U S WEST `Privacy' Phone Features Exceed Customer Expectations, Earn 2000 Frost & Sullivan Market Engineering Customer Focus Award.Business Editors & High-Tech Writers SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 29, 2000 The market for new voice phone services is booming, with more and more customers demanding options for privacy and control over incoming calls. One company, U S WEST (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :USW USW Und So Weiter (German: and so on) USW Undersea Warfare USW United Steel Workers USW US Wheat Associates USW Ultrasonic Welding USW Ultra Short Wave USW US West Telecommunications (stock symbol) ), a leading broadband and communications service provider A Communications Service Provider or CSP is a company that transports information electronically. The term encompasses public and private companies in the wireline, wireless, Internet, cable, satellite, and managed services businesses. , is not just meeting those demands, but exceeding them. In fact, Frost & Sullivan, an international marketing consulting firm Noun 1. consulting firm - a firm of experts providing professional advice to an organization for a fee consulting company business firm, firm, house - the members of a business organization that owns or operates one or more establishments; "he worked for a , today announces the selection of U S WEST as the recipient of the 2000 Frost & Sullivan Market Engineering Customer Focus Award for exhibiting superior knowledge of its customers' needs and providing additional voice services packages that satisfy them. The company added to its product line of voice services two new features, No Solicitation(tm) and Caller ID A telephone company service that sends the caller's telephone number between the first and second ring of the call. If the calling number is not blocked, the calling number is displayed on the handset or base station of the called party. with Privacy +(sm), in response to the growing needs of its residential customers. With more than 300,000 subscribers in the first 12 months of their release, these products have proven to be extremely popular among U S WEST's 14-state customer base. "U S WEST continues to implement its customer focus strategy by introducing features that customers are expecting and by offering various pricing plans and packages that accommodate customers' needs," says Rajiv Kumar, Director of Research at Frost & Sullivan. "U S WEST subscribers are receiving features at an affordable price that simplify and improve their lives." "We're quite proud of this award, particularly because both services evolved from research in which customers themselves told us they want to have control over who comes into their home via the telephone," says Randy Meissner, U S WEST's vice president of Consumer Marketing. "Privacy is important to all of us, and these features give customers the privacy they want when they want it." No Solicitation is a message designed to eliminate telemarketing calls before the telephone rings. Callers hear a recorded message that says the person they are trying to reach does not accept solicitation calls. The message instructs telemarketers to place the customer on their "do not call" list and hang up, while other callers remain on the line or press 1 to be connected. This product eliminates the number of sales calls because telemarketers are required by Federal rules to honor "do not call" requests by customers. The other feature, Caller ID with Privacy +, is a pre-recorded greeting asking those with private or unidentified numbers to record their name to allow their call to go through. In addition, phone calls from blocked numbers can be either unblocked by dialing 1 or identified on a voice recording after dialing 2. Caller ID with Privacy + grants customers the choice of accepting or rejecting phone calls. After receiving customer feedback from the product launch, U S WEST added two improvements to this feature. On/Off capability gives customers the opportunity to activate and deactivate de·ac·ti·vate tr.v. de·ac·ti·vat·ed, de·ac·ti·vat·ing, de·ac·ti·vates 1. To render inactive or ineffective. 2. To inhibit, block, or disrupt the action of (an enzyme or other biological agent). 3. the service as needed as needed prn. See prn order. , while Privileged Caller Code allows friends, family or co-workers to bypass the Privacy + system all together by punching in Punching in refers to a recording technique used on early multitrack recordings whereby a portion of the performance was overdubbed onto a previously recorded tape, usually overwriting any sound that had previously been on the track used. the customer's four-digit code. U S WEST customers who have used these products cite their effectiveness at preventing bothersome and unwanted sales calls and ensuring peaceful evenings at home. In addition, with these services in place, a customer can be sure it is a family member or friend calling. U S WEST offers additional enhanced voice services, such as Do Not Disturb Do not disturb usually referes to a status where the subject prefers to be left in solitary. It can also mean the following:
ValueChoice offers customers a residential line and seven popular calling features for $23.95 a month in most states, while CustomChoice allows subscribers to design a customized package that includes a local access line and seventeen popular calling features for $29.95 a month. The variety of product packages and services offered by U S WEST demonstrate its excellent leadership in customer focus. About U S WEST U S WEST (NYSE:USW) is a leading broadband and communications service provider, with more than $13 billion in annual revenues. U S WEST leads the industry in deploying next-generation broadband ADSL See DSL. ADSL - Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line and VDSL See DSL. VDSL - Very high bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line Internet access See how to access the Internet. and data/video services; offers the nation's first and only "one-number" advanced wireless service that integrates customers' home or business phones with their wireless PCS (1) (Personal Communications Services) Refers to wireless services that emerged after the U.S. government auctioned commercial licenses in 1994 and 1995. This radio spectrum in the 1. ; and provides multimedia advertising services, including Internet & print directories. The company has more than 2 million miles of deployed fiber in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , provides local exchange services to more than 25 million customers in 14 states, and provides wireless services to more than 500,000 customers and data services to more than 800,000 customers nationally. U S WEST is merging with Qwest Communications International Inc. The combination, to be named Qwest Communications International Inc., will create a communications powerhouse with a market capitalization Market Capitalization A measure of a public company's size. Market capitalization is the total dollar value of all outstanding shares. It's calculated by multiplying the number of shares times the current market price. This term is often referred to as market cap. of more than $70 billion, headquartered in Denver and employing about 64,000 people worldwide. U S WEST and Qwest will unite the nation's most innovative local, wireless and broadband communications firm with one of the world's most advanced fiber-optic networks and broadband Internet providers. Together, the two firms will have more than 3 million miles of deployed fiber in the United States and worldwide, 29 million customers and a local network that is 99.2 percent digitally switched. For more information about U S WEST, go to http://www.uswest.com. About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan, an international marketing consulting and training firm, presents Market Engineering Awards to companies that demonstrate the diligence, perseverance, and dedication required to develop a successful business plan and excel in the increasingly competitive global marketplace. Founded in 1961, Frost & Sullivan is recognized as a global marketing research and solution leader, with offices located worldwide: Silicon Valley, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , San Antonio, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Beijing, Tokyo, Singapore, Mumbai. For additional information, please visit the Frost & Sullivan Web Site at http://www.frost.com. |
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