DATE: 18th September 2006
Parts delivered closer to customer sites will dramatically speed up service resolution times LONDON – NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) today announced that it will use ParcelXchange™, an innovative drop box distribution system from Business Direct Group plc (LSE: BDG), to speed up the delivery of parts to UK customers using technology serviced by NCR in the financial, retail, telecoms and travel sectors. Parts for NCR systems – as well as third-party parts for a variety of multivendor ATM, point of sale, self-checkout and payment terminals – can now be delivered closer to customer sites at over 4,000 drop box sites nationwide. Normally located on petrol station forecourts, the drop boxes feature an input keyboard and screen and are linked by General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) mobile data connection to a central control hub. The service managed by NCR's nationwide delivery provider, DHL, means NCR field engineers now receive a SMS alert about a part pick-up immediately when parts have been delivered to an allocated ParcelXchange site. Using their smartcard and unique PIN, they can then open the secure boxes on their way to a service call. To speed up the return of defective parts, engineers can print barcode labels at the ParcelXchange sites and leave them in the secure box for daily collection and delivery to NCR for repairs. Deliveries can be made 24 hours a day. By cutting out the need to visit a fixed location courier depot to pick up repair parts, NCR engineers save hours of traveling time each day and reach customer sites more quickly. As NCR'sCustomer Care Centre in Lanarkshire has complete visibility over the parts shipping/pickup process via a secure portal, customers are kept fully updated on status of NCR's response to their service request Kris Levickis, NCR's Worldwide Customer Services Business Operations Director for the UK & Ireland said, "As a leading provider of self-service solutions, NCR continually looks for ways to speed up every element of its customer services operations. Just as ATMs have revolutionised access to cash, this drop box technology will have a dramatic effect on NCR's customer service levels by providing our engineers with secure, auditable and convenient access to parts on a self-service basis." NCR's Customer Care Centre in Lanarkshire features advanced telephony and data technology to enable the quick resolution of an average of 3,500 customer service requests every day from throughout Europe. With the support of the world's largest IT services information database, powered by Teradata – a division of NCR, and NCR's advanced equipment diagnostics capabilities, highly skilled service personnel are able to analyse equipment faults and in many cases, resolve the problem remotely. Levickis concludes, "If a problem can't be resolved remotely and an engineer needs to be dispatched, remote diagnosis gives NCR the advance information it needs to dispatch the right person with the right skills and the right parts to resolve the incident on the very first visit within very demanding timeframes." NCR provides services to the world's top 15 banks, 14 of the top 15 retailers, 14 of the top telecoms providers and five of the top seven airline carriers. About NCR Corporation NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) is a leading global technology company helping businesses build stronger relationships with their customers. NCR's Teradata® data warehouses, ATMs, retail systems, self-service solutions and IT services provide Relationship Technology™ that maximizes the value of customer interactions and helps organizations create a stronger competitive position. Based in Dayton, Ohio, NCR (http://www.ncr.com/) employs approximately 29,300 people worldwide. # # # NCR and Teradata are trademarks or registered trademarks of NCR Corporation in the United States and other countries.
For Further Information: Business Direct Group plc Tim Houstoun, Chief Executive T: +44 (0) 1788 821215 E: tim.houstoun@bdpx.com | For Media Enquiries: Bankside Charles Ponsonby T: +44 (0) 20 7367 8851 |
Founded in 1993 as a courier service provider, the Company evolved into a night-time product distributor to field engineers' vehicles and customer warehouses. The recognition of an opportunity in the market to develop and deliver intelligent outdoor locker systems to deal with the problems associated with timely delivery of parts to field engineers initiated the development of their intelligent locker distribution system, ParcelXchange™ in 2002.
Business Direct's ParcelXchange™ services key customers including DHL, TNT, and Exel. These customers rent the use of lockers within these ParcelXchanges™ for a fixed period, in some instances for up to two years, and pay a fixed weekly charge per locker.
