Email Fallback for Undeliverable Texts
We’ve added a simple but powerful improvement that ensures your outreach doesn’t stop when a lead enters a number that can’t receive texts.
What’s new?
Automatic Email Fallback When Texts Can’t Be Delivered
Leads often submit invalid numbers—landlines, mistyped mobile numbers, or even fake entries. When your AI employee reaches out over text and that message can’t be delivered, Podium will now automatically send the message by email instead.
This update helps ensure that every lead still gets contacted, even if their phone number is unreachable. Your AI Employee stays effective, and your follow-up never hits a dead end.
Learn more about Email Backup for Undeliverable Texts →
AI Needs Help View in Inbox
We’ve added a new way to keep track of AI escalations so you can step in faster when your AI Employee needs a human to take over.
What’s new?
Dedicated “AI Needs Help” Section in the Inbox
There’s now a specific area in your Inbox that automatically collects every escalation your AI Employee creates.
All Conversations That Need Attention in One Place
You can quickly see which conversations need help and what the AI was working on before escalation, making it easier to jump in and keep customers moving.
This update gives you a clean, organized view of AI-flagged conversations, helping teams respond faster, meet internal SLAs, and maintain smooth customer experiences.
Assign a User + Send a Message in the Same Automation Action
You can now send a message and assign it to a user in the same action inside Podium Automations. No more stacking two separate steps or waiting for assignments to fire after the message goes out.
What’s new?
One Step Instead of Two
The “Send a Message” action now includes an optional Assign To field—letting you route the conversation immediately to the right team member.
Faster AI Handoffs
Because assignments happen instantly, your team or AI Employee can start responding right away, keeping follow-up fast and consistent.
This removes the delay between sending a message and assigning it to the right person. With instant assignment, your team or AI Employee can begin responding immediately, keeping follow-up fast and consistent.
A Faster, Easier Podium Web Phone Experience
We’ve rolled out a new update to Podium Phones that makes it easier than ever to stay connected inside of Podium.
What’s new?
A New Home for the Phone Widget
The phone widget has moved to a more accessible spot within the Podium. It’s now accessible from your desktop view—so you can stay active in conversations without losing quick access to your phone.
Fewer Clicks, Faster Calling
Previously, users had to navigate through multiple steps before opening the phone widget. With the redesigned experience, you’re now just one click away from answering a phone call.
Instant Status Visibility
You can now see the status of your Phone at a glance—whether it’s active, needs to be set up, or has become disconnected. No more digging through menus to figure out what’s going on.
This update removes friction from your workflow, helps you respond faster, and ensures you never miss a beat when switching between conversations and calls.
Turn on Automated Lead Follow-up for all Lead Sources
OEM dealers can now import CRM leads into Podium as contacts only, without creating an inbox conversation or triggering an initial AI message. This makes it easy to include phone leads, walk-ins, and showroom traffic in automated follow-up flows.
What’s new?
Import Leads without Triggering AI outreach
You can choose which CRM leads sync into Podium without appearing in the inbox. These contacts won’t receive an initial AI message.
Works with Major CRMs
Available today for VinSolutions, DealerSocket, and Reynolds & Reynolds, with more integrations coming soon.
Most follow-up gaps happen with non-internet leads. This update lets OEM dealers automate reliable follow-up for every lead, without triggering unwanted AI messages or creating extra inbox conversations.
New Pre-Built Sales & Service Mining Automations + Improved Reporting
We’ve expanded and improved our OEM mining tools to help dealerships drive more repeat business with lease renewals, trade-ins, and service appointments—all with smarter follow-ups and better visibility into results.
What’s new?
New Pre-Built Sales & Service Mining Automations
We’ve added updated automations for high-value opportunities such as lease renewals, trade-ins, warranty and service plans, first-service outreach, and customers who haven’t serviced their vehicle recently. Each automation includes improved talk tracks and multi-touch follow-ups to capture more engagement.
Improved Mining Reporting
Mining reporting now has dedicated Sales and Service tabs, plus a clear breakdown by automation type to help dealerships see customers reached, engaged, and booked test drives.
Available Today for CDK Drive + Dealertrack
Dealerships on CDK Drive and Dealertrack can start using these new mining automations now. Support for Reynolds & Reynolds, Tekion, Dealersocket, PBS and Automate is coming soon.
These updates help OEM dealers automate high-value revenue opportunities, recapture lost service visits, and get a clear picture of mining performance—all while increasing customer engagement through multi-touch follow-ups.
OEM Dealers Can Now Choose Which Vehicle Price the AI Uses
If you’re an OEM dealership with multiple prices on your website—MSRP, dealer price, incentives, and more—you can now choose which price your AI Employee uses in conversations.
What’s new?
Select Your Preferred Vehicle Price
In AI Employee Settings, you’ll now see a dropdown showing all price fields pulled from your website. Simply choose the price you want your AI Employee to reference, and the AI will use it when responding to shoppers.
Available for OEM Dealers Using HomeNet Inventory Feeds
This feature is available today for OEM dealerships that use HomeNet as their inventory source.
This update gives OEM dealerships more control over which official pricing the AI communicates, ensuring shoppers receive accurate information that aligns with their website.