CINCINNATI — OneCommand, formerly known as CallCommand, launched Preference Manager, an online platform that enables consumers to manage their preferred channel of communication from auto dealers and OEMs, based on the type of information being communicated. A consumer-friendly way for the industry to self-regulate, Preference Manager enables the consumer to manage communication preferences rather than just opting out all together.

2007 saw dozens of proposed consumer bills governing e-mail, text, direct mail and voice communications in front of federal and state legislatures. As a result, an increasingly challenging regulatory environment for all forms of customer communications has emerged where the lack of compliance with those regulations is becoming more costly, putting the automotive industry in a situation where they must either self-regulate or be regulated.

“The FTC has brought 34 law enforcement actions and collected $16 million in penalties in the past 3.5 years. Fifteen state legislatures considered ‘do not mail’ legislation in 2007 and e-mail bounce rates are up as ISPs crack down. Many dealers use multiple communication vendors and can easily fall out of compliance and become subject to legislation and fines. Preference Manager’s open Web services make it simple for third party technology providers to add records and ‘scrub’ campaign lists for compliance,” commented Al Babbington, CallCommand CEO.

Preference Manager is a brand-neutral platform built on open Web services, meaning that any retail automotive technology provider can use the platform to manage customer communication preferences. Brand neutrality also makes Preference Manager easy to add to the dealership’s Website with no “brand confusion.”

Preference Manager is simple to use. A customer at a participating dealership can quickly enter Preference Manager through the dealership’s Website and with just a few mouse clicks immediately choose their communication preference settings.

Third party technology providers, OEMs and dealers can register their application with Preference Manager to add consumer records to the database and to check their customer lists to find out if they are able to communicate with various consumers and, if so, via what method of communication.

“Preference Manager ensures compliance with customer communication preferences, while helping improve customer retention; consumers who agree to receive messages from a dealership are 2.5 times more likely to buy from that same dealership,” said Babbington.