ELOQUENT TECHNOLOGIES & SECURUS COMMUNICATIONS: AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY IT EXPERTS

 Supporting smarter, more efficient dealerships

The car dealership environment is changing quickly, in terms of technology, and today's car buyers tend to have a clear idea of exactly what they want before ever setting foot on the dealer's premises. Having grown up with digital technology, their expectations of the dealership experience are higher than ever.Whether they are calling to make an enquiry, waiting in the service area or engaging with staff, customers demand a reliable and efficient service.

Eloquent Technologies and Securus Communications are two specialist IT providers who are very active across the automotive industry, working collaboratively as partners to connect vehicle manufacturers, dealers and distributors. Their partnership is unique, with Eloquent specialising in automotive IT and migrating organisations to the cloud, and Securus offering vital network connectivity.

 Transforming IT

Businesses expect their IT provider to successfully enable, secure and manage their network infrastructure, and the automotive industry is no different. Eloquent and Securus provide the technical expertise and collaboration tools to ensure that automotive companies are more connected and more efficient than ever before. They have the specialist knowledge and experience to identify vulnerabilities and mitigate risk, whilst providing a fast and reliable network infrastructure.

 Wellington Motors needed an IT partner to develop an end-to-end IT solution

Wellington Motors is a well-respected, professional Nissan car dealership, with three sites in Wellington, Exeter and Barnstaple. Exceptional customer service is key to their success and their legacy IT provider didn't have the appropriate automotive experience or a strong enough focus on customer service. They were selling products not solutions to business problems and Wellington Motors needed a new partner with a more holistic approach. Eloquent Technologies were recommended as an IT expert in the automotive industry.

Eloquent support all the major manufacturer systems and CDK dealer management systems, and made a lot of suggestions to improve Wellington Motors' IT infrastructure. Eloquent are also ahead of their game in helping the automotive industry transition to a more mobile workforce, allowing sales people to work remotely with tablets and laptops, instead of being tied to desktops in the office.

Using Securus' network infrastructure, they installed Wi-Fi with 100MB leased lines going into the Exeter site, to improve speed and resilience. Network connectivity is now at optimum performance to support and power the business. The email service is also managed and supported by Eloquent which is essential element of the infrastructure. Wellington Motors now have only one end-to-end SLA contract and leave Eloquent to confidently support and manage the whole solution.

 Dawn Findlay, Group HR Manager for Wellington Motors, commented,

 "We do not have any full-time IT staff in the dealership because we know we can leave the management and support of our network in Eloquent's capable hands. They faced a lot of challenges when they took on this project and they have done a really good job. I completely trust their expertise, which is very important in the service industry."

The long-term plan for Wellington Motors is to migrate the whole network to the hosted cloud, to improve business resilience, reduce costs and further increase operational efficiencies.

Securus Communications help Bristol Honda speed up their internet connections

Bristol Honda is the most comprehensive Honda dealership serving the South West. They offer a wide range of new and used cars, Honda business and fleet options, Motability and financing solutions, as well as servicing and MOTs. Bristol Honda have four dealerships across the South West: Cribbs Causeway and Brislington in Bristol, Bath and Cardiff.

Bristol Honda has a team of dedicated staff and experienced mechanics at each location and employs 110 staff across the four sites. They pride themselves on offering excellent customer service but they were finding that their internet connection was becoming increasingly slow as they expanded and demand increased. The bandwidth was no longer meeting their requirements across all four of their sites so they decided to explore cloud connectivity options.

Cribbs Causeway is Bristol Honda's primary site and the staff were becoming increasingly frustrated by the slow internet connectivity. There was a 2MB link in Brislington for internet connectivity at Cribbs Causeway. They needed phone lines, internet connectivity and a network that was capable of running the day-to-day operations efficiently and seamlessly. The 2MB link was not big enough to fulfil their current requirements so Securus suggested they move to the cloud. By implementing a cloud solution, Securus identified that Bristol Honda would not only be speeding up their internet connectivity, but also reducing costs, mitigating risk and protecting against potential cyber attacks.

Securus devised a plan for an integrated cloud solution, and helped Bristol Honda take advantage of the Government funding to install fibre connectivity. They now they have a 100MB link up and down at their Cribbs Causeway site giving them almost instantaneous connectivity. The Cardiff site has a 100MB link up and an 80MB link down, so internet speeds have improved dramatically. The Bath site, which Bristol Honda acquired five years ago, is also connected to the cloud, as well as the two-year-old Cardiff site, giving the entire dealership an integrated, end-to-end cloud solution. They can make phone calls between locations over the server, send faxes and emails, all at no additional cost.

Securus provides an end-to-end integrated solution with one simple SLA. The cloud solution has increased connectivity speeds which has in turn improved staff productivity.

 Stephen Bowkett, Financial Director for Bristol Honda, commented,

"Securus have given us speed, resilience and excellent customer service. They are very responsive and proactive - they understand our objectives and have generally helped make the day-to-day running of the business easier and quicker."

Collaboration is key

Together, Eloquent and Securus provide a single Service Level Agreement and an end-to-end solution, for simplicity and excellent support. As collaborative partners, they offer a service similar to the bigger conglomerates like BT, Virgin and Talk Talk, but their unique selling point is that they also guarantee excellent customer service. It's all about collaboration: speed, resilience, service and support. As a team, Eloquent and Securus make sure their customers stay ahead of the game.

To find out more, call us on 0333 2000 991 (Eloquent) or 0345 128 3457 (Securus), or visit our websites at www.eloquent-technologies.com and www.securuscomms.co.uk.