Since it has become so competitive, how can you not be interested in the only Apples-to-Apples Quality measurements for National Directory Assistance (NDA) service available industry wide?

NDA PERFORMANCE INDEX^SM

Are you a National Directory Assistance (NDA) provider, a carrier, a DA system supplier or an NDA data aggregator? If so, shouldn't you know:

• How your DA quality compares with that of your competitors, others in your segment or other segments (LECs, IXCs and independent DA providers)?
• How your DA call quality is being affected by your speech recognition system?
• What level of quality your DA provider is giving your end user customers? Or, who could do a better job for you?
• If DA providers using your retrieval system are fulfilling more customer requests than those using other systems? AND
• How your aggregated NDA data quality stacks up to that of other data aggregators?

Statistically significant, process-based, across-the-board
quality results ARE available today for our industry.

These results can be used for quality benchmarking, marketing and competitive customer intelligence.

The Paisley Group LTD offers an industry-wide NDA quality perspective that is broad, meaningful (recognized by all and used by many) and based upon a definitive, DA-specific quality measurement process.

The Index provides the following quality metrics:

• Customer Fulfillment^SM which identifies how often NDA customers receive a correct listing report and if they do not, whether the error was caused by listings missing or wrong in the database or because the operator made an error.
• Customer Care^SM which identifies how effectively operators are balancing customer advocacy and call-handling efficiency based upon such timeless NDA elements as acknowledging, listening, suggesting, questioning and identifying differences between the listing requested and the one being given.
• Average operator work time which identifies "live" on-call operator time.
• A "Special Topic" section which, in previous issues, discussed such timely DA topics as:
  • LEC Data as the Gold Standard
  • DA Automation (3 views)
  • Enhanced Services
  • Deregulation

How are the audits done?

Using the Customer Fulfillment^SM and Customer Care^SM measurement processes, PGL auditors place 300 "mystery shopping" test calls (via the public telephone network) to each company being measured using an NDA test sample which is based upon a real-life NDA call composite (correct % of res/bus/gov/category/valid no finds etc). The listings are requested following scripts created from an accurate NDA customer composite (customer can/can't spell call details; customer requests listing in actual/nearby locality etc). The sample is validated against the originating LEC, using The Paisley Group's proprietary data map to ensure the originating LEC is reached. Where reports match, the request is fulfilled; where discrepancies are found, both numbers are verified.

Table of Contents

Each subscription of the Performance Index^SM will include the following sections and reports for your own service and for each segment and/or competitor purchased:

• Publisher's Overview
  • Proprietary Restrictions
  • Table of Contents

• Executive Summary
  • Includes overall comments on findings of current audit and trending of performance.

• Methodology Section
  • Includes brief description of statistical methodology used.
  • Includes brief descriptions of Customer Care^SM, Customer Fulfillment^SM, and Average Work Time audit process.

• Results (for your own service plus each segment or competitor purchased)