How AI books service appointments in Xtime and CDK (and what to check before you buy)
Last updated October 18, 2026
Written by the DealersThink team. Published October 18, 2026.
An AI service scheduler either writes the appointment into the system your advisors already use, or it stores a promise somewhere else. For stores on Xtime, the write has to be Xtime. For stores on CDK, history the desk can read is a different connection from the booking. Ask whether each integration is certified, and ask what the agent does when the scheduler says no.
Two systems, two jobs
Xtime is where a lot of service drives keep the book: op codes, capacity, and the openings a guest can have. CDK, for the stores that run it, is the DMS that holds customer, vehicle, and repair-order history. An agent that “works with both” can mean anything from a certified write and a certified read to a person retyping a transcript in the morning. The checklist below is how you tell those apart before you sign. It is written from the way DealersThink’s own service agent behaves, and from the public facts other vendors have printed. It is not a manual for Xtime’s partner program. Cox publishes that. We do not invent the steps.
How a partner connection behaves, in general
In general, a real Xtime connection offers times the scheduler has and writes the appointment back. Toma documents one path: an Xtime partner invitation code, in its help center, and Toma is listed on Xtime’s directory. Brooke.ai is promoted on Xtime’s own site for Xtime Schedule. Stella’s read-write Xtime integration was announced in AutoSuccess on January 2, 2024. DealersThink’s connection is a certified Xtime integration, confirmed October 17, 2026, and Riley books, moves, and cancels there. Three public artifacts and one certification are not the same thing. Ask each vendor which artifact you will be able to open.
CDK is a separate question. AIVA is included in CDK’s Fixed Operations Suite and books into “the scheduler,” on CDK’s page. Car Wars announced a CDK integration through Fortellis on October 10, 2025. Toma lists CDK among supported integrations. DealersThink’s certified CDK integration reads customer, vehicle, and repair-order history for caller lookup and BDC Customers. Riley does not write the appointment into CDK. If a vendor says “CDK” and means history, and another means “we are the suite,” those are different products. Make them say which.
Capacity, op codes, and web settings
The appointment is only as real as the op code it was booked under. Xtime keeps capacity by the work you defined. An agent that offers “tomorrow at 10” without asking the scheduler is guessing. An agent that offers a time and then fails when the op code is wrong has to say so, not paper over it. Before you buy, ask who maintains the menu the agent is allowed to book, and ask what a guest hears when that menu refuses the job. Ask which settings control online capacity, in your words and theirs, and who is allowed to change them after go-live. We are not walking through Xtime’s screens on this page. Your Xtime admin and the vendor should do that on your login, together.
Reschedule and cancel
Booking is the demo everyone shows. Moving and cancelling are the Tuesday afternoon the guest actually calls about. If the agent can only create, your coordinators still retype the change, and the guest still waits. Riley moves and cancels in Xtime on the same certified integration she uses to book. Ask any other vendor to do all three on the demo line, in the scheduler, while you watch the appointment change. A transcript that says “you’re all set” is not the test. The grid is the test.
Failure modes and the handoff
The calls that should fail are the ones the menu cannot hold. A recall letter, a noise the guest cannot name, a diagnostic, an op code the scheduler rejects: those are not creative bookings. On our service line, Riley does not tell the caller the appointment is booked when Xtime did not accept it. She hands the call to the BDC desk or takes a number so a coordinator can confirm. The desk can see CDK history for that phone number when the store has it. That history is context for the person. It is not a silent booking.
Other failure modes are worth naming in the contract even when the webpage is sunny. What happens if Xtime does not answer? What happens if the caller asks for a person? What happens on a store where Spanish is off? Our answers are: do not claim a booking you cannot see, hand the person over, and stay in English unless that store turned Spanish on. Ask the other vendors for theirs in writing.
Questions to take into the demo
- Is the integration certified, and who confirmed it? “Certified” with no system name is a different sentence from certified CDK and certified Xtime.
- Show a book, a move, and a cancel in Xtime. Watch the scheduler, not the transcript.
- What does CDK do? History read, a write into the DMS, or a suite you already buy. Make them pick.
- Which op codes can it book, and who edits that list?
- What does the caller hear when the scheduler refuses?
- Where does the human sit? Your desk, a warm transfer to a number, or a next-day message.
- Is there a public directory listing? Toma and Brooke.ai have Xtime pages you can open. If a vendor cannot show one, ask what they can show instead. We could not show a public DealersThink listing on October 17, 2026.
We do not publish a go-live time, because a checklist with a fake countdown is how stores get surprised. Book a demo and bring your Xtime admin. The hour is more honest if the menu on the screen is yours.
Book a demo.
See Riley on the service line and Casey on after-hours sales. Contact us on the form.
FAQ
Does it book directly into Xtime, or just take a message?
Riley books, moves, and cancels appointments in Xtime through a certified Xtime integration. The appointment is written in Xtime. It is not left as a message for someone to type in later.
Does it work with CDK?
Yes. DealersThink has a certified CDK integration. It reads customer, vehicle, and repair-order history from CDK. When a service call comes in, caller lookup uses that history to show who is calling, which vehicles are on those repair orders, and what was done. BDC Customers searches the same history by name, phone, or vehicle. Riley books the appointment in Xtime. The CDK read does not write the appointment into CDK.
Are your integrations certified?
Yes. DealersThink has certified CDK and Xtime integrations. That certification was confirmed on October 17, 2026. The integration pages describe each one.
What happens when Riley cannot book a request, such as the wrong op code, a recall, or a diagnostic?
Riley books the services the store’s Xtime menu can accept. A recall, a diagnostic, or an op code the scheduler will not take is not told to the caller as a booked appointment. Riley hands the call to a person on the BDC desk, or takes a number so a coordinator can call back and confirm.
Can it move or cancel an existing appointment?
Yes. Riley can move or cancel an appointment that is already in Xtime, on the same certified integration it uses to book.
What does it cost?
Pricing depends on rooftops and products. Book a demo. This page does not list a price.