Dell today announced that it will begin construction on a dedicated building for its Edmonton Customer Contact Center and plans to hire an additional 250 technical support representatives here.

Dell has contracted with Dawson Wallace Construction Ltd. of Edmonton to construct a three-story, 132,000 square foot facility in Edmonton’s Research Park, scheduled for completion late next summer. Dell currently occupies office space in downtown Edmonton and will remain there until the new facility is available.

With current Edmonton employment of more than 750, the new positions will bring the company’s local work force to about 1,000 by the end of 2005.

In July 2004, Dell announced plans to open a customer contact centre in Edmonton with 500 technical support positions. The company took its first call in November and increased its hiring projection to 750 within six months of the announcement.

“We have been very impressed with the quality of the candidates we’ve hired and the performance of the team,” said Karen Quintos, vice president and general manager of Dell Americas contact centre operations. “Customer feedback on the service that this team is providing is just outstanding. This talented team continues to show us that they can support a variety of customers with complex issues – from businesses with complicated networking issues to consumers with spyware and virus problems.”

“Expanded service capabilities in Edmonton are key to providing the support needed to continue to deliver a consistently great experience for Canadian and American customers,” said Gregory Davis, president of Dell Canada. “Our contact centre in Edmonton and soon-to-be-opened centre in Ottawa will be assets to Dell in North America and our Canadian employees have proven to be valuable assets for Dell worldwide.”

The Customer Contact Centre in Edmonton provides technical support and service to customers throughout the Americas and is part of Dell’s global customer contact centre network, including seven facilities in the U.S. and Canada and an additional 20 facilities worldwide.