2000 Annual Report

Global Services and Support
Global solutions are our specialty - and to support our growing customer base, we continue to expand worldwide. We have a presence in almost every region of the world with direct operations in more than 35 countries and distributors in another 12 locations. Also, we have more than 65 direct sales offices throughout North America. Our global representatives are degreed engineers, ready to partner with customers to find the best solutions for their needs. Customer support and service is established at both the local and global levels ensuring a strong focus on customers and markets.

Local Sales and Support
In branch offices around the globe, our staff is local to the country so that customers have access to engineers who speak their language. Our Field Sales Engineers work with customers to consult on their unique needs. We also have a worldwide service organization staffed with trained Applications Engineers who provide superior technical assistance and repair. Our model for service and support also takes advantage of the Internet by providing customers with timely answers and solutions 24 hours a day. We maintain an extensive online technical support system, which includes a searchable KnowledgeBase, Trouble Shooting Wizards, Example Program Database, and more.

Customer Training
NI recognizes that both initial instruction and ongoing education contribute to our customers' success. NI provides a variety of training alternatives, from self-paced tutorials and interactive CDs to hands-on courses - all designed so our customers can choose the way they learn about our products.

Professional Services
NI software and hardware services ensure that our customers have the latest features and capabilities throughout the product life cycle. NI offers various solutions, such as start-up assistance and installation service, to quickly help customers get up and running. Through consulting services and the 600 companies that participate in our Alliance Program, our customers work with industry and product experts. With a spectrum of maintenance services, ranging from extended warranty and software subscription programs to calibration, we help our customers achieve optimal uptime for their diverse applications.

NI on the Web
ni.com is a popular site with engineers and scientists worldwide because they can immediately access detailed information about our measurement and automation products, obtain answers to their technical questions, and network with fellow NI customers. Customers can personalize ni.com with MyNI, the ultimate customizable Web interface accessed at my.ni.com. NI Developer Zone™, an essential online resource for developers, gives our customers access to a vast collection of programs, example code, and development techniques, as well as the ability to browse libraries of programming examples and interact with each other and NI developers in chat rooms.

Partnering for Success
We have developed global relationships with a number of industry partners that range from computer software and hardware companies such as Microsoft and Dell Computer, to NI Alliance Program partners, value added resellers, systems integrators, and original equipment manufacturers. By partnering with these companies, our customers around the world receive a complete spectrum of solutions for their needs - from components to consulting and turnkey systems.