NDA Performance Index, Spring 2009

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NDA Performance Index, Spring 2009

The Paisley Group’s NDA Performance IndexSM Finds North American Directory Assistance Is “Best of the Best.”

Black Hawk, CO…
The much anticipated results of the Spring 2009 NDA Performance Index results have just been released by The Paisley Group.

There are three components that drive the accuracy of DA: the automated front-end systems, the operators and the databases. According to the Spring, 2009 National Directory Assistance Performance IndexSM, an independent analysis published semi-annually by The Paisley Group, Ltd. (PGL), automated systems are performing at 99.0% accuracy, operators at 98.7% accuracy and databases at 96.0% accuracy. This results in 93.7% of all calls being handled accurately. The margin of error is +/- 2.8%.

In comparison with the Fall 2008 Index, there was a slight decrease in the three components that drive the accuracy of DA: the automated front-end systems, the operators and the databases.

Using a “mystery caller” approach, the Index tracks:

Customer Fulfillment^SM , the definitive directory assistance quality standard that, by measuring speech recognition and operator and database accuracy, evaluates how often DA callers receive a correct listing report;
Customer Care^SM, the success operators demonstrate in balancing customer advocacy, practice adherence and call-handling efficiency, and
“Passed Calls,” the hallmark of directory assistance quality, combines Customer FulfillmentSM and Customer CareSM to measure how often DA users receive a correct report and are treated in a competent, courteous and professional manner.

ILEC Quality Stable
The Spring 2009 Paisley Index measured AT&T, Qwest and Verizon in the ILEC segment. The Average ILEC FulfillmentSM score was 91.3% with a 3.2% margin of error. The ILEC segment averaged 89.6% Customer CareSM with a 3.5% margin of error. This was up from a Customer CareSM average of 87.3 in the Fall of 2008.

In the critical area of Passed Calls, The ILEC segment improved again with an 83.7% Passed Calls rating, up from 82.0% in the Fall of 2008. Passed calls are those that are both Fulfilled and Cared For.

Although Qwest continues to lead the industry in lagniapped calls, the percentage of these calls decreased from 16.3% to 8.3% in the Spring 2009 Index. Lagniappe calls are calls that are not only accurate but also are handled by operators who exceed every expectation in call-handling, courtesy and voice delivery - operators who connect with callers on a personal level.

Third Party DA Providers Continue to Excel in All Areas of Service
The Third Party Segment of the Spring 2009 Paisley Index included iTouchPoint, kgb_USA, TELUS, and Verizon LiveSource. The Customer FulfillmentSM of Third Party providers again averaged 95.0% with a margin of error 2.5%. Third Party Customer CareSM averaged 92.7% with a margin of error of 2.9%.

The average percentage of Passed Calls for the Third Party segment was 88.3% compared to the ILEC average of 83.7%.

Wireless Carrier Segment Takes the Lead in Passed Calls
AT&T Cingular, Sprint PCS, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless were all included in the Wireless Carrier Segment of the index. The quality of wireless DA service has become the best in the industry.

In the Wireless segment, the Customer FulfillmentSM scores were clustered in the 93.0% to 96.3% range with a margin of error of around 2.6%. Customer CareSM averaged 96.0% with a margin of error of about 2.2%.

The average Passed Calls for the Wireless Segment was 91.3% which was the best in the industry for the Spring 2009 Index. The margin of error is about 3.2%.

Free DA Service Varies with Provider and Type of Service
The Free DA Segment included AT&T, Jingle, Microsoft, and Verizon in the Spring 2009 Paisley Index. Both AT&T and Verizon offered operator backup while Jingle and Microsoft were fully automated with no operator backup.

The Free DA segment average for Customer FulfillmentSM of eligible calls was 81.5%. Eligible calls exclude residential searches for the providers who do not offer residential listings. Customer CareSM averaged 75.9% for this segment with a 5.1% margin of error. Although Customer CareSM was up from 72.5% in the Fall, it is still a far cry from the numbers seen in the Paid DA segments.

Interestingly, AT&T’s free service, 1-800-YELLOWPAGES, provided accurate information (for the requested party) 89.7% of the time. This is one of the only measurements in the Free DA Segment that was comparable with the Paid DA Segments.

The Free DA segment included requests by name and by category. The Average Customer FulfillmentSM for Name Searches was 81.5% and Average Customer FulfillmentSM for Category Searches was 82.1%.

The average percentage of Passed Calls for the Free DA segment was 61.3% with a margin of error of 5.5%. This was up significantly from 55.6% in the Fall 2008 Index.

Again we found that when a Free DA service has operator backup, there is a much better chance that the caller will receive the correct report for their target request. However, even though Verizon’s FulfillmentSM increased 6%, they had fewer calls that defaulted to an operator. Even though they do offer operator back up, fewer calls needed to go to an operator for them to show an increase in overall FulfillmentSM.

Customer Care^SM and DA Automation Are Not Mutually Exclusive
Automated DA Services provided by 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 FulfillmentSM was 93.3% with a margin of error of around 2.8%. Customer CareSM averaged 92.0% for all carriers using full automation, up from 90.0% in the Fall of 2008. The margin of error is about 3.1%. The average Passed Calls for the automated segment was 86.7%. The margin of error is about 3.8%.

Qwest Communications continues to show the industry that excellent Customer Care SM is possible with automated DA service. Not only was Qwest’s Care the highest in the ILEC and Automated Segments at 94.6%, but it was also higher than the industry average of 92.3%.

Of all reports provided by DA speech recognition systems (where the database is accurate), 99.0% 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 SMS and it’s impact on DA
Short Message Service (SMS) use is growing exponentially in the US. It’s estimated that the number of SMS messages sent in 2009 will exceed 350 billion. Of particular interest to Directory Assistance providers is the growth of SMS-based information services. Paisley recently studied three SMS-based service providers, Google SMS, kgb and ChaCha, evaluating their functions as Directory Assistance (DA) providers. The results of this study are included in the Spring 2009 Paisley Group NDA Performance IndexSM.

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 CareSM 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 communications 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 clients and the industry-at-large 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 .

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