PAWTUCKET – Atrion Networking Corp. has expanded its Rhode Island operations with the addition of a new division in Pawtucket.

The Warwick-based company’s new Customer Interface Division will provide customer support services for Atrion clients by answering and directing customer calls, which the company said will reduce queues and expenses for businesses.

The new division is located in the Hope Artiste Village in Pawtucket, one of the state’s 10 economic development Enterprise Zones, and currently has 10 full-time employees.

“Listening to and addressing our clients’ needs, the CID exemplifies Atrion’s client commitment, and it will be a key feature in our growth as we garner new business opportunities and service our existing client base,” said Tim Hebert, Atrion’s president and CEO.

Atrion said it has already signed its first major contract with an unspecified “leading international manufacturer of healthcare equipment,” and plans to focus on providing services for the health and medical, insurance, financial, IT and digital media industries.

Atrion has 140 employees, most of them in Rhode Island. The company says it plans to increase its staffing by an additional 20 to 30 percent over the next two years. Most of the new jobs will be added in Rhode Island, a company spokeswoman said.

The average Atrion employee’s annual salary is $68,000, according to the company.

Saul Kaplan, executive director of the R.I. Economic Development Corporation, praised Atrion as having been “on the forefront of Rhode Island’s knowledge-based economy for [more than] 21 years.” Kaplan said the company is an example of the sort of firm the state hopes to attract more of.

Atrion Networking Corp. – an 1nService Member company – is a privately held company based in Warwick with sales offices in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine and New Hampshire. It is a provider of technology solutions, including telephony, equipment procurement, local-area and wide-area network (LAN and WAN) implementation, consulting and project management. To learn more, visit www.Atrion.net.