(A) In order to facilitate the needs of the local customers, and MCS provider shall maintain a fully operational, full service customer service office which is both within the city, and easily accessible to customers. No change in location shall be made without the express written approval of the Council/approving authority.
(B) The customer service office shall be open at least 50 hours per week (exclusive of holidays).
(C) Within the 50 hours per week that a customer service office must be open, an MCS provider must provide office hours either on at least two evenings (after 5:00 p.m.), or on Saturdays and/or Sundays (if not prohibited by state law). The office must remain open and fully operational from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily, Monday through Friday.
(D) The customer service office should have an adequate and knowledgeable staff in order to handle the vast majority of customer services inquiries, specifically including, but not limited to, billing inquiries, refunds, service outages, equipment service and repair, payment of bills and other charges.
(E) An MCS provider may install at its customer service office an after hours depository in order to collect invoice payments and receive requests for service appointments (including connections, and disconnections) after scheduled office hours.
(F) An MCS provider may install an automated (audio, or video) customer assistance device or machine which can handle various types of customer inquiries, but such automated device shall be provided in addition to personal, live service outlined in this section.
(G) Neither the presence of an after hours depository or automated customer service device relieves an MCS provider from maintaining the minimal required number of office hours, or adequate CSR staff to handle the majority of service inquiries.
(H) At least annually, any non-exempt MCS provider shall certify to the Council/franchising authority that each customer service representative (CSR) has taken and passed and MCS provider-implemented course designed to trains CSRs to handle their jobs in a courteous, efficient, and responsive manner.
(I) An MCS provider shall maintain at least one toll-free and/or local telephone number to accommodate normal business inquiries.
(J) An MCS provider shall maintain a separate 24 hour toll-free or local telephone number to facilitate calls concerning repair of equipment and extended interruption of service. During any hours that the customer service office is open, the MCS provider must have or make available in-house personnel to address a customer's inquiries. During other hours, a telephone may be manned by an automatic answering device, provided that the use of an answering device or answering service still results in an initial phone call by the MCS provider within 60 minutes, in order to at least determine the extent of the outage. The MCS provider shall not be required to make in-person telephone contacts to subscribers at a rate which exceeds 60 calls per hour, and shall not be required to make such calls between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.
(K) A non-exempt MCS provider shall have adequate staff and/or extension lines in order to handle calls to the general information number to the following specifications:
(1) 90% of all customer calls received in a year shall be answered within three minutes by a representative of the MCS provider, or by a device that is capable of complaint/inquiry resolution; and
(2) The rate of abandoned calls shall be less than 5% over a year's period of time. Abandoned calls shall in no event be deemed to include calls in which the caller hangs up within 45 seconds of making the call.
(L) With respect to the specifications listed in division (K) of this section, it shall be the MCS provider's responsibility to certify monthly to the Council/franchising authority that the affected MCS provider is meeting the minimal specifications.
(Ord. 4-1994-20, passed 4-12-94)