Otis Elevator Reinvents Its Approach to World Markets Via Web Site Which Spans The Globe

Business Wire, March 23, 2001

Business/Technology Editors

FARMINGTON, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 23, 2001

Otis Elevator Company is reinventing itself through a Web site which provides customers the ability to design, customize and order elevators online in 51 countries and 26 languages. Otis is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX).

Otis, the company that invented the safety elevator in 1852, is transforming the way it has done business for nearly a century and a half through its Otis.com Internet site, according to Steve Page, Otis president and chief executive officer.

"Otis.com is one of the world's most global Web sites," said Page. "Since we operate in more than 200 countries of the world, doing business online in multilingual sites, and increasing our speed of response to customers are no longer options - these are the business requirements of a global economy."

Page said that Otis.com's international reach is predicated on research which indicates that for a Web site to respond to the demands of a global economy, its infrastructure must include customized applications for specific countries and languages. Recent findings by Forrester Research, a leading independent Internet research firm that measures the impact of the Internet and emerging technologies on business strategy, consumer behavior and society, projects that half of all online sales will take place outside of the United States by 2004. "Global reach, customized to local market conditions and languages are the critical success factors of Otis.com," Page said.

Page added that since its deployment in December 1999, more than 12,000 Otis customers have registered to use the tools available on Otis.com. "While Otis.com has helped us to reinvent the way we do business, it has also refreshed our commitment to absolute customer satisfaction," Page said.

Otis.com is the company's customer portal for access to Otis' e*Service, e*Direct and Plan Your Project(SM) online tools, according to Ron Beaver, the company's vice president, information technology and chief information officer. Beaver said that Otis' e*Service provides customers with online access to their elevator system's performance histories, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Using REM(R), Otis' continuous elevator monitoring service, in combination with a mechanic's reports, customers can receive technical analysis of each system's component.

E*Direct offers customers the ability to plan, price and track their new equipment or modernization projects online. Coupled with its recently unveiled Plan Your Project, building owners and architects can determine the appropriate equipment, download project specifications including CAD drawings, analyze elevator traffic to deduce elevator capacity and number needed and receive a price--all at their convenience. Plans can be saved on Otis.com so customers can work on a project at any time.

Otis.com also offers news, product and maintenance information, product specifications and easy e-mail access to local sales representatives all in the native language of the customer. E-mail inquiries have grown to 2,500 per month since the inception of Otis.com, and of these, 50 percent have resulted in immediate sales leads. Otis has established a response time to these leads of less than one day versus up to a week via the traditional sales approach. Some 50 percent of the e-mails received during normal business hours are answered in four hours or less, a response that is faster than a telephone message.

"Customers worldwide are using Otis.com not only as an information resource, but also as a way to do business," stated Beaver. "Tools such as Plan Your Project bring added value to our customers. Through Otis.com, customers gain the use of the latest planning software, save time and can easily place orders--all at the click of a mouse."

Beaver said that through Otis.com, the company has also significantly reduced ordering cycle time. The process for ordering an Otis elevator once required technical answers to a series of 300 questions, typically addressed over a 1-3 month period. Today, the process is streamlined to 15 questions and an online ordering process that can be completed in 20 minutes and provides a detailed proposal. Plus, Otis.com offers customers the ability to track the progress of their order from order placement until the product or service is in operation.

Otis Elevator, with headquarters in Farmington, Connecticut, is the world's largest company manufacturing, installing and servicing elevators, escalators, moving walkways and shuttle systems. Otis has more than 60,000 employees and revenues exceeding $6 billion. Otis products are sold in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.