Siemens Premieres National Customer Service Headquarters for 24x7 Service and Support

CARY, N.C., April 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Employees of Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. welcomed political dignitaries, the media and other guests from the surrounding area today at the grand opening of its new national customer service headquarters in Cary, N.C. This new facility will better facilitate Siemens' customer commitment to 24x7 service and support on their medical imaging equipment and software.

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The new facility is a 143,000-square-foot, six-story office building located on a six-acre lot on the Cary Medical Campus, which also includes two training and development centers. The new facility can house more than 700 technical and administrative support personnel, and there is also a new 600-car parking deck and a separate one-floor cafeteria. The new expanded campus now brings together the UPTIME call center, Regional Support Center, clinical education, service marketing, integrated service management and vendor management, as well as coordinates more than 1,300 customer service engineers.

"As a leader in the fields of medicine and biotechnology, the Triangle has been the ideal home for Siemens' National Customer Service HQ," said U.S. Rep. David Price, who represents Cary as part of the Fourth Congressional District of North Carolina. "This new facility will ensure that health care providers have full support for the medical imaging equipment and technology upon which they rely, and it will help provide an additional 300 jobs to Triangle residents." 

Siemens worked in conjunction with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design's (LEED) Certification process to ensure it used environmentally safe products and processes in construction of the new facility. As part of the U.S. Green Building Council Gold Certification Project, Siemens demolished the existing facility at 211 Gregson Dive, and then recycled more than 95 percent of materials and diverted it from a landfill. More than 20 percent of construction material used in the project is recycled material.

Ventilation in the building was designed to be 30 percent greater than code requires. Energy use of the building is also 25 percent more efficient than building code requirements. In addition, through the use of "green" biodegradable products in the building's cafeteria, paper and Styrofoam products are now eliminated.

"Service is more than just a word: It is a commitment to excellence," said Rick Legleiter, Senior Vice President, Customer Service, Siemens Healthcare. "Providing 24x7 service and support to our customers is essential to the health and welfare of hospitals and medical facilities – and ultimately, the healthcare of their patients."

Siemens provides a variety of technical and application training for customers, Siemens Customer Service Engineers (CSEs) and application specialists, including both basic and advanced levels. The training offerings include class room training, Web-based training, and virtual training. All training combines theoretical and practical knowledge in an effective learning environment.

UPTIME Services is the Siemens Healthcare service organization in the United States. It includes a national call center with technical and application specialists available around the clock. They support customers, as well as CSEs who operate across the country. CSEs are supported by a parts distribution facility headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., which replenishes inventory daily at 18 depots nationally. The UPTIME Service Center operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and handles more than two million calls annually.

The original Cary Training and Development Center opened in 1992, featuring a 70,000-square-foot training facility with fully functional computed tomography, magnetic resonance and X-ray systems and 35 classrooms. In 1997, Siemens opened the 20,000-square-foot UPTIME Service Center, which became the national headquarters for Service. In 2002, the UPTIME Service Center grew to a 65,000-square-foot, three-story building, housing more than 350 technical and administrative support professionals.

The Siemens Healthcare Sector is one of the world's largest suppliers to the healthcare industry and a trendsetter in medical imaging, laboratory diagnostics, medical information technology and hearing aids. Siemens offers its customers products and solutions for the entire range of patient care from a single source – from prevention and early detection to diagnosis, and on to treatment and aftercare. By optimizing clinical workflows for the most common diseases, Siemens also makes healthcare faster, better and more cost-effective. Siemens Healthcare employs some 48,000 employees worldwide and operates around the world. In fiscal year 2009 (to September 30), the Sector posted revenue of 11.9 billion euros and profit of around 1.5 billion euros. For further information please visit: www.siemens.com/healthcare.

SOURCE Siemens Healthcare