Paisley Group's NDA Performance Index(SM) Rates Directory Assistance Service Provider Companies.

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. -- Directory Assistance providers maintained a high degree of accuracy over the past six months with 92.3% of all calls handled correctly according to the National Directory Assistance Performance Index(SM), an independent analysis published semi-annually by The Paisley Group, Ltd. (PGL). The Index, now in its twelfth edition, gives companies a benchmark for assessing and improving their directory assistance service. In addition, the current Index includes a white paper on "Free DA - Cash from a Different Cow".

Using a "mystery caller" approach, the Index tracks:

--Customer Fulfillment(SM), the definitive directory assistance quality standard that, by measuring database, operator and speech recognition accuracy, evaluates how often DA callers receive a correct listing report,

--Customer Care(SM), the success operators demonstrate in balancing customer advocacy and call handling efficiency, and

--"Passed Calls," calls where customers received the correct listing report AND were cared for competently and efficiently.

New in the Index

This year's index included two new companies: TELUS, a large Canadian ILEC that has entered the U.S. market with their wholesale U.S. DA service and BTSLogic, a vendor of DA systems including speech recognition. BTSLogic was included in the Speech Recognition segment along with Verizon and BellSouth. The Speech Recognition segment reports on the effectiveness of DA services that use speech recognition and includes a view of automation success and its relationship to customer satisfaction.

ILEC Quality Stable

BellSouth's database accuracy led the ILECs at 96% compared to a segment average of 95%. BellSouth, Qwest and Verizon had the highest overall Customer Fulfillment(SM) with 92.3% compared to a segment average of 91.0%. Customer Fulfillment(SM) measures the total number of calls that were completed correctly and identifies the root causes that prohibited calls from being completed accurately, e.g., an incorrect listing in the provider's database, missing information, a number that was in the database but that could not be found, operator error or a technical problem.

In the area of Customer Care(SM), Qwest was the ILEC leader again with 97.7%. This is another increase over their previous 95.3% in the Fall 2005 Index. The segment average was 85.3%. Unlike most measurements of customer service, which are subjective in nature, Customer Care(SM) measures an array of specific, quantifiable operator behaviors that detract from customers' DA experiences. These measures reveal how effectively operators acknowledge customers at specific points during the call, listen carefully to the caller, probe for additional information where necessary, follow search procedures to their conclusion and treat customers with professional courtesy.

Passed Calls are the hallmark of directory assistance quality. This standard combines Customer Fulfillment(SM) and Customer Care(SM) to measure whether customers received a correct report and were treated in a competent and professional manner. Qwest came out on top among ILECs once again with 90.0% of all calls both fulfilled and cared for. This is up again from their Passed Call rate of 89.7% in the Fall, 2005 study and up significantly from 85.3% in the Spring, 2005 study. The segment average was 77.7%.

3rd Party Providers Overtake ILECs in Customer Fulfillment(SM)

Third party providers' Customer Fulfillment(SM) averaged 93.0% in this Index compared to the ILEC average of 91.0% and they did significantly better in the area of Customer Care(SM), 93.7% to 85.3%. In Customer Fulfillment(sm), INFONXX scored highest (95.0%) in this segment. The margin of error is 2.5%. INFONXX also led the segment in the category of Customer Care(SM) with a rating of 97.0%, up from 96.3% in the previous study. INFONXX also led the third party providers, as well as the industry, in Passed Calls with a rating of 92.3%, an increase over 89.7% in the Fall, 2005 study. The 3rd Party Passed Call average was 87.7%.

New Leader Among IXCs

MCI again led the IXCs in Customer Fulfillment(sm)(94.7%). Qwest led this segment in Customer Care(SM)(97.7%) and Passed Calls (90.0%).

Database Accuracy

The "gold standard" for DA data has long been the OLECs (those originating local exchange carriers who actually provide dial tone and have the best source of data), but creeping changes in the industry present a challenge to the OLECs as they strive to maintain their database accuracy. These include CLEC presence and fewer reciprocal arrangements with smaller LECs and Independent companies.

For this Index, the average accuracy of the OLEC databases was down from 98.3% in the Fall, 2005 study to 96%. The margin of error is 3.0%.

Speech Recognition Service Improves in Customer Care(SM)

Companies providing service that uses speech recognition have worked hard to mitigate the Customer Care(SM) issues experienced at deployment. Their Care average increased significantly in this latest Index, up to 83.7% from a previous 75.3%.

However, their Customer Fulfillment(SM) was down from 94.3% last time to 91.7% this time due to an increase in the number of inaccurate reports given by both the speech recognition systems and the operators (in partially automated calls that default to the operator).

Custom Sample Developed

To determine these results, The Paisley Group developed a statistically valid test sample that included business, residential and government requests. The sample included a number of new listings and listings with an expected "no find" result. Geographical distribution, call type and customer type were factored in to produce a test sample that is reflective of real-life directory assistance calling patterns and customer requests.

The Paisley Group's National Directory Assistance Performance Index is the only industry report that is based upon a definitive, DA-specific quality measurement process. It provides companies that offer directory assistance services with specific competitive intelligence to track and gauge their performance. In addition to the U.S. Index, The Paisley Group also publishes Indexes for Canada, the U.K and France.

The Paisley Group Ltd. is the leading independent auditor of directory assistance, toll assistance and relay services and 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 its finger on the pulse of the telecom industry as it relates to voice delivered services. The company designs robust measurement models and provides meaningful and statistically significant data to assist clients and the industry at large in maintaining excellence in DA quality at all levels.

For additional information, contact Meg MacRae, Managing Partner, The Paisley Group, 4482 Tallyrand Circle, Castle Rock CO 80104, 303-688-1666, [e-mail]. .