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United Pipe & Supply Lays Foundation for Sales Mobility With Gateway Wireless Notebooks Notebooks, Desktops and Servers Also Power IT Infrastructure for Wholesaler POWAY, Calif., June 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- For Portland, Ore.-based United Pipe & Supply, keeping critical information flowing to its sales reps is just as important as keeping water streaming through its pipes. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020930/LAM050LOGO ) That's why the $130 million utility supply wholesaler recently chose wireless notebooks from Gateway to streamline information flow from the company's 20 branch offices in Oregon, Washington and Idaho to its mobile sales force. In addition, the company is consolidating its back office with Gateway desktops and servers as well. United Pipe & Supply already tracks and delivers thousands of irrigation, golf and water pipes to agriculture, recreation and civic sites across the Pacific Northwest. But through an initiative to bring more personalized service to customers, the company rolled out a mobile application to help its sales force access everything from product availability to delivery status via a single click -- and while at the customer's site. Following a competitive bid conducted by United Pipe & Supply's own salesforce, Gateway bested the competition with its award-winning Gateway(R) 450 notebooks. The Gateway laptop PCs proved they could easily power the new mobile application, as well as other enterprise applications used by the company, much more effectively than notebooks from IBM, Dell and Toshiba. Armed with 80 wirelessly-enabled Gateway 450s, United Pipe & Supply achieved true mobility for its entire business within just months of deployment. Users can now immediately access accurate and complete customer information and product forecasts, improving efficiency and enabling the wholesaler to be much more far-reaching and profitable in its sales and customer service activities. "Not only did we need wireless notebooks for our on-the-road salesforce, we also needed fast, reliable servers and user-friendly desktops that were easy to maintain," said Mike Green, CIO, United Pipe & Supply. "Gateway's technology is helping us uphold our No. 1 priority -- maintaining the United Pipe & Supply reputation for service and dependability." Due to the success of its rollout with Gateway 450 notebooks, United Pipe & Supply is now also consolidating its IT resources into a manageable, expandable IT infrastructure powered by more than 250 Gateway E-4100 managed business desktops and a two-processor, ultra-thin Gateway 975 rackmount server. "Small and medium-sized enterprises like United Pipe & Supply are looking for a partner they can count on -- they can't afford to spend months implementing technology only to find out it doesn't do what they need to effectively run their business," said Bill Vivian, senior director of sales, Gateway. "We're pleased to be able to deliver a portfolio of business solutions to customers that help them save money, reduce support costs and maintain business continuity." Gateway is a leading branded integrator of technology solutions. From high-end servers to market-leading plasma displays to comprehensive services, Gateway delivers whole-office technology solutions, coupled with high-touch service. Serving organizations for more than 15 years, Gateway uses its multi-channel approach to make the purchase, use and support of technology simple. Gateway customers include many of the world's leading organizations, such as the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency, the University of Arizona, California Highway Patrol and others. For more information on Gateway Professional solutions, visit http://www.gateway.com/business. About Gateway Since its founding in 1985, Gateway (NYSE:GTW) has been a technology and direct-marketing pioneer, using its call centers, web site, direct sales force and retail alliances to build great customer relationships. Gateway offers consumers, businesses and schools a wide range of thin TVs, digital cameras, home networking products, servers, storage and other products, which work together seamlessly with its award-winning line of eMachines and Gateway PCs. Its products and services received nearly 130 awards and honors last year. With its acquisition of eMachines now complete, Gateway is the third largest PC company in the U.S. and among the top ten worldwide. Visit http://www.gateway.com/ for more information. http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020930/LAM050LOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Gateway, Inc. CONTACT: Media, Ted Ladd of Gateway, Inc., +1-858-848-2515, Web site: http://www.gateway.com/ http://www.gateway.com/business

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