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Along with broadening its technology relationship with Cisco, ADP Dealer Services this past weekend launched a Web-based payroll solution to U.S. clients.

The company highlighted that Payroll Plus is designed to be a full-service, outsourced payroll solution customized for dealerships. It is powered by ADP Employer Services’ RUN payroll platform, currently running in more than 130,000 businesses.

Because Payroll Plus is Web-based, officials said that all dealerships need is Internet access to process their payrolls. ADP said Payroll Plus is geared to get store managers out of payroll processing and back to the frontline of running their business.

“With Payroll Plus, you enjoy the flexibility and control of a do-it-yourself product,” officials declared.

Some of the key features of Payroll Plus include managed federal, state and local tax tables; ADP’s managed tax services and W2 processing; electronic new hire reporting to state agencies; and flexibility of onsite check printing, direct deposit, or a combination of both.

Plus, as part of ADP Dealer Services’ mobile suite of applications, the company indicated that dealerships running on Payroll Plus can offer employees the ability to view current and historical pay statements online or on a mobile device.

“We have leveraged ADP Employer Services’ best-in-class solution and customized it for the specific needs of our dealer clients and their employees. Today’s dealership owner is focused on maximizing resources efficiently in every aspect of their business,” stated Bob Murray, general manager of tax and employment services for ADP Dealer Services.

“They demand flexibility and convenience. Equally important, they demand confidence that their payroll provider can manage key administrative tasks securely. Payroll Plus is truly a game-changer — the perfect innovation for dealership business owners who expect convenience, accuracy and reliability,” Murray continued.

“Because we understand the needs of our clients, we continue to introduce innovative products and solutions to help dealership owners focus on what matters most to them — growing their business,” Murray emphasized.

“For example, recognizing the demand for even greater mobility, ADP Drive clients will gain secure online access to payroll statements allowing all employees easy access to view current and historical pay information 24/7 from anywhere using a mobile device,” he shared.

“As we continue to extend our innovative product offerings, we are better able to meet our clients’ needs and expectations. By delivering innovation, reinforced by service excellence, we are strengthening relationships with our clients, which, in turn, is solidifying our competitive position in the market,” Murray went on to say.

ADP and Cisco Join Forces

In other company news, ADP Dealer Services and Cisco are looking to streamline dealership selling and service processes though the use of new video-enabled products including Cisco Cius.

Since 2001, ADP pointed out it has provided IP phone solutions that integrate with the ADP dealer management system and customer relationship system solutions, which can allow dealers to know who is calling before answering the phone, streamlining customer communications.

Now dealerships can combine the latest collaboration technologies to enable new levels of customer experience and cost efficiencies. Dealers will be able to:

—Automate the service experience to drive retention and profits.
—Improve communication between departments and other dealerships.
—Provide superior customer experience.

Dealerships focused on unified communication and collaboration can utilize two Cisco collaboration solutions:

1. Cisco Cius, a mobile collaboration device in a hand held form-factor.
2. Cisco TelePresence, a real-time video conferencing solution.

ADP explained that it is extending enhanced collaboration in four primary areas:

1. Potential customer and the dealership: ADP’s DriveMotion is considered to be the next-generation access to dealership mobile applications. It is designed to allow dealers to create a seamless experience at key consumer touch points.

With DriveMotion, officials noted that the Cisco Cius can become a video-enabled touch point that can be used to browse inventory and provide detailed information about vehicles on the showroom floor. This touch point could appeal to tech-savvy shoppers who can now continue their online shopping activities while in the store, officials suggested. The Cius is also designed to connect consumers to a virtual expert via HD Video anywhere, anytime.

2. Brand new customer and the dealership’s finance team: Customers can complete their financing paperwork at the local dealership while working with remote F&I employees via Cisco TelePresence, which can allow instant, face-to-face collaboration through a vivid, high definition video link, allowing the dealership to save money by centralizing the F&I process.

3. Existing customer and service professionals: Should a service tech identify a new problem while performing a routine service and the vehicle’s owner is offsite, the service tech can use the Cisco Cius to take a picture of the issue and e-mail it to the customer for permission to perform the extra work. Customers can see the problem despite not being onsite and can immediately authorize the additional work — speeding up the process while at the same time heightening customer trust.

4. Onsite Service professional to remote service expert: Using Cisco TelePresence technology, a service tech confronted with a tricky problem can make a video call to a remote service expert to speed the diagnosis and repair. Remote service experts can receive the call, diagnose the problem, and share their desktop to instruct the service tech as to how to proceed — all in-person via video.

“Many of our customers are primed to seamlessly take this next step as they already have a Cisco network infrastructure in place and have Cisco Unified Communications Manager and Cisco IP phones already in use,” stated Dean Bergan, vice president of product development at ADP Dealer Services.

“The addition of the Cius mobile collaboration device in key areas will boost productivity. ADP makes it easy for dealers to achieve measurable results and drive additional profit in every area of their operation with innovative solutions to tackle their toughest challenges,” Bergan continued.

Roberto De La Mora, senior director of collaboration solutions marketing for Ciscom added, “the dealership of the future is an exciting one — not just for the dealers, but for consumers and the auto industry as well. The kind of customer care and experience the Cisco Cius promises cannot be delivered on a consumer device. With its secure, mobile collaboration capabilities and mobile TelePresence, the Cius allows dealers to put customers in touch with experts real-time to help close sales while maintaining high security and integrity of the data as well as the network.”