The Cloud?

Technology is really amazing these days.   I’ve sold office equipment for many years and I’m convinced that 2012 will be the year we see technology such as Smartphone’s, Kindle’s, and iPad’s affecting the way I approach my customers.   Why…. Because of the Cloud.

Two years ago my neighbor, who works at a large software company in Washington, told me he was working on the “Cloud” project.  He explained that the “Cloud” was virtual servers that would replace traditional servers that business’s typically own and maintain on site.  That seemed cool to me but not too impactful to my approach to business.  I was mistaken.

What is most exciting to me about this major shift in business document needs is that Xerox is in the best position to help customers solve the Cloud Document Puzzle.   The Northwest Group (CTX, QBSI) has the best professional services team to help navigate through the security, network, software and hardware business objectives for organizations in the Northwest.  

Bring on 2012 …with technology and the Northwest Group with workflow optimization.  I can’t wait!

-Meredith : Major Account Manager

The Northwest Group Customer Care Center

In 2009, we recognized the need for faster remote support so the Northwest Group implemented the Customer Care Center.  This resource is comprised of certified IT specialists who are trained on a variety of technology solutions including hardware, software and network infrastructure.   With our CCC, we are able to provide our customer base instant response to daily issues involving print, scan, and fax. 

As our customer base continues to grow, so does our call volume. A top priority for the NWG remains to be finding more efficient methods to get our customers up and running again. When you place a service call at CTX, QBSI or Pinnell, you will speak with our CCC support who will immediately try to remedy the situation remotely.   Using state-of-the-art technology, we are able to remotely connect to your computer to see exactly what you are experiencing.  If after this remote session, we feel an onsite technician is required, then one will be dispatched to your office.  With this process in place, we have seen a 33% reduction in our onsite technician requests, simply because most issues are being resolved remotely.  This has been a tremendous relief for our customers who simply don’t have to be down very long and can continue with their day-to-day business. 

When you call us, we are your neighbors, we understand your needs and we know that you also need to stay productive and your device is a large part of that.  So give us a call and experience the terrific support from our Customer Care Center!

- Kristopher: Customer Care Center Manager

Do You Know How Much You Spend?

Managed print is one of the last unaudited expenses in the office place according to CFO Magazine. According to the article, “most companies have no idea how much they spend”, (CFO Magazine, May 2008). You may say to yourself, “Yes, but that article was printed over three years ago. It is no longer relevant.”

OK. Then how much do you spend on printing? If you can’t answer that relatively quickly then it is still relevant today.

What is managed print? It can mean different things to different people. To the Northwest Group (CTX and QBSI), it includes all related expenses and opportunity costs related to putting an image on a piece of paper. Clearly that includes the cost of toner, the cost of the device, and the cost of maintenance. How about the cost of shipping toner or the cost of paying a person to manage the flow of supplies? Money is spent on these peripheral costs as well and should be included in the assessment.

The Northwest Group likes to work from this Managed Print Services (MPS) value statement: “NWG Managed Print Services reduces the amount of time, money, and resources spent on your printer fleet. By allowing us to manage your fleet more efficiently, you can spend your resources on more revenue generating investments.”

Companies have their own culture and way of doing things. NWG honors that by keeping the terms and conditions of our MPS agreement open. We tailor your experience within the program to meet your needs and to fit within your culture. Do you already donate empty toner cartridges to a local non-profit which then allows under-privileged people to keep a job?  Great, we will support that. If not, maybe we can direct you towards one or at least introduce you to our recycling program to help keep Oregon and Washington green.

I invite you to look into your print environment and see what is there. You may be surprised.

- Daniel: Managed Print Services Director

Service & Our Continuous Improvements

At the Northwest Group (Copytronix, QBSI and Pinnell) we are not just a copier company, we strive to provide the very best solutions and service in the marketplace.  This is not a stagnant operation, in fact, we continuously look for new ways to improve our processes both internal and external so that our service is seen as superior and our customers are satisfied.

One significant change we have made in 2011 is our use of BEI Services. Business Equipment Information Services is a tiered approach to managing service results.

This is how it works:

BEI provides us with a worldwide database of equipment performance. We can quickly compare our equipment performance to national standards and take the guess work out of whether or not the equipment is performing as expected, and if not, some insight as to why.

It shows us the most and least effective volume bands for each individual model. We can also instantly compare our results in some critical areas such as parts and labor cost, copies between visits, time between failures and most importantly our ability to fix it the first time, without having to order parts or be called back for any reason before a certain criteria of copies and time make it a quality service call.

Technician territories are set based on data from BEI which builds effective territories based on training, travel, and technical efficiency. It is workload distribution that gives us the best chance of having the correct technician responding to the call with the correct parts to get it fixed the first time.

Along with benchmarking and building effective territories, we can then offer an incentive program to our technicians that rewards doing a total service call, having the correct parts to fix it the first time and making the equipment run as long as possible between service calls.

By benchmarking results, running efficient territories and using parts wisely, we are becoming a better service organization for our customers. That is the ultimate goal.

- Ed: Service Manager