BDC Phone Service: Inbound Calls Answered and Logged

The phone still closes more appointments than any other channel. BDC Phone Service makes sure every inbound call is answered, written down and handed to the right person.

BDC Phone Service answers, logs and routes every inbound call that reaches one of your store's tracking numbers, and it does that inside the same LeadLocate CRM that already holds the lead. That is the whole capability in one sentence. The rest of this page is what it looks like on a Tuesday morning, where you find it, what it replaces, and what to turn on next to it.

The pieces are simple and they add up. Inbound calls are answered. Each call is logged with an unread badge, so a call that nobody has reviewed looks different from one that has been handled. Call history and call logs keep the record. Call forwarding sends the ring to the phones your team actually carries. An IVR with number and media management sits in front when you want a greeting and a menu before a person picks up. None of it depends on a salesperson remembering to write a name on a sticky note.

This is the product side of the story. The buying side, what a service or sales BDC should expect from its phone software in general, lives on the service BDC software page and on what is a BDC. Here the subject is the tool itself.

Picture a mid size store on a Tuesday. The BDC has two agents on the floor, one is on an outbound call and the other stepped away. A customer who saw the store's number on a used truck listing calls at 9:40. On most phone setups that call rings out, goes to a generic voicemail box, and the customer calls the next dealer on the list. On a store running BDC Phone Service the call is answered, the ring is forwarded to the phones on the store's ring list, and the moment it ends there is a new call log entry with an unread badge on it.

The agent who stepped away comes back, sees the badge, opens the call log, and knows exactly who called, which number they dialed and when. Because the tracking number is tied to a source, the store also knows the call came from the truck listing rather than the website or a mailer. She returns the call within minutes, sets the appointment, and the record of the whole exchange sits in the customer's history in the CRM. The manager who checks the log at lunch sees zero unread calls, which is the number a BDC manager wants to see.

Nothing about that scene needed a new habit. The badge did the reminding, the log did the writing, and the forwarding did the running.

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On the desktop CRM the phone side of the platform sits under the Calls entry of the main menu, with the store level controls under Account Settings in the Billing and Admin group, where the BDC Service and IVR Settings entries live next to your notification preferences. The call history and the unread badge are what an agent works from; the forwarding and IVR settings are what a manager sets once and leaves alone.

On the phone app the same calls show up under Call Logs, and the app carries an inbound call alert screen so a rep on the lot sees who is calling before answering. The LeadLocate mobile app page walks through the whole phone side of the app, including the VoIP dialer and the voicemail greeting recorder, so a salesperson never needs to hand out a personal cell number to be reachable.

Because the tracking numbers are provisioned inside the platform and synced to the other products, the number a customer sees on a SecureWebX apply link is the same number your BDC answers. One set of numbers, one log.

Most stores that come to us are paying for the phone in three places at once. There is an outside answering service billed by the minute or by the call, with a script that knows nothing about the store's inventory. There is a phone system with a call log that lives in a separate portal nobody opens. And there is the invisible cost: the personal cell phones salespeople use because the desk phone is too slow, which means the call history walks out the door when the salesperson does.

BDC Phone Service folds the first two into the CRM subscription and removes the reason for the third. The log is in the CRM because the call was answered by the CRM's phone stack. The forwarding uses the store's own users, so a change on the ring list is a change in User Management, not a support ticket to a phone vendor. There is no per seat phone license and no separate contract to cancel. The pricing page lists the plans, and every one of them carries the phone features.

What you keep is what you should keep: your tracking numbers, your call history, and the customer's record with every call attached to it.

An unread badge is a small thing with a large effect. It turns "did anyone call that guy back" from a question into a number. Each inbound call lands in the log unread; when an agent opens it, the badge clears. At any moment the count of unread calls is the count of customers waiting on the store. A BDC manager who runs the floor by that number has a management tool that costs nothing to maintain.

Call history keeps the longer record: which tracking number was dialed, when, and the caller. Because tracking numbers are assigned per source through the tracking phone numbers feature, the log doubles as source reporting. A store that runs one number on its website, one on a mailer and one on a third party listing learns which one rings without asking a single customer where they heard about the store.

Pair the log with call recording and transcription and the manager can read the call instead of asking the agent how it went. Pair it with the caller ID name lookup on inbound calls and the log shows a name before the agent says hello.

Answering is only half the job; the other half is getting the call to a person who can help. Call forwarding sends an inbound call to a Forward Calls To ring list built from the dealership's own users, so the store decides who rings, in what order, and what happens when nobody picks up. The call forwarding and ring lists page covers the details, including the business hours routing that keeps a rep from being rung at home on a Sunday.

In front of the forwarding sits the IVR. The IVR call flow builder manages the numbers, the uploaded greeting audio and the menu options, and it carries a hook so a menu choice can trigger something in the CRM rather than just ringing a phone. A caller who presses the option for a specific department reaches that department. A store that wants a live person on every call sets the flow to ring straight through. A store that wants call screening turns on the virtual receptionist, described on the virtual receptionist and call screening page, which also handles after hours coverage when the showroom is dark.

All of it is set by the store, in the CRM, without a phone vendor on the line.

A phone log is a compliance document whether or not a store treats it like one. When a customer says they asked not to be called, the store needs to show what it knew and when. When a manager reviews a complaint about an agent, the store needs the call, not a memory of the call. BDC Phone Service writes the record automatically, every inbound call, with the number, the time and the person who handled it, in the same communications log that holds the store's texts, emails and voicemails.

The do not call scrub and blacklist sits beside the phone stack, with a live do not call lookup on numbers and a two way inbound spam block, so a number that should never be dialed is flagged before anyone picks up the phone to return the call. Call recording, where the store turns it on, follows the store's own disclosure practice; the recording and its transcript then live with the customer record. None of this replaces the store's compliance program. It gives that program a record to stand on.

BDC Phone Service is part of the LeadLocate CRM subscription, so there is nothing to buy separately. A new account gets a tracking number provisioned with it. From there the manager opens Account Settings, sets the ring list under call forwarding, decides whether the virtual receptionist is on or off, and optionally builds an IVR flow. Notification preferences, including the Notify me when I get a NEW CALL toggle, are set per user so the right people hear the ring. The lead notifications and alerts page covers those toggles. Anything a store needs that is not already in the flow is available on request, and our team puts it in production for your dealership.

Every vendor has downtime, and a store should know what that looks like. Your tracking numbers belong to your store and stay yours. The people on your ring list carry real phones that ring on their own. A customer who already has a salesperson's direct number reaches that salesperson regardless of us. What you would wait on is the CRM screen, the badge and the log catching up; the call history already recorded stays recorded. If you ever need a person during an interruption, the contact page reaches one.

The phone desk is strongest when it feeds the rest of the platform. Pair it with Automated Templates so a lead that comes in by form gets a BDC Follow-Up Call task and a first text without a manager assigning either. Pair it with the shared team calendar so the appointment the agent sets on the call lands where the whole floor can see it. Pair it with voicemail drop so the callback that reaches voicemail still leaves a recorded message in the agent's own voice.

For a service department the same phone stack answers the service line; the AI voice agent for dealership service calls page describes the buying question there. And the all features list shows where the phone desk sits among everything else the platform does. If you want to hear it before you sign up, the pre-recorded live demo shows an inbound call landing in the log and being returned.

Is BDC Phone Service a separate answering service I pay for?

No. It is part of the LeadLocate CRM subscription. Inbound calls to your tracking numbers are answered, logged and forwarded by the platform's own phone stack, and the plans on the pricing page all include it.

What does the unread badge do?

Every inbound call lands in the call log marked unread. When an agent opens it, the badge clears. The count of unread calls is the count of customers still waiting on a callback, which is the number a BDC manager runs the floor by.

Who answers the call, a person or a recording?

That is the store's choice. Forward straight to a ring list of your users for a live answer, put an IVR menu in front with your own recorded greeting, or turn on the virtual receptionist for call screening and after hours coverage.

Can I see which number the customer dialed?

Yes. Tracking numbers are assigned per source, and the call log records which number was dialed. A store with one number on its website and another on a listing learns which one rings without asking the customer.

Does it work on the phone app?

Yes. The LeadLocate mobile app carries Call Logs, an inbound call alert screen and the VoIP dialer, so a salesperson on the lot sees who is calling and returns calls without a personal cell number.

What happens to my calls if LeadLocate is unavailable?

Your tracking numbers stay yours and the phones on your ring list are real phones that ring on their own. The CRM screen, the badge and the log are what you would wait on; call history already recorded stays recorded.

BDC Phone Service is part of every LeadLocate CRM plan, month to month. See an inbound call land in the log with an unread badge and get returned in minutes.

Prefer to talk right now? Call or text 844-376-2274.