Alorica Debuts in Japan as eMachines' Customer Care Partner; Comprehensive Customer Service and CRM Software Provider to Support eMachines' Expansion into the Japanese Market

Business Wire, Dec 11, 2002

Business Editors & High-Tech Writers

CHINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 11, 2002

Alorica, a leading customer service management company, today announced it has been selected by eMachines to support its Customer Care services in the Japanese market, extending the two companies' partnership beyond North America.

eMachines, the leading value PC provider in the United States, enters the Japanese marketplace this month through the TSUKUMO and Ishimaru Denki retail chains.

Alorica will support eMachines' Customer Care program with a combination of premier managed services, including call centers, depot repair, service parts management and Internet-based technical support, integrated with its Web-based Helix 2002 customer relationship management (CRM) software. Alorica is unique in the customer service management industry to offer both proprietary CRM enterprise software and real-world customer support facilities.

As in the United States, eMachines will offer Japanese consumers a comprehensive warranty that includes one-year parts, labor and technical support. Highly trained customer call center professionals will be available for Japanese customers from 6 a.m. to midnight seven days a week, 365 days a year including weekends and holidays. Japanese customers will be able to contact customer support via phone, e-mail or live Internet chat.

"eMachines continues its investment in Alorica because of their ability to offer a cost-effective end-to-end customer service solution," said Mike Zimmerman, senior vice president, Customer Care and Quality for eMachines based in Irvine, Calif. "Alorica has helped eMachines attain high customer satisfaction rates in North America and we believe they will help us duplicate that success in Japan."

"We are honored eMachines has selected Alorica as their Customer Care provider in Japan," said Andy Lee, president and CEO of Alorica Inc. based in Chino. "We believe the powerful efficiencies of Helix 2002 enterprise software with Alorica's menu of managed services will minimize time-consuming and costly errors and create goodwill with their Japanese customers."

eMachines products will begin selling products this month through two leading Japanese home appliance retailers, TSUKUMO and its partner Ishimaru Denki. TSUKUMO has 30 stores in Akiharaba, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Sapporo, and Ishimaru Denki operates 25 stores throughout the greater Tokyo area and Niigata. Its products will also be sold via TSUKUMO's online store at www.tsukumo.co.jp.

About eMachines Inc.

eMachines is a privately held company dedicated to providing consumers with affordable, high-value personal computers. Incorporating the same high-quality, brand-name components as other major PC brands, eMachines is able to offer premium value to its customers by working closely with its manufacturing and retail partners, and by strictly maintaining one of the lowest operating costs in the PC industry.

Founded in September 1998, eMachines currently sells the second-highest number of PCs through retailers in the United States, according to leading market research organizations. Since inception, eMachines has shipped more than 5 million PCs through leading national and international retailers, catalog and online merchandisers and via its Web site at http://www.emachines.com

About Alorica Inc.

Alorica is a leading customer service management firm managing the entire customer lifecycle, from front-office customer interaction to back-office fulfillment. Alorica delivers fully integrated services such as customer interaction management, service logistics, depot and onsite repair services, as well as total e-business solutions.

Alorica integrates, manages and automates these service solutions with Helix 2002, which also provides real-time Web-delivered data analysis with worldwide accessibility. Alorica has headquarters in Chino, and currently provides fully integrated outsourced customer service support for companies such as NEC/Mitsubishi, U.S. Robotics and eMachines.