SARCOM Honored by National Software Association for Exemplary Customer Care

National Technology Firm Wins Prestigious Outsource Support Provider Award

SARCOM was chosen as the 2000 Outsourcer of the Year because its help desk, or Customer Response Center (CRC), consistently offers innovative and effective services that enhance the company's relationships with its clients. The Outsourcer honor is only awarded to companies who excel at technical support. The criteria for the honor include the ability to demonstrate high levels of ongoing customer satisfaction, world-class service offerings, effective customer relationship management and staff retention programs resulting in an overall outstanding service operation.

"The SSPA awards are presented annually to member companies who demonstrate exemplary performance in eight categories, said Bill Rose, SSPA founder and executive director. "SARCOM truly defines world-class customer service and we at SSPA are excited to recognize them with a STAR award in the Outsourcer Category."

Started in 1996, SARCOM’s CRC has grown from a small, internal help desk with six analysts into one of the industry’s best-run, full service facilities with 120 support analysts that support 40 companies and more than 100,000 end-users. SARCOM serves more than 30,000 customers each month in numerous industries including service, financial, insurance and retail enterprises.

Jeffrey H. Sopp, president of SARCOM, noted that the CRC employees earned the award because of their proactive attitude toward customers and their ability to embrace SARCOM's philosophy of placing the customer first.

“Our support analysts and representatives make it a priority to resolve every customer’s problem immediately,” Sopp said. “They continually monitor their progress to ensure that customers’ calls are answered within 30 seconds, and that their questions are addressed by a qualified technical support professional.”

Cindy Adkins, SARCOM's CRC director, attributed the award to SARCOM’s ability to maintain a strong support network, yet be flexible enough to meet the needs of all of its customers. She noted SARCOM’s successful CRC was built on four basic components:

• Proactive approach: SARCOM believes help desk should not simply react to problems, but should be a proactive measurement and planning tool to better utilize significant technology investments, lower costs and exceed customer expectations.
• Customer Relationship Management: SARCOM assigns a customer liaison to each client to ensure that the company proactively addresses the client's technology support needs on a daily basis.
• Project Management methodologies: SARCOM places a strong emphasis on understanding customer needs before their first call through the use of a focused implementation team and project plan. Ongoing changes to support are managed successfully using change management methodologies and the Customer Liaison role.
• Reporting and trend analysis: SARCOM uses a proprietary set of software tools to conduct detailed reporting and trend analysis which provides customers with an in- depth way to evaluate their IT purchases and minimize total cost of ownership.

“As we move into the future, our evaluation of new technologies and systems is focused on the three key areas of Computer Telephony Integration, Help Desk applications, and Remote Control systems,” Adkins said. “Although our present systems are stable and scalable, we realize that we must continue to both invest in our present infrastructure as well as evaluate the latest technologies.”

About SSPA
Founded in 1989, SSPA represents over 11,000 service executives in over 500 member companies worldwide. SSPA gives software service professionals opportunities to share ideas, discuss developing trends and network with their peers. SSPA offers its members conferences, seminars, specialized training, executive forums and a variety of publications. For more information regarding the SSPA and other related divisions, log on to www.supportgate.com, or send an e-mail to info@supportgate.com.

About SARCOM
SARCOM is a leader in enterprise technology solutions best known for its ability to deliver and support large technology projects. Recognized by Arthur Andersen as a leader in customer satisfaction, SARCOM focuses on the management and support of the technology lifecycle. The portfolio of solutions includes project management, product procurement and planning services, configuration and integration services, technology support services and asset management services.

Based in Columbus, Ohio, SARCOM serves companies through 2,000 technology professionals and 23 branches nationwide. SARCOM continues to experience significant growth with 1999 annual sales of more than $700 million. For more information about SARCOM, visit www.sarcom.com.

SARCOM Contact:
Christi Cornette
ccornett@SARCOM.com
(513)-412-7147