Northstar Achieves the Pro Master Award again in 2006

TOSHIBA AMERICA BUSINESS SOLUTIONS INC. HONORS WITH 2006 PROMASTERS AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN TECHNICAL SERVICE AND SUPPORT

Toshiba Recognizes Outstanding Office Equipment Dealers for Demonstrating Exceptional Performance in the Areas of Service and Customer Support

IRVINE, Calif., (May 25, 2006) – Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc. (TABS) today announced the recipients of its annual ProMasters Award, recognizing technical service and customer support excellence among its network of office equipment dealers. The ProMasters Program and Award were specifically developed by TABS to ensure the highest standard of technical expertise and service in the industry. Only dealers that have surpassed rigorous standards and evaluations through an ongoing qualification process, and that continually demonstrate an unwavering commitment to providing exceptional customer service and knowledge in support of TABS’ copier, printer and facsimile products, are eligible to receive the ProMasters designation.

“We are proud to recognize 72 dealerships from across the country with a ProMasters Award,” said George Colborn, vice president, Service, TABS. “Customer satisfaction is a top priority in the Toshiba organization and the ProMasters Program clearly demonstrates our dedication to raising the industry standard for outstanding service and customer support.”

Only those dealers earning satisfactory scores of at least 700 out of a possible 1,000 in the evaluation process receive the honor of a ProMasters designation. The highest-scoring dealer in each region (with a minimum of 850 points) is named the ProMasters Top Achiever. All TABS dealers nationwide are eligible to enter the ProMasters competition. Qualifications for receiving the ProMasters Award include the fulfillment of specific and demanding requirements, including:

Toshiba Trained Technicians – ProMasters dealers must maintain a minimum number of technicians with authorized training on each TABS copier, printer and facsimile model. These technicians must be certified through TABS’ training and service development programs.
Field Service Operation – ProMasters dealers must manage a comprehensive field service operation and possess proper service tools, manuals, and technical bulletins to ensure timely onsite repair and maintenance of customers’ products.
Ongoing Customer Relations Program – To ensure all TABS customers receive responsive customer support, ProMasters dealers must maintain an ongoing customer relations and satisfaction training program for all technicians and customer support personnel.
Proactive Preventative Maintenance Program – ProMasters dealers must maintain a preventative maintenance program for all customers’ equipment based on TABS’ periodic inspection policies and procedures, ensuring ongoing reliability of TABS’ products and eliminating unnecessary downtime and operating expenses.
Equipment Appraisal – To ensure all ProMasters dealers are maintaining TABS’ products according to prescribed standards, all dealers are subjected to a random, semi-annual field equipment appraisal by TABS’ Regional Service specialists. These appraisals ensure customers’ products are adequately maintained.
Dealer Computer System Capabilities – All ProMasters dealers are strongly
In addition, TABS dealers that meet these standards are then scored and evaluated by Toshiba’s Regional Service Departments in a number of service, competency, efficiency, and customer satisfaction areas. Detailed, onsite evaluations of customers’ equipment also are performed with grading on equipment condition, performance and overall customer satisfaction.