WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. — Verizon ranks highest in satisfying small/midsize business customers, and AT&T ranks highest in satisfying large enterprise customers with their local telephone services, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Major Provider Business Telecommunications Voice Services Study released.

The study measures business customer satisfaction with providers of local telephone voice services in two segments: small/midsize businesses (companies with 2 to 499 employees) and large enterprises (500 or more employees). Six factors are used to determine overall satisfaction: performance and reliability; sales representatives/account executives; billing; cost of service; offerings and promotions; and customer service.

With a score of 635 on a 1,000-point scale, Verizon leads the small/midsize business customer segment, performing particularly well in all six factors. AT&T follows Verizon in the segment rankings with 617.

AT&T ranks highest in the large enterprise segment with 678, performing well in all six factors. Verizon follows in the segment rankings with 658.

Among customers who “definitely will” or “probably will” switch providers in the next 12 months, the study finds that just 5 percent of small/midsize business customers say they are “pleased” with their local telephone voice service, compared with 21 percent in the 2007 study. In the large enterprise segment, 12 percent of customers indicate that they are “pleased,” down from 21 percent in 2007. In addition, the proportions of “indifferent” and “disappointed” customers have increased in both segments in 2008.

“The decline in the percentage of ‘pleased’ customers in both the small/midsized and large enterprise segments is not unexpected, given the lower satisfaction levels experienced in areas such as cost of service and offerings and promotions,” said Frank Perazzini, director of telecommunications at J.D. Power and Associates. “Customers continue to want more services and features for less money in these tough economic times and believe that their service providers have not necessarily met their needs and expectations.”

The study also finds that among small/midsize business customers who contacted their provider via telephone with an issue or problem, 73 percent said their issue was resolved in a timely manner, compared with 79 percent in 2007. Large enterprise customers who said their issue was resolved in a timely manner increased to 82 percent from 79 percent in the 2007 study.

“As pricing among all providers converges, it becomes difficult for providers to differentiate themselves from the competition,” said Perazzini. “Providing superior customer service, specifically the timely resolution of issues, is essential to the retention of existing customers.”

The 2008 Major Provider Business Telecommunications Voice Services Study is based on responses from 1,794 business customers with telecom services at small, midsize and large U.S. businesses and includes evaluations of their data and voice service providers. The study was fielded in April 2008.

Courtesy: J.D. Power and Associates, USA

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Posted by Naresh Koshti on 21 July, 2008 1:44:41 PM IST #