ADP Dealer Services recently launched what the technology solutions provider is calling its new Service Connect Community.

The company said that this online forum is designed for dealer clients to share knowledge and information about software and services. Community members can post questions, get answers and provide insight to their peers directly from their ADP Dealer Management System (DMS) application(s).

“We performed an extensive amount of dealership and community forum research to better learn exactly what our clients wanted in a peer-to-peer community,” said Bill Heffern, division vice president of client relations at ADP Dealer Services.

“We learned that there was tremendous value in providing our user community a tool that helped them share information freely and learn from each other's experiences in a seamless and secure way,” Heffern continued.

“Service Connect Community gives our clients a place to get the answers they want from people just like them, securely and easily right from within their normal daily workflow,” he went on to say.

While Service Connect Community can give users a chance to interact with their peers, the company mentioned it is also geared to help them get the most out of their ADP solutions.

Heffern pointed out that learning about features they have never used or didn't know they had, and reading about best practices will give everyone an opportunity to gain more value from every solution.

The ADP Dealer Services executive added that dealership employees can work smarter by finding timely and useful information, like application usage examples, solution nuances and manufacturer-specific setup answers.

One dealer who already has used the online platform gave it a glowing evaluation.

"I like Service Connect Community because it has allowed me to reach out to fellow ADP users and get some great feedback on issues, concerns and thoughts about ADP Dealer Services," said Sydney Sparrow of Earnhardt Auto Group in Chandler, Ariz.

“I also like that it's another outlet outside of ADP Support. It's important for dealerships to interact with each other to talk about ADP,” Sparrow continued.

ADP Dealer Services emphasized that it still will continue to engage clients and users to gain valuable feedback on ways to make the community an ideal social setting for dealership employees.

Heffern stressed that users can also be confident that the forum is secure and can only be accessed by current ADP clients directly from their ADP DMS.

"Who better to help answer a question or share best practices than other ADP users who can share their knowledge, expertise and practical experiences," Heffern said.

"As the dealership environment continues to change at a rapid pace, we are committed to continuing to provide tools and resources that enable them to do their jobs more easily — this user-to-user community is another example of that,” he added.