“When you start using vCons and actually listen to what your customers say, you realize you never really listened to them before.” – Thomas McCarthy-Howe, Co-Author of VCon and CEO of Strolid
At IT Expo, Technology Reseller News publisher Doug Green sat down with Thomas McCarthy-Howe, co-inventor of the vCon standard, to discuss how structured conversation data is revolutionizing industries—starting with automotive sales.
McCarthy-Howe, alongside Dan Petrie, developed the vCon standard, now adopted by the IETF, to address a fundamental gap in digital communications: there was no standardized way to structure and analyze conversations. Initially developed to help Strolid, his outsourced sales firm, better understand customer interactions, vCon has since evolved into a critical tool for enhancing both customer (CX) and employee experience (EX).
vCon’s First Use Case: Automotive Sales
In the high-stakes world of car sales, where Strolid processes over 9,000 daily inquiries and converts 5,000-6,000 into sales, conversation intelligence is a game-changer. By structuring and analyzing millions of calls, vCon enables dealerships to:
- Identify and resolve customer pain points, like inaccurate inventory listings
- Improve lead response times to meet manufacturer SLAs
- Uncover hidden operational inefficiencies affecting margins
- Reduce customer frustration, boosting dealership reputation and loyalty
“In our industry, a customer might drive an hour to see a car—only to find it’s not on the lot. That’s a serious problem. With vCons, we capture these issues and fix them before they escalate,” McCarthy-Howe explained.
Beyond Sales: The Future of vCon
VCon isn’t just about efficiency—it’s about data integrity and security. As McCarthy-Howe emphasized, biometric data like voice and face recordings are highly sensitive, making secure, structured storage essential in the age of deepfakes and digital fraud.
Learn More
- Strolid: strolid.com
- VCon & Structured Conversations: conserver.io
- Next IETF Meeting (March in Bangkok): Get involved in shaping the future of vCon
#vCon #AI #CustomerExperience #AutomotiveSales #TechInnovation #ITExpo
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