FairPoint says it has improved customer response times

FairPoint believes that it's starting to turn a corner in resolving ongoing customer issues with the lines it bought off of Verizon last year. In a report to Vermont regulators, the service provider said that it has cut service waiting times and the amount of customers who decide to hang up before they get frustrated and disconnect.

FairPoint's filing with the Vermont Public Service Board, which had previously launched an investigation on whether it should let the beleaguered service provider continue operating in its state, stated that the average waiting time for calls made to its Consumer Call Center have been reduced to 9 seconds, while 89 percent are being answered in 20 seconds. The service provider claims that these times are faster than any other time since it took over Verizon's New England phone lines in February.

Of course, company president Peter Nixon painted an upbeat outlook in testimony filed with the Vermont Public Service Board. "In short, FairPoint believes that it has made, and continues to make, substantial progress to improve its systems and processes that will result in continued customer service improvements to levels which will exceed those prior to cutover," said Nixon, in testimony submitted to the board.

Earlier this month, FairPoint's Chairman and CEO David Hauser, Nixon and Vice President of Business Solutions Vicky Weatherwax testified in a joint hearing in Derry, N.H., to try to get a resolution to its ongoing problems. During the meeting, FairPoint's executive team said that it would need another two months to develop a plan to rectify its customer service, billing and wholesale network order issues.

For more:
- CED via Associated Press has this article

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