Sprint Network Speeds Credit Approval for BMW Customers
10 November 1998
Sprint Network Speeds Credit Approval for BMW Customers
DALLAS--Nov. 10, 1998--Sprint's high-speed data technology changes the way
BMW finances and sells cars
Imagine walking into your local BMW dealership, choosing the make and model of your new car, and applying for credit, all at the touch of a button.
Prospective customers are doing it every day with the BMW InfoBahn system a computer program available at 350 BMW dealerships in the United States. BMW is using Sprint's data transmission technology, known as frame relay, to offer American drivers this revolutionary option for new car purchases.
Each BMW InfoBahn terminal is linked to Sprint's frame relay network, allowing prospective car buyers to choose the vehicle's color, interior options, accessories, and even track the car's availability among dealerships. The technology can also provide fast credit information that helps dealers to establish and approve on-the-spot customer financing.
"With BMW InfoBahn, credit approval and buying a new automobile have never been easier. Sprint's frame relay technology is allowing us to provide reliable one-stop customer service, which is something unique to the automotive industry," said Mark Virag, BMW's vice-president of information services.
"BMW approached Sprint with a very innovative application that requires reliable real time performance," said Kathy Walker, assistant vice-president of product management, Sprint Business. "In designing the right network solution, we turned to our frame relay service, which is the ideal solution in performing at the level BMW requires for their potential buyers. Now BMW has set the standard in the way automobiles will be purchased."
In the future, BMW and Sprint officials believe BMW InfoBahn will allow customers to take a more active role in customizing their new car and to "see" it in the production stages on a desktop computer.
Frame relay is a high-speed communications technology used in thousands of worldwide networks to connect to local area network (LAN), Systems Network Architecture (SNA), Internet, and voice applications.
In simple terms, frame relay is a way of sending information over a wide area network (WAN) that delivers the information into "frames" or packets. In August, Sprint outscored the competition in Data Communications "Data Comm User Survey," ranking tops for its frame relay service.
BMW Financial Services NA, Inc., is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Financial Services Division of BMW AG. It has 285 employees primarily located at its National Consumer Service Center in Dublin, Ohio, and its executive offices in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.
BMW Financial Services is part of the BMW Group of companies that include BMW North America, Inc., BMW Manufacturing Corp., Land Rover North America, Inc., DesignWorks/USA, Inc., and BMW Canada, Inc. Sprint provides telecommunications products and services to the entire BMW Group.
Sprint is a global communications company - at the forefront in integrating long distance, local and wireless communications services and the world's largest carrier of Internet traffic.
Sprint built and operates the United States' only nationwide all-digital, fiber-optic network and is the leader in advanced data communication services. Sprint has $15 billion in annual revenues and serves more than 16 million business and residential customers.
For more information regarding Sprint Business' data communications solutions call 1-888-369-DATA, or visit the Sprint Data Solutions Website at www.sprint.com/data.
