DAYTON, Ohio — The Reynolds and Reynolds Company, a provider of software and services to automotive retailers, is continuing plans to phase out dial-up modems as a means of communications with dealership management systems (DMS). The transition away from modems will occur deliberately as alternative Internet connections are put in place for customers. Reynolds expects to complete the majority of changeovers in the next 12 to 18 months.

"The change will happen as we put the technology in place to support it," says Bob Schaefer, technical director at Reynolds. "Our number one goal is to best serve our dealers and their business, which is the reason we are moving to a more advanced connection. We continue to communicate and discuss the process with third-party vendors, CPAs and service providers so the transition causes little to no disruption to a dealer's business and provides a faster, more secure method of exchanging data."

With the new connections, dealers will continue to be in control of who can access their system. Reynolds is establishing a process for granting authorized, secure access to the Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) and other service providers with whom dealers choose to do business to support their dealership operations.

As technology and the methods of exchanging important information have changed, Reynolds has been aggressively pursuing a more secure, persistent connection to provide dealers with a better way to transmit sensitive data. With better connections, Reynolds can deliver more advanced technologies, such as Web-based applications and enhanced CRM tools, and provide faster, more secure ERA and POWER dealership management system administration. The move also is designed to eliminate the need to change dealership access phone numbers and to improve protection of a dealer's DMS from ex-employees or terminated third parties.

"This is an important advancement for dealers using Reynolds ERA and POWER systems," explains Trey Hiers, vice president of Corporate Marketing at Reynolds. "The new Internet-based connection will be much more efficient for everyone involved and help ensure that our customers' important business interactions are not hindered."