Auto dealerships have changed substantially in the past decade. Customers now move fluidly between online and in-person experiences, franchise networks are growing, and service departments are under pressure to communicate faster, more clearly, and more consistently than ever.
But many dealerships’ tech stacks haven’t kept up. These organizations’ phones are still on-prem, and messaging can be an afterthought. Meanwhile, IT teams are stuck stitching together legacy systems and niche software just to keep things ticking. The end result can be missed calls, slow service, siloed teams, and a customer experience that doesn’t match the pace or expectations of today’s buyers.
It’s a fixable problem. Intermedia’s unified communications and contact center solutions were built with exactly this challenge in mind. And according to Chris Miller, VP of Technologies and Solutions at Pacific Office Automation (POA), dealerships are finally taking action.
“We’ve seen a lot of success in working with auto dealerships in particular, because the industry is changing rapidly,” Miller said. “Dealers need to communicate faster and stay better connected with customers than ever before.”
Location Creep, System Sprawl, and the Cost of Doing Nothing
Managing communications for a single dealership location is one thing. Managing communications across five, ten or more rooftops? That’s another story entirely.
Many dealership groups are still running different systems in different locations, often held together with a bit of duct tape and wishful thinking. Phones in one branch don’t connect with CRM tools in another. Service staff miss inbound calls because they’re busy chasing down the right contact. Sales managers can’t coach junior reps because there’s no visibility into call quality or outcomes.
“One big issue is aging on-prem phone systems,” Miller noted. “Many dealerships still rely on outdated tech that doesn’t meet modern customer expectations. People today want faster responses, whether through chat or real-time voice communication. Legacy systems often lack those capabilities.”
The longer this dramatic fragmentation goes unaddressed, the harder it becomes to grow, scale, or offer any level of consistent customer experience.
Why Dealerships Are Ditching One-Off Tools for Something Unified
For years, the standard approach was to add on a new tool every time a new challenge cropped up; an app for texting here, a separate video platform there, a call-recording tool layered on top. But all those point solutions create more work for IT, more training for staff, and more opportunity for things to slip through the cracks.
That’s why more CIOs and tech leads are looking to consolidate. Intermedia’s UCaaS solution brings voice, video, messaging, screen sharing, analytics and contact center tools together into one seamless experience. Imagine no more switching between tabs or chasing down voicemails. Everyone, from the front desk to the service bay, works from the same set of tools.
“Ease of use is a top priority. Just because a solution has lots of features doesn’t mean it should be complex to set up or manage,” Miller explained.
“That’s where Intermedia’s Elevate platform shines; it’s streamlined, simple to configure, and IT teams love the single-pane-of-glass administration.”
Serving the Whole Dealership, and Not Just One Department
What makes Intermedia’s solution especially suited to dealerships is how well it flexes to support different parts of the business. Sales teams get features like call recording and supervisor coaching tools. BDC staff can follow up instantly via voice or SMS. Service advisors can check availability in real time before transferring a call. Critically, no one gets routed to a dead-end voicemail box.
“From a sales perspective, the ability to listen back to calls and coach newer reps is critical,” Miller outlined. “And from a service perspective, being able to see staff availability in real time rather than routing customers to voicemail can prevent missed opportunities.
The essence is that everything works together, with no separate systems and no duplicated effort.
Yes, It Plays Nice with Microsoft Teams (And the Rest of Your Stack)
For dealerships that have already invested in Microsoft Teams, Intermedia doesn’t force a rip-and-replace. Rather, it integrates natively, bringing voice, SMS, call logging, and compliance features directly into Teams on desktop and mobile.
This means dealerships can enhance the tools they already use, without adding extra steps for users or requiring parallel platforms.
“This extends the value of the investment dealerships have already made in Teams, while delivering a true UC experience,” Miller highlighted. “Plus, Intermedia offers integrations with other ERP systems commonly used in dealerships.”
Why Channel Partners Like POA Matter
The tech is only part of the story. What sets Intermedia apart in the dealership world is the strength of its partner network. POA, for example, doesn’t just resell the platform; they use it themselves.
“Intermedia, our partner, has played a key role here,” Miller said. “We’ve trained our entire sales team on their platform, we use it internally, and it’s been hugely successful in helping dealerships improve communication.”
POA knows exactly how to deploy it across a complex dealership environment. For dealerships that don’t have big internal IT teams, having a trusted partner who understands both the tech and the business context makes all the difference.
Fix the Foundation for Long Term Success
Unifying dealerships’ communications stack is just as much of a significant strategic move as it is an IT upgrade. It sets the team up to grow faster, serve customers better, and respond more effectively when things change.
With Intermedia’s integrated unified communication solution, your dealership customers get a solution that’s built for how they actually work.
Ready to streamline and scale your dealership customers’ communications? For more information, visit Intermedia.
