Black Hawk, CO (MMD Newswire) December 1, 2009 --
The Paisley Group has announced the results of the Fall 2009 NDA Performance Index, rating Directory Assistance Providers who showed an across-the-board improvement in Customer Fulfillment(SM) and Passed Calls.

 There are three components that drive the accuracy of Directory Assistance (DA): the automated front-end systems, the operators, and the databases. According to the Fall, 2009 National Directory Assistance Performance Index(SM), an independent analysis published semi-annually by The Paisley Group, Ltd. (PGL), automated systems are performing at 99.3% accuracy, operators at 98.7% accuracy, and databases at 98.3% accuracy. This results in 96.7% of all calls being handled accurately. The margin of error is +/- 2.0%.
Using a "mystery caller" approach, the Index tracks:
 
- Customer Fulfillment^(SM) - the definitive directory assistance quality standard that evaluates how often DA callers receive a correct listing report. It measures the accuracy of speech recognition systems, operators and databases. Fulfillment supersedes all other quality elements in customer satisfaction.
- Customer Care^(SM) - the success operators demonstrate in balancing customer advocacy, practice adherence, and call-handling efficiency.
- "Passed Calls," - combines Customer Fulfillment and Customer Care to measure how often DA users receive a correct report and are treated in a competent, courteous and professional manner. A passed call is the hallmark of directory assistance quality.
 
 
ILEC QUALITY CONTINUES TO IMPROVE
 
The Fall 2009 Paisley Index measured AT&T, Qwest and Verizon in the ILEC segment. The Average ILEC Fulfillment score was 95.3% with a 2.4% margin of error. The ILEC segment averaged 91.6% Customer Care with a 3.1% margin of error. This shows a trend of increased attention to Customer Care. A year ago, an average of 87.3% of calls were Cared For and in the Spring of 2009, 89.6% were Cared For.
 
In the critical area of Passed Calls, the ILEC segment continued to improve with an 88.0% Passed Calls rating, up from 82.0% in the Fall of 2008. This shows an impressive jump of six percentage points in the period of one year. Passed calls are those that are both Fulfilled and Cared For.
 
THIRD PARTY DA PROVIDERS TAKE THE LEAD IN ALL AREAS OF SERVICE
 The Third Party Segment included iTouchPoint, kgb_USA, TELUS, and Verizon LiveSource. The Customer Fulfillment for Third Party providers averaged 97.0%, an increase of 2.0% over the last measurement, with a margin of error of 2.8%. Third Party Customer Care averaged 96.3%; up from 92.7% in the Spring. The margin of error is 2.1%.

The average percentage of Passed Calls for the Third Party segment was 93.7%; an increase of more than five percentage points from the Spring Index. This was the best in the industry for Passed Calls.

WIRELESS CARRIER SEGMENT IMPROVES PERFORMANCE
AT&T, Sprint PCS, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless were all included in the Wireless Carrier Segment of the Index. The quality of wireless DA service continues to reach new levels.

In the Wireless segment, the Customer Fulfillment scores were clustered in the 96.0% to 97.7% range with a margin of error of around 2.0%. Customer Care averaged 95.7% with a margin of error of about 2.3%.

The average Passed Calls for the Wireless Segment was 93.0%, an increase from 91.3% in the Spring 2009 Index. The margin of error is about 2.9%.

DA AUTOMATION IMPROVES IN FULFILLMENT AND PASSED CALLS
Automated DA Services provided by AT&T, MCI, Qwest, Sprint Long Distance, and Verizon were included in the Automated Segment in this issue of the Paisley Index. The automated segment average for Customer Fulfillment was 96.0% with a margin of error of around 2.2%. Customer Care averaged 91.6% for all carriers using full automation. The margin of error is about 3.1%. The average Passed Calls for the automated segment was 88.3%. The margin of error is about 3.6%.

Of all reports provided by DA speech recognition systems (where the database is accurate), 99.3% are accurate. These are calls where the speech recognition system has a high degree of confidence that it has located the caller's request and gives the number without forwarding the caller to an operator. On an industry level, accurate reports are given by live operators 98.7% of the time.


SPECIAL TOPIC ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEYS PAIRED WITH QUALITY MEASUREMENT AUDITS
In an effort to gather a 360-degree-view of customer satisfaction and call quality, The Paisley Group conducted a hybrid Customer Satisfaction and Quality Measurement Audit for this issue of the Index. The hybrid audit allowed for a correlation of quality results with participants' responses to Customer Satisfaction (CSat) questions. It proved to be a very powerful tool in understanding participants' satisfaction ratings because it matched customer perception with the quantifiable measurements of call quality. While traditional CSat surveys typically only provide the "voice of the customer," Paisley Quality Audits offer actual root-cause data for continuous improvement.

Using both of these powerful tools together allowed Paisley to identify some of the measurable behaviors that customers don't like, and uncover differences between what DA providers and their customers view as service requirements and customer satisfiers. The hybrid audit also highlighted the extent to which influencers, like automation and valid "no listing found" (NF) reports, skew customers' perceptions of an excellent call. The unique methodology of this audit enabled any biased perceptions to be identified and isolated from actual call quality.

Results show that customers' perceptions of automation are changing. On calls that included operator interaction, a clear correlation can be seen between caller ratings and Paisley's Voice Delivery measurements that are a part of quality audits. To determine opportunities that exist for DA providers, Paisley included questions about Enhanced DA and polled participants about their future use of these services.

This type of hybrid study returns actionable results and it is effective not only for DA providers, but for any customer service-based organization. The results of this study are included in the Fall 2009 Paisley Group NDA Performance Index.

ABOUT THE PAISLEY GROUP, LTD.
The Paisley Group Ltd. is the leading independent auditor of directory assistance, toll assistance and relay services. They measure the accuracy of automated systems, databases, and operators as well as the ability of operators and systems to provide Customer Care as defined by a number of objective measurements that are specific to the specialized telecom "operator services" business. Paisley is also a premiere provider of consulting services that optimize system, operator, and database performance. Through extensive communication with users via focus groups and customer surveys, Paisley has defined a set of quality measurements that include the "voice of the customer." The company designs robust measurement models and provides meaningful and statistically significant data to assist customer service-related organizations in maintaining excellence at all levels.

For additional information, or to purchase a copy of the Index, contact Jeff Rudolph, President & CEO, The Paisley Group, Ltd., P.O. Box 649, Black Hawk CO 80422, 303-688-1666, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , www.thepaisleygroup.com.