J.D. Power and Associates Reports: Network Solutions Recognized for Providing an Outstanding Customer Service Experience for a Second Consecutive Year

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., Jan. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Network Solutions has been recognized for call center operation customer satisfaction excellence for a second consecutive year under the J.D. Power and Associates Certified Call Center Program(SM). This distinction acknowledges a strong commitment from Network Solutions' call center operations to provide an outstanding customer service experience.

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Network Solutions call center operations in Drums, Pa., handles 1.2 million telephone, e-mail and fax inquiries from customers per year. To become certified, the call center operations successfully passed a detailed audit of their recruiting, training, employee incentives, management roles and responsibilities, and quality assurance capabilities. As part of its evaluation, J.D. Power and Associates conducted a random survey of customers who recently contacted Network Solutions.

"This re-certification demonstrates Network Solutions' strong commitment to outstanding customer service, which is particularly evident by the high levels of satisfaction customers have with the courtesy, knowledge and concern exhibited by the call center representatives," said Jonathan Brookner, director of the telecommunications practice at J.D. Power and Associates. "Customers of Network Solutions were also particularly satisfied with the convenient hours of operation, which make it easier to get through to a representative and help customer problems to be resolved in a timely fashion."

For certification status, a call center must also perform within the top 20 percent of customer service, which is based on benchmarks established in J.D. Power and Associates' cross-industry customer satisfaction research. The criteria used include evaluation of: courtesy; knowledge; concern for the customer; usefulness of the information provided; convenience of operating hours; ease of reaching a representative; and timely resolution.

"Achieving call center certification again in 2007 under the J.D. Power and Associates program shows how dedicated each and every one of our call center employees is to providing an outstanding customer service experience," said Shelley Rawlings, senior vice president of sales and service at Network Solutions.

"Network Solutions is extremely dedicated to providing every one of our customers with the attention and support that they need in order to meet their online goals," said Champ Mitchell, chairman and CEO of Network Solutions. "The honor of receiving the Certified Call Center award from J.D. Power and Associates for two consecutive years shows that we are meeting our customer's needs, and providing the excellent customer service that we pride ourselves on."

The Call Center Certification Program was launched by J.D. Power and Associates in 2004 to evaluate overall customer satisfaction with call centers and to help call centers in various industries increase their efficiency and effectiveness by establishing best practices for handling service calls.

There are more than 75,000 call centers in North America and an estimated 125,000 worldwide that help customers with product and service questions across a multitude of industries, ranging from credit cards, financial services, investment services, utilities, service warranty and insurance to telecommunications, healthcare and office products.

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, consulting, 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 including 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 2005 were $6.0 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/.

Media Relations Contacts: John Tews Syvetril Perryman J.D. Power and Associates J.D. Power and Associates Troy, Mich. Westlake Village, Calif. (248) 312-4119 (805) 418-8103 john.tews@jdpa.com syvetril.perryman@jdpa.com Susan Wade Manager, Media Relations Network Solutions Herndon, Virginia (703) 668-5057 swade@networksolutions.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