Dell sinks $164 million into better customer service

Dell Inc. is investing $164 million in new customer service initiatives.

The company, No. 4 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide to Retail Web Sites, is adding 500 employees to a bigger customer service center in Edmonton, Alberta. The additional employees bring the total number of Edmonton customer service reps to about 1,000.

The center handles customer contact e-mails and phone calls for North America. The center also features advanced customer service tools such as DellConnect, a web-based tool. With customer permission, DellConnect allows agents to remotely connect to the customer’s computer via a broadband connection to troubleshoot and help solve computer-related and networking problems.

Dell has about 30 contact centers worldwide. During the past few years, the company has opened customer contact centers in Edmonton and Ottawa, as well as in Germany, India, Philippines, Scotland and the U.S.