Dealer service software is the software that a car dealer's workshop uses to book service appointments, show customers what is wrong with their car and take the payment. It runs alongside the dealer's dealer management system.
Software of this kind is used mainly by car dealers in the United States, so the example here is American, in dollars. Here is a typical case. A customer in Dallas, Texas, books a 30,000-mile service on her phone. When the car arrives, a mechanic inspects it and finds that the brake pads are worn. He films the pads for 20 seconds on a tablet. This is called a video inspection. The software sends the video to the customer's phone with the price, $280 for new pads. She watches the video, taps Approve and goes to work. The workshop does not have to call her, and she does not have to take the mechanic's word for it.
Without such software, the service advisor phones each customer to describe the fault. Many customers cannot be reached during work hours, so the car waits in the bay and the workshop loses time. A written estimate with a video also lets the customer see that the work was needed.
When the work is done, the software sends a link to pay. The payment goes through a payment gateway, so she can pay by card from her phone. The software then records the job in the DMS, so that the car's history shows the brake change. It can also send a reminder when the next service is due.
The software also plans the workshop's day. It books each car into a slot, so that the right mechanic and the right bay are free. It can tell the mechanic which parts the job needs, using the parts list in the DMS.
Some cars can report faults by themselves. The carmaker's connected car platform can tell the dealer that a car has a fault before the owner notices it. The workshop then offers a booking. Each approved job adds to the dealer's service income, which is a large part of its profit. This is a form of aftermarket services. When the car has been in a crash, the repair estimate comes from claims estimation software instead.