Remote control

You are having a problem with your computer. So, you call your technology service rep. With your permission, from a remote location, he uses software to essentially take over your computer. He sees what you see. He identifies and corrects the problem, and you get back to work.
That may sound like a business solution of the future. However, the future is now for TriTech Corp. of America, which revamped its Web site this month and converted it into an interactive e-commerce site.
The new
Web site’s remote administration
is the key to TriTech’s efficiency, according to Scott Hrdlicka, director of Waukesha-based TriTech.
Remote administration allows TriTech experts, with permission, to take over a customer’s personal computer via a secure private Internet connection. Hrdlicka said the remote administration enables TriTech to fix smaller problems such as viruses without having to drive out to the customer’s office.
Remote administration provides TriTech more time to focus on customers with larger technology problems.
"Remote administration is the nicest tool to have in the world," Hrdlicka said. "Customers love to see how well it works, and you are able to act as their internal IT department."
The new Web site, www.tritechcoa.com, has an online store with 2.4 million products, an explanation of services the length of a 900-page book, remote administration and the capability for customers to chat online with a company sales engineer, according to Hrdlicka.
"The new site is a full online store integrated with the service portion of our company," Hrdlicka said. "It is a virtual store with virtual support, all in one."
The e-commerce site is designed to better serve TriTech’s existing customers while increasing the Waukesha-based company’s customer base across the country. The company has built its reputation on guaranteed one-hour response time.
TriTech, which is headquartered at 2238 N. Bluemound Road, employs specialists in network development and security, cabling, phone systems, printer repairs and warranty repair.
"We have always covered the whole spectrum of technology services. The challenge is to do it well," Hrdlicka said.
TriTech employees are required to have a degree, a certificate and a minimum of five years experience in their fields. The company’s experts also are cross-trained for knowledge and efficiency.
Both the service staff and administrative staff are well-versed in the services TriTech can offer, and they understand the technology.
"Our goals are to always keep up to date, to guarantee security with technology, to respond to customers fastest and to bridge the gap of communication between the IT company and the business," Hrdlicka said.
The addition of the online store to the Web site is an added feature for customers. TriTech is sharing its access to millions of products. According to Hrdlicka, a typical e-commerce site has 50 to 1,000 products, and a larger site might have 20,000 to 80,000 products.
TriTech’s site has 2.4 million products.
As a service company, TriTech has had access to that many products through its seven distributors for years, Hrdlicka said. Putting the products online enables TriTech to once again open its customer base across the nation and give customers the lowest prices available.
According to Hrdlicka, TriTech’s online store is integrated with the distributors. When customers order online, it is as if they are placing the order directly with an employee in the warehouse. Hrdlicka said TriTech is not depending on the profit from the online store, and therefore can offer warehouse prices.
"We are not a product company, we are a service company," Hrdlicka said. "Our goal is to sell products to gain service."
Hrdlicka said 90 percent of the products offered in the online store have the lowest prices in the market.
The products vary from accessories to servers and from phone systems to networking solutions, with a wide array of name brands.
Programmers have been working since February to develop the site, which is geared toward making honest, educated sales to customers and to keep relationships with them, if they are interested, through TriTech’s service offerings.
An online chat is available for
customers to talk with a sales engineer at TriTech, and telephone calls also
are welcome.
TriTech can repair any product on the site, warranty or no warranty, and installs most of the purchaser’s products for them.
"Here, it is not like the customer is abandoned," Hrdlicka said. "Millions of dollars are wasted every year on IT products because customers don’t know how to use them. We want to help the customer make an educated decision."
The site was a large investment for TriTech, but Hrdlicka expects it to pay for itself within the year.
"We are always looking ahead into the future of technology and changing the rules," Hrdlicka said. "We don’t have to do things the same way as everyone else, and we can be more efficient this way."
If needed, TriTech is prepared to open second and third offices outside of the Midwest and add more employees to its existing office as the Web site grows in popularity, Hrdlicka said.
TriTech has established a network of strategic partners across the country that are all willing to work together with the new site.
"The growth of the company depends on the volume of service we pick up from product sales," Hrdlicka said. "We haven’t put the numbers down yet, but in the next couple of months, we will be able to determine where we will be in X amount of time."
August 20, 2004, Small Business Times, Milwaukee, WI