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TOSHIBA AMERICA BUSINESS SOLUTIONS INC. RECOGNIZED FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE EXCELLENCE

Company Earns “Retail Customer Service Department of the Year” Award at the Third Annual Stevie® Awards for Sales and Customer Service

IRVINE , California   ( Mar 02, 2009 ) :

Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc. (TABS) proudly announced today that it was honored with the esteemed “Retail Customer Service Department of the Year” award in the third annual Stevie® Awards for Sales and Customer Service. TABS attributes this award to Toshiba Business Solutions (TBS), their wholly-owned subsidiary group of companies that operate a network of office equipment dealers throughout the United States. The award was presented to TBS last month during a gala at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.

“This year’s honorees demonstrate that even in challenging economic times, it’s possible for organizations to continue to shine in sales and customer service, the two most important functions in business: acquiring and keeping customers,” said Michael Gallagher, president of the Stevie Awards.

TBS was honored in the Customer Service Department category, which recognizes not only the management, but everyone who works in customer service within the organization, regardless of their role or location.

Making Great Customer Service Better

It was with a strong desire to establish a clear proactive line of communication between its direct sales channel and its customers that Toshiba initiated a customer service assessment program back in the Fall of 2005. Until this time, Toshiba and its TBS dealers needed a more coordinated method for identifying and addressing customer issues. Individual dealers implemented individual processes that produced only a snapshot of a customer’s level of satisfaction. Today, Toshiba subsidiaries and corporate executives all receive real-time, voice of the customer input, and follow an established process for timely subsidiary response. The review process allows for more immediate issues response, trend identification and course correction.

“It is a tremendous honor to win a Stevie Award in recognition of our highly-successful customer service program,” said George Colborn, vice president, Service, TABS. “Toshiba and our TBS dealers have always recognized the value of customer service, and several years ago, we made a serious, concerted effort to further improve our system. The ultimate benefits are that our customers have tangible proof that their business is valued, and we are better informed of the true status of our customers’ satisfaction.”

Toshiba’s process has become so successful that in addition to the Stevie award, the company also has earned a 2008 CustomerSat “Achievement in Customer Excellence” (ACE) Award for Technical Support Satisfaction, which certifies, acknowledges and celebrates outstanding achievement in customer satisfaction. Receiving both a Stevie Award and a CustomerSat “ACE” Award demonstrates TABS and TBS’ rigorous application of customer feedback processes, and outstanding performance as measured by those processes.

About The Stevie Awards

Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, The Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at www.stevieawards.com.

About Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc.

Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc. (TABS) manages product planning, marketing, sales, service support and distribution of copiers, facsimiles, multifunction printing products, network controllers, and toner products throughout the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Latin America, and the Caribbean.  Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., TABS has five divisions:  the Electronic Imaging Division; the Toner Products Division; the Document Solutions Engineering Division; the International Division; and TOPAC U.S.A., Inc., dba Toshiba Business Solutions (TBS), a wholly-owned subsidiary corporation of TABS that operates a network of wholly-owned office equipment dealers throughout the United States.

Named the most favored manufacturer nine times by the Business Technology Association (BTA), Toshiba’s entire product line, customer support and marketing distribution policies are markers for the industry. Among the many other awards garnered in recent years, Toshiba was named the “Manufacturer of the Year” eight times by Marketing Research Consultants (MRC), and has twice been named to the CIO 100 for being among the top 100 “bold” (2005) and “agile” (2004) companies in the world.

TABS is an independent operating company of Toshiba Corporation, the seventh largest electronics/electrical equipment company and the world's 91st largest company in terms of sales. Ranked by Fortune magazine as the eighth Most Admired Electronics Company in the World, Toshiba Corporation is a world leader in high technology products with more than 300 major subsidiaries and affiliates worldwide. Fiscal year revenue in 2007 was approximately $76.6 billion. 

For more information on Toshiba copiers, facsimiles, multifunction printing products, network controllers or toner products, or for a dealer in your area, call (800)-GO-TOSHIBA or visit the TABS Web site at www.copiers.toshiba.com.