(A) Except as otherwise provided in the franchise agreement, grantee shall maintain the necessary facilities, equipment and personnel to comply with the following consumer protection and service standards under normal conditions of operation:
(1) Sufficient toll-free telephone line capacity during normal business hours to assure that telephone calls shall be answered by a customer service representative or an automated response unit (ARU) before the fifth ring. If the call is answered by an ARU, the initial message provided by the ARU shall include an option to connect to a customer service representative rather than using the automated features of the system. Telephone answer time by a customer service representative, including wait time, shall not exceed 30 seconds from when the connection is made, or, if an ARU is utilized, 30 seconds from the selection of the option for connecting to a customer service representative. Callers needing to be transferred shall not be required to wait more than 30 seconds before being connected to the appropriate grantee customer service representative. Under normal operating conditions, a caller shall receive a busy signal less than three percent of the time.
(2) Emergency toll free telephone line capacity on a 24 hour basis, including weekends and holidays. After normal business hours, the telephone calls may be answered by a service or an automated response system, including an answering machine. Calls received after normal business hours must be responded to by a trained company representative on the next business day.
(3) A conveniently located local business and service and/or payment office open during normal business hours at least eight hours daily, and at least four hours weekly on evenings or weekends, and adequately staffed to accept subscriber payments and respond to service requests and complaints.
(4) An emergency system maintenance and repair staff, capable of responding to and repairing major system malfunction on a 24 hour per day basis.
(5) An installation staff, capable of installing service to any subscriber requiring a standard installation within seven days after receipt of a request, in all areas where trunk and feeder cable have been activated. "Standard installations" shall be those that are located up to 125 feet from the existing distribution system, unless otherwise defined in any franchise agreement.
(6) Grantee shall schedule, within a specified four hour time period during normal business hours, all appointments with subscribers for installation of service, service calls and other activities at the subscriber location, unless a subscriber desires a larger appointment time frame. Grantee may schedule installation and service calls outside of normal business hours for the express convenience of the customer. Grantee shall not cancel an appointment with a customer after the close of business on the business day prior to the scheduled appointment. If a grantee representative is running late for an appointment with a customer and will not be able to keep the appointment as scheduled, the customer shall be contacted and the appointment rescheduled, as necessary, at a time which is convenient for the customer.
(B) The standards of divisions (A)(1) and (A)(2) above shall be met not less than 90% of the time measured on a quarterly basis. The standards of divisions (A)(4)-(A)(6) above shall be met not less than 95% of the time as measured on a quarterly basis.
(C) Grantee shall not be required to acquire equipment or perform surveys to measure compliance with the telephone answering standards above unless a historical record of complaints indicates a clear failure to comply.
(Ord. 912, passed 6-8-00)