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J.D. Power and Associates Reports: AT&T and Embarq Rank Highest in Business Customer Satisfaction With Local Telephone Services

Posted on: Wednesday, 25 April 2007, 09:22 CDT

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., April 25 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T ranks highest in satisfying small/midsize business customers, and Embarq ranks highest in satisfying large enterprise customers with their local telephone service, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Major Provider Business Telecommunications Voice Services Study(SM) released today.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050527/LAF028LOGO-a )

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 employees or more). Seven factors are used to determine overall satisfaction: performance and reliability; billing; sales representatives/account executives; company image; cost of service; offerings and promotions; and customer service.

With a score of 686 points on a 1,000-point scale, AT&T leads the small/midsize business customer segment, receiving highest ratings for cost of service, offerings and promotions, sales representatives/account executives, image and customer service. Qwest follows AT&T with 680 points, performing particularly well in performance and reliability.

Embarq ranks highest in the large enterprise segment with 713 points, performing particularly well in six of the seven factors that drive overall satisfaction: performance/reliability, cost of service, offerings/promotions, sales representatives/account executives, image and billing. AT&T and Verizon follow in a tie with 695 points each.

The study finds that the impact of offerings and promotions on business customer satisfaction has increased from 10 percent of the overall index in 2006 to 15 percent in 2007. While satisfaction scores for this factor have also increased since the 2006 study, large enterprise customers are more satisfied with their offerings and promotions than small/midsize business customers (671 points vs. 640 points).

"Smaller, incumbent telephone companies, cable companies and other new players are increasing the competition among small and very small businesses regarding their local telephone services," said Steve Kirkeby, executive director of telecommunications and technology at J.D. Power and Associates. "Representing 24 percent of the small/midsize market segment, competitive bundling service options and pricing are areas where these non-major providers have developed a competitive advantage."

The incidence of switching local telephone service providers has increased in 2007 among both small/midsize businesses and large enterprises. In 2006, the combined average for switching carriers was 7 percent; while 11 percent of small/midsize and 14 percent of large enterprise customers report switching carriers in 2007. Better prices or discounted rates are identified as the main reasons for switching among small/midsize business customers, while reliable service is most often cited among large enterprise customers.

The study also finds that the number of problems and questions reported by business customers in the past 12 months has decreased significantly -- down from 61 percent in 2006 to 49 percent in 2007.

"Specifically, billing questions have dropped by four percentage points, and issues dealing with poor or bad reception have declined by three percentage points, making these two areas the most significant contributors to the overall decline," said Kirkeby. "Voice service providers are clearly taking steps to ensure product quality and to make certain that the customer's bill is accurate and clearly reflects the value they are receiving."

The 2007 Major Provider Business Telecommunications Voice Services Study is based on responses from 2,048 business customers with telecom services at small, midsize and large U.S. businesses and includes evaluations of their data and voice service providers. J.D. Power and Associates released a study of data service providers in early April.

Customer Satisfaction Index Scores: Small/Midsize Business (Based on a 1,000-point scale) AT&T* 686 Qwest 680 Small/Midsize Business Segment Average 680 Verizon 674 Embarq 650 Customer Satisfaction Index Scores: Large Enterprise Business (Based on a 1,000-point scale) Embarq 713 AT&T* 695 Verizon 695 Large Enterprise Segment Average 695 Qwest 689

*AT&T includes BellSouth customers. BellSouth was acquired by AT&T in 2006.

About J.D. Power and Associates

Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is an ISO 9001-registered global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, performance improvement, training and customer satisfaction. The firm's quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies:

Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a leading global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, BusinessWeek and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2006 were $6.3 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/.

J.D. Power and Associates Media Relations Contacts: Jeff Perlman Syvetril Perryman Westlake Village, Calif. Westlake Village, Calif. (805) 418-8976 (805) 418-8103 jeff.perlman@jdpa.com syvetril.perryman@jdpa.com

No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the information in this release without the express prior written consent of J.D. Power and Associates. http://www.jdpower.com/corporate

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050527/LAF028LOGO-aPRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

J.D. Power and Associates

CONTACT: Jeff Perlman, +1-805-418-8976, jeff.perlman@jdpa.com, orSyvetril Perryman, +1-805-418-8103, syvetril.perryman@jdpa.com, both of J.D.Power and Associates

Web site: http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/

Web site: http://www.jdpower.com/corporate

Source: PRNewswire

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