Artificial intelligence is working its way into all aspects of dealership operations, and a new integration provides another example.

Impel has joined with Cox Automotive’s Xtime to bring its AI-powered customer lifecycle management technology to Xtime’s fixed operations software.

In a news release, Impel said its AI continuously mines DMS records and reaches out to customers with timely and relevant communications, answering questions and booking appointments in a natural, conversational manner — capabilities that the company said enable dealers to maximize service revenue without the need for additional personnel.

Impel’s AI is designed to use its integrations with major DMS platforms and Xtime’s scheduling services to access customer records and shop calendars in real time to optimize and schedule appointments automatically.

Impel said the conversational AI recognizes customer preferences and recommends the most relevant options from cues and generalized comments such as “I get of work at 4 p.m.” Once Impel AI initiates an outreach, customers can engage the AI at any time — even months later — to book an appointment.

In the release, Mario Murgado Jr., marketing and operations director for Murgado Automotive Group, which operates 29 dealership locations in five states, said the integration “truly delivers a concierge-like service for our customers.”

“It’s like having a dedicated assistant that not only reminds them of service milestones and follows up in friendly fashion but is also available at any time to immediately schedule appointments over email or text, day or night,” he said. “This is transformational for the industry, and having already seen incredible results with Impel’s conversational AI platform, we couldn’t wait to leverage the new end-to-end capability.”

Murgado said the dealer group has also shown “marked increases” in the rate of service appointments set, with “a significant portion” of them set directly by the AI.

“The increased automation is allowing our team to focus on generating additional appointments,” he said, “and we’re looking forward to increased closed repair orders and the resulting revenue gains based on direct attribution we can track.”

Impel said the automated outreach and conversational AI scheduling leads allows dealerships to book more appointments, helping increase service revenue and customer retention and creating a “white glove” service experience, even after hours. And, the company said, it improves staff productivity and efficiency.

“AI-powered automation is the foundation that enables automotive dealers to drive transformational gains in customer retention and lifetime value,” Impel CEO and co-founder Devin Daly said. “Delivering exceptional customer experiences at scale, while at the same time driving greater operational efficiency, is only possible with the application of intelligent technology.

“Appointment setting and scheduling have long been the Achilles’ heel for resource-constrained service teams. By integrating Impel’s enterprise-grade automotive AI with Xtime’s industry-leading scheduling platform, dealers can finally deliver the personalized, seamless experience customers expect — all without the need for human intervention.”