Local oil companies gaze skyward to boost corporate communications.

Retailers are using satellite technology developed by a division of Los Angeles-based Hughes Aircraft Co. to increase efficiency and communicate with their corporate headquarters.

Los Angeles-based oil company Unocal Corp. has been using a satellite network for the past several years to make its retail operations run more smoothly.

Unocal spokesman Barry Lane said Unocal has been experimenting with new technology to get customers through its stations more quickly. Small satellite dishes transmit customers' credit card information, via a radio frequency, for quick, easy approval.

Lane said satellite dishes transmit the credit card information to an orbiting satellite which transfers the information to a processing facility in Brea. From there, the information is sent back to the satellite and beamed back down to the Unocal dealer that initiated the transaction. All this is completed within two to three seconds.

So far, 900 Unocal stations have been outfitted with the satellite capability, mainly in major metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles. Those stations with the highest transaction volume get them first.

In addition to reducing the time that it takes for dealers to get credit card approvals, Lane said the satellite route is more reliable and more cost effective. He explained that in the past, approvals were made over phone lines, so dealers could not accept credit cards when there was a problem with the telephone.

Chevron Corp. has put in satellites at all of its Los Angeles retail outlets according to Don Gunness, manager of Chevron's L.A. retail operations. He said the satellite approval process is paperless and has saved Chevron money on administrative costs.

Automobile retailers in the area are also finding satellite communication to be an effective and cost-efficient way of doing business. Torrance-based Toyota Motor Sales USA, the U.S. headquarters of the Japanese automaker, has employed the Hughes satellite network to communicate with its offices and dealers across the country.

Toyota spokeswoman Gloria Yahn said the satellite communications network enables the 170 Lexus dealers in the United States to stay in close contact with corporate executives in Torrance.

"We can meet with them all at the same time and on a moment's notice," said Yahn. The satellites are capable of sending voice and video at the same time and signals can be beamed via satellite to all the dealers' monitors at exactly the same time.

The satellite network is also used by Toyota to order parts and to do inventory. According to technical support manager Roland Shiota, the satellite has speeded up the process of ordering parts.

"One advantage over ordering with a modem system is the speed at which we can run it," said Shiota. The satellite is twice as fast as dial-up lines, he said.

Another advantage, according to Shiota, is that phone lines are limited in number. They can only handle a certain number of calls at once. With the satellite, all the dealers can communicate with headquarters at the same time and there is no communications bottleneck as can happen over phone lines.

The satellite can even perform functions such as upgrading software on the computers at all the dealerships. No time is wasted copying software on to disks and sending them to the dealers and having them load it themselves. It can all be done in one shot from corporate headquarters, said Shiota.

According to Hughes spokesman Rand Christensen, Hughes Network Systems has experienced significant revenue growth in recent years.

Between 1992 and 1993, revenue grew by 40 percent to $530 million. The bulk of HNS customers are in the retail sector. In addition to Unocal and Toyota, HNS boasts that Holiday Inn Hotels, Circuit City, Wal Mart, Montgomery Ward and Toys R Us are among its clients.