Contact: McKinstry/essention, Inc.
Karen LIttle, (206) 268-9810
klittle@essention.com  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

McKinstry/essention, Inc. Announces CarrAmerica Portfolio Roll-Out

CarrAmerica selects McKinstry/essention’s InfoCentre Web-based building management solution to connect customers, property managers and vendors

SEATTLE, WA (June 27, 2001) – McKinstry/essention, Inc., a Seattle-based application service provider of property and facility management solutions, and CarrAmerica Realty Corporation (NYSE: CRE), one of the largest owners, developers and managers of office space in the United States, today announced the portfolio-wide roll-out of McKinstry/essention’s Web-based commercial property management solution, called InfoCentre, into CarrAmerica-operated properties across North America. Currently, CarrAmerica’s owned and managed portfolio exceeds 40 million square feet in more than 300 operating office properties.

CarrAmerica is using InfoCentre to improve efficiency and increase service to its customers. With InfoCentre, CarrAmerica customers use a Web-based interface to initiate and follow through with service request workflow management, preventative maintenance and tenant communication. The technology component of InfoCentre is integrated with a 24x7 service desk, so an industry-trained customer service representative touches every issue reported through InfoCentre to ensure reliable, expedient, and proper handling of all requests.

“CarrAmerica is well-respected as a forward-looking and innovative leader in the commercial office real estate industry, and the selection of InfoCentre for the portfolio-wide management of their properties is an exceptional testament to the quality and value of the solution we have built,” said Dean Allen, president and CEO of McKinstry/essention. “InfoCentre substantially improves efficiencies in managing commercial office and facility space, and allows CarrAmerica to continue to meet the rapidly changing needs of its customers with superior service and capabilities.”

CarrAmerica chose to deploy InfoCentre throughout its North American portfolio following a tremendously successful trial in the company’s Pacific Northwest buildings. Clete Casper, CarrAmerica’s Pacific Northwest Managing Director, was initially responsible for implementing InfoCentre.

InfoCentre is a direct response to CarrAmerica's commitment to improving customer service using technology in its most effective applications," said Casper. "After several months of testing InfoCentre in the Northwest, the response from our customers was very positive and efficiency gains occurred almost immediately.  It didn’t take long for us to realize the significance of these responses and establish a plan to expand the program.”

According to Casper, one of the most exciting advantages to the CarrAmerica staff is the InfoCentre electronic data and drawing library function, which digitally archives all building-specific documentation, including operations and maintenance manuals, building drawings, and preventive maintenance scheduling and warranties for all equipment.

“Instead of having to find a set of drawings in storage or pull a three-ring binder off a shelf, we can access resources immediately when we need them, even if we’re standing on a rooftop,” he said. “That capability really improves the short- and long-term efficiencies of our staff and vendors.” 

The portfolio-wide rollout of InfoCentre is now complete, allowing CarrAmerica’s customers to minimize time and effort in accessing resources, requesting services and ordering maintenance repairs. 

“The staffing time efficiencies and customer satisfaction levels that were realized from the implementation of InfoCentre in the Northwest made it an easy decision to deploy it throughout all of our properties,” said Richard W. Greninger, Managing Director, Property Operations, CarrAmerica Realty Corp. “The national deployment has gone very smoothly and the feedback from our customers has been extremely positive.”

With InfoCentre’s streamlined workflow management system, service requests submitted by CarrAmerica’s tenants are managed through an intuitive Web interface. Requests are then logged and handled based on pre-defined protocols set by CarrAmerica customers, stating the approved escalation procedures and required authorizations for each type of request. Work orders are then generated, and approved vendors are dispatched to resolve issues, with each step of the process recorded in real-time on the Web site for access by authorized users. 

Because many non-traditional and emergency issues cannot be handled ideally online, InfoCentre also allows users to submit requests and issues via phone, fax, or email to the property-specific teams of industry-trained customer service representatives for CarrAmerica’s properties. 

“Our customers like the ease of InfoCentre’s Web-based interface combined with the ability to interact directly with a customer service representative if need be,” said Greninger. “This ensures that our customers are receiving reliable, effective service and information around the clock.”

CarrAmerica also uses InfoCentre to perform building, regional, or portfolio-wide queries to monitor vendor performance and accountability. InfoCentre provides an ideal platform for portfolio-wide performance and metric reporting across CarrAmerica facilities.

About McKinstry/essention
McKinstry/essention, Inc. is a real estate application service provider (ASP) that offers Web-based property and facility management solutions. Headquartered in Seattle, WA, McKinstry/essention develops and markets InfoCentre, a highly scaleable technology that addresses property and facility management inefficiencies and unifies service information. With over 50 million square feet of occupied space either already operating or currently contracted in numerous major metropolitan markets across North America, McKinstry/essention’s clients include those that own or manage substantial property portfolios as well as Fortune 1000 organizations with large or geographically dispersed buildings. For additional information, visit www.essention.com or email media@essention.com.

About CarrAmerica
CarrAmerica owns, develops and operates office properties in 12 markets throughout the United States. The Company is committed to becoming America's leading office workplace company by meeting the rapidly changing needs of its customers with superior service, a large portfolio of quality office properties, extraordinary development capabilities and land positions. CarrAmerica is a leading office innovator with interests in and strategic relationships with companies including: HQ Global Workplaces, a global leader in executive office suites and DukeSolutions, a Duke Energy subsidiary providing comprehensive energy management programs. 

Currently, CarrAmerica and its affiliates own, directly or through joint ventures, interests in a portfolio of 283 operating office properties and have 10 office buildings under development in seven key growth markets. CarrAmerica's markets include Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles/Orange County, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle and metropolitan Washington, D.C. For additional information on CarrAmerica, including space availability, visit www.carramerica.com.

McKinstry/essention is a registered trademark of McKinstry/essention, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.