8:08 am, August 8, 2012
GERMAN firm Audi has launched a new service which aims to provide greater transparency in its customer relationships.
A new service called Audi Cam will be the first in the world to enable technicians carrying out workshop inspections to focus hand-held ‘Audi Cams’ on specific problems, to deliver verbal diagnoses and to send the resulting film clips to customers’ home computers or smartphones before any work begins.
The Audi Cam is a small, hand-held video camera capable of delivering high quality footage with excellent sound quality.
Audi Approved technicians will use it first to visually and verbally identify a customer’s car on film after conducting an initial inspection. They will then pinpoint and clearly explain any problems found, and then propose solutions to those problems.
Each problem identified is filmed as an individual clip to minimise file size and reduce ‘buffering’, and in as little as three minutes can then be incorporated into a web page that is exclusive to the customer involved.
A secure link to that page is then emailed to the customer, who has sole access to it using a unique PIN number which is sent separately by text message to their mobile phone. The page is optimised for compatibility with home computers and smartphones.
The page also provides a VAT-inclusive price quotation for each job, along with action buttons that enable the customer to authorise the Centre to proceed with it at the price quoted, to reject the work or to request a call back to discuss it.
Paul Sansom, head of aftersales and service for Audi UK, said: ‘Audi is unquestionably an innovator where its cars are concerned, and I’m delighted that we’re now also making real headway in advancing the art of looking after those cars and their drivers.
‘By effectively beaming the workshop to our customers’ homes or smartphones, Audi Cam greatly simplifies the service and repair process, and at the same time breaks down more of the barriers between the service bay and the customer that have traditionally fostered scepticism and suspicion.’
