“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