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Buffalo Grove Business

A Technology Driven Era

The terms “technology” and “business” are almost interchangeable in current times, according to several business people operating in Buffalo Grove. And businesses are expected to increase their reliance on technology in the years to come, the experts say.

“You could say that our business is technology-focused,” said Steven Kuehn, media and community relations manager for Siemens Building Technologies.

The company is Buffalo Grove’s largest employer with some 2,000 employees in the community. Buffalo Grove is also the U.S. headquarters for Siemens Building Technologies, which employs 28,000 employees in 51 countries.

“The idea of being technology-ready is absolutely necessary in business today,” said Jennifer Cumbee, the director of corporation communications for International Profit Associates, a management consulting and business development company headquartered in Buffalo Grove. The full-service firm, with 1,800 fulltime employees, focuses on small and medium-size privately-held companies in North America.

Technology often becomes the framework for how companies such as Siemens Building Technologies and International Profit Associates conduct business, the company officials said.

“Technology is an extremely important fundamental aspect to what we do—whether we are deploying our own technology to answer our customers’ needs or integrating the technology of others to do the same thing,” said Kuehn. He added that Siemens is a leading provider of “building control, energy management, fire safety and security systems solutions.”

“When you have a sophisticated control system for a high technology business, ultimately your customers are more safe, secure and comfortable,” he added.

The constant growth in technology has also helped the company diversify its market, Kuehn said. “We have a wide-range of customers, as we have been able to focus our expertise in several different areas: commercial, governmental, institutional, higher education and other large public facilities,” he added.

“We use technology to manage buildings as well and we help our customers go green through technology,” Kuehn said.

Technology is also the center for new product and service development for Siemens Building Technologies, Kuehn said. “Here in Buffalo Grove, we pioneered the use of wireless network control technologies and we were the first to bring those to market,” he said.

It is also a way to provide constant customer contact and support, said Cumbee. “We have clients across the country and it is imperative that they can reach us anytime,” she said. “For example, everything that we do is online and available through the Internet.”

Technology is even used to ensure that International Profit Associates customers—and potential customers—can reach a company representative when they need to. “One hundred percent of our clients have access to everyone in our company,” Cumbee said. “For example, clients can reach us immediately when they call. If a client calls, and someone is not at their desk, that call is transferred to their portable phone.”

The use of technology allows a 24-hour-a-day connection to a customer, said Debbie Rybarczyk, a commercial customer service representative with Harris NA, which has two locations in Buffalo Grove. “There was a day when customers couldn’t access their accounts 24/7,” she added. “Now, it is no longer thought as a convenience but a necessity with full-service banking.”

And the technical advantages that are available to customers currently are just the beginning of the types of services business will be able to provide from a technology standpoint, Rybarczyk said. “We will see so many new enhancements and we will see things speed up,” she said.

Technology can even help lend a human touch to the customer-company relationship, albeit in electronic form. Rybarczyk said. “Harris strives for the customer service touch even when a client chooses to access us via computer,” she said. “For example, if they have a question, there is a feature in which they can chat with a human through their computer. They can talk to a person, but through the method of their choice.”