Manager of Intel Corporation. "Autobytel.com's unique and innovative training applications will use high-performance computing and the 24-hour availability of the Internet to modify the mindset of an entire industry. The DRT Interactive Education Program will become a cornerstone of Autobytel.com's overall training solution and represents a new way of doing business in the automotive industry."
DRT Interactive Education Program
Autobytel.com's DRT Interactive Education Program uses Intel's high-end Pentium® II processor-based servers and PCs to deliver on-demand training 24 hours a day to Autobytel.com's network of 2,700 Accredited Dealers via DRT, the proprietary extranet dealerships use to manage their Autobytel.com business. With the DRT Interactive Education Program, dealers will be able to easily master tasks such as navigating and optimizing the DRT contact management system and uploading digital pictures to the Certified Pre-Owned CyberStore, as well as learning how to communicate most effectively with Autobytel.com consumers.
In creating this e-business-to-business solution, Autobytel.com's goal was to develop an interactive user interface that computer novices could easily learn, while including functionality that also appealed to the sophisticated user. For example, in order to create a context-sensitive help program, Autobytel.com chose to use Macromedia's Flash technology to develop interactive tutorials and movies. With Flash's ability to deliver high-impact multimedia to a broad audience without special equipment, Autobytel.com was able to incorporate DRT screen shots that take users through each process step-by-step. In addition, an optional text-to-speech function lets users hear an audio tutorial that is synchronized with the video imagery. The program's streaming video function will communicate Autobytel.com's news and business practices, including dealer interviews, television news stories, and dealer meetings.
Paging Notification Increases Dealer Response Time
Another enhancement to the Autobytel.com DRT system is the recently implemented paging notification program, available to all dealers. Since the introduction of DRT, with its real-time delivery of customer purchase requests, Autobytel.com Accredited Dealers have significantly benefited from being able to respond to customer inquiries immediately. Paging notification gives them yet another edge in customer response time.
"Customer surveys indicate that the faster a dealer responds to a consumer, the more likely they are to sell that person a car," stated Anne Benvenuto, Senior Vice President, Marketing. "Paging notification ensures dealers can react as quickly as possible."
Autobytel.com's Commitment to Dealer Support Services
Autobytel.com has been at the forefront of dealer training, education, and support since its inception. The company was the first to introduce dedicated dealer support services and training programs. These currently include mandatory training sessions for all new Autobytel.com Accredited Dealers that take place in multiple locations every month. Autobytel.com is also the only online car selling program with Regional and District Managers in the field to act as liaisons between Autobytel.com and dealerships .
Autobytel.com's proprietary DRT system includes:
The ability to receive and respond to consumers' purchase requests in "real time"
A contact management system to track customer communication
E-mail functionality
Management of pre-owned vehicles posted in the Autobytel.com Certified Pre-Owned CyberStore
An Aftermarket menu for managing aftermarket products available to online shoppers
An extensive reporting system for effectively analyzing and tracking Autobytel.com business
A paging notification system
A full-scale online interactive education program co-developed with Intel Corporation |
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