Dealership personnel, corporate employees and factory workers are being encouraged to watch TV on the job. Programming, courtesy of the automakers, ranges from talk shows for service technicians to coverage of auto shows.
While most auto companies say they get along well without TV communications, a handful – the Big 3, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. and BMW of North America Inc. – rely on TV systems to inform dealers and train dealership sales and service employees, and to allow corporate employees to meet, all without people leaving their workplaces.
With the exception of BMW, it is the larger auto companies that have invested in TV communications. Several other auto companies say they have looked at the systems, but their operations are too small to merit the investment. Those companies opt for video conferencing, which uses telephone lines and monitors; rent satellite TV time a few times a year as needed; or use e-mail. (See story on Page 41.)
The systems cut down on travel expenses and time away from the dealership or the office. Another benefit is that the target audience gets information first hand, cutting down on the risk of the message getting mangled in the translation.
While TV will never
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