"This is the Speedmaster SM 74. Heidelberg, Come in Please!"

A printing press that places an emergency call? The Remote Service Module eCall makes it possible. When technical disturbances arise, it sends an alert to the Heidelberg Systemservice team and ensures that customers receive help faster than ever before.

6:23 a.m.: Error at the actuator
It happens at the beginning of the early morning shift. Just as the Speedmaster SM 74-4 reaches its full production speed, it suddenly stops. The machine operator at the Gerhard Keinath offset print shop in Dettingen in Southern Germany runs over to the control center. The error message on the screen reads, "Actuator was not recognized." And right away the eCall window pops up. It lists the error message and priority as well as the print shop's contact information for returning the call. "It's really convenient. All I have to do is confirm eCall with one click, and I get support from Heidelberg," reports Print Shop Manager Keinath.

6:25 a.m.: eCall reaches Heidelberg
Within a minute, the support request reaches Heidelberg Systemservice. "Thanks to eCall, the print shop no longer has to call Heidelberg, give its contact information and explain the problem," says Bernhard Steinel, Senior Vice President of Service at Heidelberg. Instead, the information is relayed automatically. The team of experts can work on the problem and help the customer within no time.

6:55 a.m.: The Speedmaster SM 74 is running at full capacity again
Back at the Keinath offset print shop. The telephone rings less than 20 minutes later. Thomas Keinath has a Systemservice expert from Heidelberg on the phone. He briefly explains which settings he has to carry out on the Speedmaster SM 74 to get the actuator working again. "Thanks to the fast solution, we can still finish a large print job on time," says Keinath. He admits to having been somewhat skeptical at first. The first time there was a disturbance he didn't want to rely solely on the newly installed web-based Remote Service. "We were under enormous time pressure that day because of an important print job. So we decided to try and deal with the problem ourselves as well. We hadn't expected such fast and effective help," Keinath said.

As of 2009: eCall available for other machines
Service Director Steinel can also attest to the short reaction times. "Thanks to eCall, error reports can be handled up to 50 percent faster than when reported by telephone." The so-called first time fix rate, meaning the number of problems solved upon first contact, is impressive: The figure is around 70 percent in press electronics; and in Prinect Software it's even up to 90 percent. Heidelberg is setting standards in the industry with its Remote Service. The company is the only provider in the print media industry to offer remote solutions for all print shop areas from a single source. The remote diagnoses minimize down-time, which can even be prevented with regular Remote Service inspections. "Our offer fulfills the market demand for fast and cost-effective service solutions for all production areas. Customer feedback confirms this as well," explains Steinel. For him and his team, it's an incentive to expand their service range further. According to plan, eCall is to be integrated step by step into other machines and systems in 2009.