At a time when consumers find it convenient to connect through messaging, Contact At Once! has released a new web-based messaging management application that can help dealership agents and live advisers more efficiently manage online conversations with car shoppers. 

Dealers can now provide consumers with pricing details and other vehicle information via live assistance supported by the recently launched digital retailing solution from the messaging platform provider called CAO! Connect.

The new CAO! Connect app is now available for existing customers to access on their devices at no additional charge, the company announced Thursday.

“Consumers like the convenience of messaging, and our industry needs a platform that makes it easy for agents to quickly access information that helps car shoppers and owners on their digital journey to the dealership,” Contact At Once! general manager Denise Chudy said in a news release. “CAO! customers will now be able to, at a glance, know where conversations originate and have a common point of view with the consumer, as inventory and other digital retailing tools dynamically change, based on where the consumer is shopping.”

In addition to being able to provide real-time translations for over a dozen languages, CAO! Connect also features CAO!’s Hot Opportunity Transfer capability, a standard feature for dealerships from its professional package that helps live advisors connect dealers to customers when they are ready to purchase, according to the company’s website.

When a consumer’s message comes to a dealership, agents can determine the messaging channel consumers are on and the conversation's point of origination — whether it’s from third-party advertising sites, manufacturer sites or social media sites, the company said.

And on top of that, inventory integration also makes it so that vehicle detail pages can appear in the conversation window that agents view, as well. The company said that the feature arms agents with the needed information to answer specific questions consumers might have during chat conversations.

"As online shopping and purchase options evolve, the messaging channels consumers use will change, as will digital retailing solutions and processes,” said Yuval Lubowich, CAO! vice president of product development. “Our goal is to provide a comprehensive, open, highly scalable, networked messaging infrastructure that is a backbone for conversational commerce, regardless of how consumers want to connect or what digital retailing apps dealers and manufacturers choose to use.”