| (a) Applicability. This section establishes service
objectives for a dominant certificated telecommunications utility
(DCTU), as applicable. A deregulated company that holds a certificate
of operating authority or a transitioning company in a market that
is deregulated, is exempt from complying with the retail quality of
service standards and reporting requirements in this section.
(1) This section outlines performance benchmark levels
for each exchange. If service quality falls below the applicable performance
benchmark for an exchange, that indicates a need for the utility to
investigate, take appropriate corrective action, and provide a report
of such action to the commission.
(2) The objective service levels are based on monthly
averages, except for dial service and transmission requirements, which
are based on specific samples. DCTUs must make measurements to determine
the level of service quality for each item included in this section.
(3) Upon commission request, a DCTU must provide the
commission with the measurements and summaries for any of the service
or performance benchmarks provided by this section. Records of these
measurements and summaries must be retained by the DCTU as specified
by the commission.
(4) For purposes of this section, an "answer" means
that the operator, interactive voice system, or representative, is
ready to render assistance or ready to accept information necessary
to process the call. An acknowledgment that the customer is waiting
on the line does not constitute an answer.
(b) Each DCTU must comply with the service quality
objectives established below in providing the basic telecommunications
service to its end-use customers and must file its service quality
performance report on a quarterly basis. The report must include its
monthly performance for each category of performance objectives and
provide a summary of its corrective action plan for each exchange
in which the performance falls below the benchmark. Additionally,
the corrective action plan must include, at a minimum, details outlining
how the necessary improvements will be implemented within three months
from the filing of the service quality performance report and will
result in performance at or above the applicable benchmark.
(1) Installation of service. Unless otherwise provided
by the commission:
(A) Ninety-five percent of the DCTU's service orders
for installing primary service must be completed within five working
days, excluding those orders where a later date was specifically requested
by the customer. Performance Benchmark Applicable for Corrective Action:
If the performance is below 95% in any exchange area for a period
of three consecutive months, the DCTU must provide a detailed corrective
action plan for such an exchange or wire center.
(B) Ninety percent of the DCTU's service orders for
regular service installations must be completed within five working
days, excluding those orders where a later date was specifically requested
by the customer. This includes orders for any primary service, installation,
move, change, or other service, except for any complex service. Performance
Benchmark for Corrective Action: If the performance is below 90% in
any exchange area for a period of three consecutive months the DCTU
must provide a detailed corrective action plan for such an exchange
or wire center.
(C) Ninety-nine percent of the DCTU's service orders
for service installations must be completed within 30 days. Performance
Benchmark for Corrective Action: If the performance is below 99% in
any exchange area for a period of three consecutive months, the DCTU
must provide a detailed corrective action plan for such an exchange
or wire center.
(D) One-hundred percent of the DCTU's service orders
for service installations must be completed within 90 days.
(E) Each DCTU must establish and maintain installation
time commitment guidelines for the various complex services contained
in the DCTU's tariff. Those guidelines should be available for public
review and should be applied in a nondiscriminatory manner.
(F) The installation interval measurements outlined
in subparagraphs (A) - (D) and (H) of this paragraph must commence
by either the date of application or the date on which the applicant
qualifies for service, whichever is later.
(G) The DCTU must provide to the customer a commitment
date on which the requested installation or change will be made. If
a customer requests that the installation or change be performed on
a regular working day later than the date proposed by the DCTU, then
the customer's requested date will be the commitment date. If a premises
visit is required, the DCTU must schedule an appointment period with
the customer for the morning or afternoon, not to exceed a four hour
time period, on the commitment date. If the DCTU is unable to keep
the appointment, the DCTU must attempt to notify the customer by a
telephone call and schedule a new appointment. If unable to gain access
to the customer's premises during the scheduled appointment period,
the DCTU's carrier representative must leave a notice at the customer's
premises advising the customer how to reschedule the work.
(H) Ninety percent of the DCTU's commitments to customers
for the date of installation of service orders must be met, excepting
customer-caused delays. Performance Benchmark Applicable for Corrective
Action: If the performance is below 90% in any exchange area for a
period of three consecutive months, the DCTU must submit a list of
missed commitments to the commission and provide a detailed corrective
action plan for such an exchange or wire center.
(I) The installation interval and commitment requirements
of subparagraphs (A) - (D) and (H) of this paragraph do not include
service orders either to disconnect service or to make only record
changes on a customer's account.
(J) A held regrade order means an order not filled
within 30 days after the customer has submitted an application for
a different grade of service, except where the customer requests a
later date. In the event of the DCTU's inability to so fill such an
order, the customer must be advised and told when the DCTU can fulfill
the order. The number of held regrade orders must not exceed 1.0%
of the total number of customer access lines served.
(2) Operator-handled calls. For each exchange, a DCTU
must, on a monthly basis, maintain adequate personnel to provide an
average operator answering performance as follows:
(A) Eighty-five percent of toll and assistance operator
calls answered within ten seconds, or average answer time must not
exceed 3.3 seconds. Benchmark for Corrective Action: If the performance
is either below 85% within ten seconds or if the average exceeds 3.3
seconds at any answering location in any given month, the DCTU must
provide a detailed corrective action plan for such an exchange or
wire center.
(B) Ninety percent of repair service calls must be
answered within 20 seconds or average answer time must not exceed
5.9 seconds. Benchmark for Corrective Action: If the performance is
below 90% within 20 seconds or the average answer time exceeds 5.9
seconds at any answering location for a period of five days within
any given month, the DCTU must provide a detailed corrective action
plan for such an exchange or wire center.
(C) Eighty-five percent of directory assistance calls
must be answered within ten seconds or the average answer time must
not exceed 5.9 seconds. Benchmark for Corrective Action: If the performance
is either below 85% within ten seconds or if the average answer time
exceeds 5.9 seconds at any answering location in any given month,
the DCTU must provide a detailed corrective action plan for such an
exchange or wire center.
(D) DCTUs may measure answer time on a toll center
or operating unit basis as an alternative to measuring answer time
in each exchange unless specifically requested by the commission.
(3) Local dial service. Sufficient central office capacity
and equipment must be utilized to meet the following requirements:
(A) dial tone within three seconds on 98% of calls.
For record-keeping and reporting purposes, 96% in three seconds during
average busy season or busy hour complies with this requirement;
(B) completion of 98% of calls originating and terminating
within the same central office building (intraoffice calls) without
encountering network congestion or blockage, or equipment irregularities;
(C) for every switch that serves a customer, the availability
factor for stored program controlled digital and analog switching
facilities must be 99.99%, or the total unscheduled outage for each
switch must not exceed 53 minutes per year.
(D) For any exchange that falls below the established
performance objective level, a report detailing the cause and proposed
corrective action for the local dial service measures must be submitted
to the commission.
(4) Local interoffice dial service.
Cont'd... |
