UCC increases accounts, secures space

SAN ANTONIO-- United Central Control hit the 100,000 account mark in September from a year start of 73,000 accounts, prompting a move to a bigger facility to accommodate recent additions and as it plans for growth. The central is in the process of securing space in Northwest San Antonio, only 10 miles from its current location, and expects to make the move at the end of January 2006. The relocation comes at a time when United Central Control focus is to expand its reach. Already, the central monitors accounts in 40 states with a regional presence in Texas. "The new location is 13,000 square-feet, doubling the size that we are now in," said Teresa Gonzalez, general manager at the central. With the added space, the central will continue growth internally with added customer service and operator personnel. Customer service has always been the hallmark of the company's mission and is coupled with incessant training for its 60 plus employees. The company has recently finished hiring a group of eight to handle the recent growth of accounts. The marketing team at the central is trained to show dealers how they can best serve customers with new services, such as wide area protocol that enables accounts to be viewed through a cell phone or PDA, said Mark Matlock, vice president of sales and marketing. "In addition, we are looking at adding more support for dealer relations by adding at least a dozen more people," Gozalez said. This is not the first time the company has expanded. It has been in its current facility for 17 years, but increased square footage two years ago when the company added a new customer service department. As the central steadily increases account growth, currently the average UCC dealer monitors 400 accounts, new monitoring technologies come into the fold. Video monitoring is a technology the central has embarked upon, noted Gonzalez. She said that the central would like to see more of it's dealers incorporate this technology. "The market is driven that way, and we certainly want to be apart of it," Matlock said.