Reynolds and Reynolds has a vision. A Skaivision, to be precise.

The dealership software provider announced a collaboration with Skaivision, creator of “smart space” computer vision artificial intelligence software for auto dealerships, that includes an investment in the company.

In a news release, Reynolds said it sees the partnership as “a significant opportunity to help its customers become more efficient and profitable.”

Skaivision is designed to help dealerships use video technology to identify and eliminate bottlenecks in the service department, using AI and strategically placed cameras. The AI technology can also help identify and source potential used vehicle inventory from customer visits to the service department, the companies said.

“Their cutting-edge technology has the ability to help dealers get even more out of their service departments,” Reynolds executive vice president of strategy and corporate development Kasi Edwards said. “Every tenth of an hour is billable, and Skaivision helps shine a light on dead bay time.

“Additionally, we continue to work with them on exciting future integrations that we believe will create unprecedented opportunities for dealerships.”

In a news release, Reynolds said it has long been focused on eliminating wasted time in the service department with cornerstone software such as Service Price Guides and Technician Dispatching, digital communication tools like Service Snap and eApproval, and vehicle tracking technology like RFID. The tools are designed to increase technician productivity and upsell percentages and decrease customer wait times.

The company said Skaivision adds to efficiency by helping dealers eliminate their reliance on manual entry for vehicle tracking. AI technology analyzes video feeds to determine where a vehicle is, how long it has been sitting and how long it should have been there, then alerts the dealership about delays and issues.

“Our partnership with Reynolds is a huge step forward in automating process tracking and tedious data input,” Skaivision CEO Mark Queen said. “Imagine marrying the visual reality of dealership interactions with the software tasks. Very powerful in terms of time savings and transparency.”

Reynolds said Skaivision fits into its Spark AI unified AI data layer. Dealerships using Reynolds Retail Management System can now use Skaivision’s Cycle Time Analysis, License Plate Acquisition Offer, Critical Delay Alerts and customer-facing wait time estimation.