The forms associated with these instructions are contained in a Microsoft Excel workbook.  They are for reporting data under the Vermont Service Quality Performance Index mandated by the Vermont Public Service Board in Docket 5903. Three versions are included: the blank spreadsheet; the form with all formulas displayed; and an example of a completed form (for a fictitious company) reporting the last quarter of 1999.
 

Who must report: All telecommunications carriers doing business in Vermont, except wireless.⁽¹⁾
 

Reporting period: Carriers must compile data monthly and report quarterly. Reports should be submitted to the Board and the Department by the end of the month following the quarter being reported.
 

How to submit reports: Reports may be transmitted to DPS electronically in the form of an Excel spreadsheet attached to an e-mail. Address e-mail to qualdesk@state.vt.us. By mail, send reports to: Retail Service Quality, Department of Public Service, 112 State Street, Drawer 20, Montpelier, VT 05620. Reports must also submitted to the Vermont Public Service Board, 112 State Street, Drawer 20, Montpelier, VT 05620.
 

How to obtain the spreadsheet in electronic form (Excel file): The Excel speadsheets may be downloaded as a ZIP file from the DPS web site. Go to Information for Industry and select the appropriate link or click here. Alternatively, e-mail qualdesk@state.vt.us to request a copy of the spreadsheets via e-mail attachment (in Microsoft Excel 97 format).
 

Definition of performance areas: The following section contains definitions of each performance area, including how each should be calculated. Baselines and Action Levels are also listed. A Baseline is the level of annual performance that must be achieved. If they perform below the baseline, companies may be penalized (unless they receive waivers). Action Levels (a weaker standard than Baselines) are levels that trigger, if reached in any quarter or in any five months within a calendar year, a requirement for a full explanation and corrective action plan (including schedule) to be submitted to the Board.
 

1. Network Trouble Report Rate (NTRR): This standard measures customer reported troubles of regulated services to their provider of service. It includes service-affecting troubles caused by telephone plant conditions and central office conditions. The NTRR does not include reports relating to customer premise equipment, special services, interexchange carrier access services, unregulated services and subsequent reports on an existing trouble. Each company calculates the NTRR by dividing the total number of troubles by the total number of the company's Vermont access lines, then multiplying the result by 100. The Network Trouble Report Rate data is compiled monthly by company with results reported quarterly to the Public Service Board and the Department.

 

ACTION LEVEL REPORT: The NTRR shall not exceed 6 troubles per 100 access lines.
 

1. % Troubles Cleared Within 24 hours Residence and Business - Out of Service: This standard measures the percentage of Vermont business and residence exchange out-of-service troubles which are repaired within 24 hours from time of receipt of the initial trouble report from the company's retail end user customer. Companies will be required to report (but will not be measured on) residential and business out-of-service troubles by each separate business class. The 24-hour period includes weekends and holidays. The percentage does not include reports relating to customer premise equipment, special services,⁽²⁾ interexchange carrier access services and unregulated services. The data is compiled monthly by company and shall be reported quarterly to the Public Service Board and the Department.

 

ACTION LEVEL REPORT: During year one of this service quality plan, companies shall repair no less than 50% of their reported troubles within 24 hours. The standard during year two shall be 55%, and shall be 60% for every subsequent year.
 

3. Call Answer Time - Residence: This standard measures the percentage of calls answered within 20 seconds to the residential customer service and repair call centers. For companies that do not utilize an automated attendant, the timing commences upon the first audible ring and ends when the customer reaches a live attendant. For company telephone numbers answered by an automated attendant, the timing begins when the customer chooses an option presented by the automated attendant system and ends when the customer enters into the first selected option. The data is compiled monthly by company and reported quarterly to the Public Service Board and the Department. Companies with fewer than 10,000 Vermont access lines and who do not utilize an automated call administration system and/or a computerized call answering record keeping system shall be exempt from this measure. Companies utilizing a combined residence and business call center and with no answer time distinction between the service classes will provide a combined measure.
 

BASELINE STANDARD: Companies subject to this measure shall answer no less than 75% of calls to their residential customer service and repair call centers, or their combined residence and business call centers, whichever is applicable, within 20 seconds.
 

ACTION LEVEL REPORT: Companies subject to this measure shall answer no less than 60% of calls to their residential customer service and repair call centers, or their combined residence and business call centers, whichever is applicable, within 20 seconds.
 

4. Installation Appointments Met - Residence: This standard measures the percentage of customer initiated residence service requests for new, additional or transferred services that are completed on or before the original customer-negotiated appointment date. An appointment is considered missed if the service order work has not been fully completed by midnight of the appointment date due to company reasons. Service orders subject to this measurement include service requests for the initial connection of service as well as changes to the customer's existing service, (e.g., to add a feature such as Call Waiting). The missed appointment data is compiled on a monthly basis by company, and reported quarterly to the Public Service Board and the Department.
 

BASELINE STANDARD: Companies shall meet no less than 90% of their installation appointments on or before the original customer-negotiated appointment date.
 

ACTION LEVEL REPORT: Companies shall meet no less than 75% of their installation appointments on or before the original customer-negotiated appointment date.
 

1. Installation Appointments Met - Business: This standard measures the percentage of customer-initiated simple business (up to 6 lines) service requests for new, additional or transferred services that are completed on or before the original customer-negotiated appointment date. An appointment is considered missed if the service order work has not been fully completed by midnight of the appointment date due to company reasons. Service orders subject to this measurement include service requests for the initial connect/on of service as well as changes to the customer's existing service, (e.g., to add a feature such as Call Waiting). The missed appointment data is compiled on a monthly basis by company, and reported quarterly to the Public Service Board and the Department.

 

ACTION LEVEL REPORT: Companies shall meet no less than 75% of their installation appointments on or before the original customer-negotiated appointment date.
 

1. Average Delay Days for Missed Appointments - Company Reasons - Residence: Average Delay Days for Missed Appointments - Company Reasons measures the number of business days elapsed between the Original appointment negotiated with residential customers and the completion date of a service order initiated by the customer when the original appointment is missed due to conditions within the control of the company ("Company Reasons"). To calculate average delay days, the number of delay days is divided by the number of missed orders caused by Company Reasons. The average delay days data is compiled monthly and reported quarterly to the Board and the Department. A line extension is included in this measurement only if all company and customer requirements for the line extension are met and the installation appointment date is negotiated and established between the company and the customer. Requests to regrade a customer from multi-party to single-party service are excluded from this measure.

 

BASELINE STANDARD: The average delay days for missed appointments for a company subject to this measure shall not exceed 10 days.
 

ACTION LEVEL REPORT: The average delay days for missed appointments for a company subject to this measure shall not exceed 15 days.
 

1. Average Delay Days for Missed Appointments - Company Reasons - Business: This standard measures the number of business days elapsed between the original appointment negotiated with business customers and the completion date of a service order initiated by the customer when the original appointment is missed due to Company Reasons. To calculate average delay days, the number of delay days is divided by the number of missed orders caused by Company Reasons. The average delay days data is compiled monthly and reported quarterly to the Board and the Department. A line extension is included in this measurement only if all company and customer requirements for the line extension are met and the installation appointment date is negotiated and established between the company and the customer. Requests to regrade a customer from multi-party to single-party service are excluded from this measure.

 

BASELINE STANDARD: The average delay days for missed appointments for a company subject to this measure shall not exceed 10 days.
 

ACTION LEVEL REPORT: The average delay days for missed appointments for a company subject to this measure shall not exceed 15 days.
 

1. Network Reliability: The Network Reliability category records major service failures that impact a significant number of customers as a result of a problem in one or more of the areas below. Companies are required to report the data defined therein. There is no baseline standard attached to this measure.

 

8b Interoffice Facility Failure: Interoffice call blockage impacting 30,000 access lines, 10% of a company's total Vermont access lines, whichever is less, for 30 minutes or more. Customers may have dial tone but be unable to access toll services.
 

8c Signaling System Failure: Loss of interoffice calling capability from one host central office to another as a result of a Signaling System 7 (SS7) duplex failure for more than 30 minutes.
 

Network failures meeting one or more of the above criteria will be reported to the Department and the Board as soon as possible after the failure, but in no circumstances later than 24 hours after the failure. Failures of a less serious nature, while not considered Network Reliability failures, should be reported to the Department as soon a practical for informational purposes.
 

Resellers and companies providing service utilizing unbundled elements from one or more underlying carriers shall report to the Department and the Board any failure occurring within the network they utilize. The cause for the failure will be determined and the responsible carrier identified.
 

1. Special Services: Special Services represents the installation and repair of the following Intra State Services: 56 kbps or DSO circuits; 1.544 mbps or T1/DS1 circuits; and channelized DS1 facilities capable of 24/56 kbps. Special services will be tracked and reported as follows:

 

9b Mean Time to Restore: This standard measures the average time required to return a failed device, system or circuit to service. It is measured from the receipt of the initial trouble report to the completion of the repair. The measurement excludes troubles resulting from end-user premises equipment.
 

There is no baseline standard for special services. Companies are required to track the measurements and report them annually to the Department and the Board. The first special services report will occur with the first quarterly reports following the implementation of this plan. Thereafter, special services reports shall be made on an annual basis. For companies with fewer than 25 special services orders per month, special services provisioning results will be included in the installation appointment measurement and repair results will be included in the percentage troubles cleared within 24 hours measurement.
 

Explanation of the reporting form formulas:
 

• In Column 1, Performance areas are numbered consistent with the definitions above. Note that Performances Areas 2, 8 and 9 are multi-part measures.

 
• If a performance area does not apply to your company, please leave it blank and explain in the section provided on page 2 why you are exempt.

 
• The report requires submission of the data necessary to perform each calculation, not merely the results of the calculation.⁽³⁾ The Service Quality Index requires that quarterly results be based on the sum of raw data, rather than an average of averages.

 
• In order to sum raw data, you will notice that within each performance area the quarterly results are derived by adding each line across columns C, D and E, and calculating an average from the sums. For example, in Calls Answered in 20 Seconds--Residence (area 5) monthly performance for October will be calculated by dividing C34 by C35, but quarterly performance is calculated by dividing the sum of C34, D34 and E34 by the sum of C35, D35 and E35.

 
• Annual results, again using Calls Answered in 20 Seconds as an example, will be calculated in the same manner, by dividing the sum of F34, G34, H34 and I34 by the sum of F35, G35, H35 and I35. In this way, annual results remain based on the sum of raw data, rather than an average of averages.

 
• In order to comply with the Board's order requiring twelve-month rolling averages within the framework of quarterly reporting, each quarter, data from the previous three quarters' reports will be moved one column to the right. Thus the quarterly data from October will move from column F to column G in January, to H in April, to I in July and off the form the next October. This approach means that the window through which the data are being viewed is based on quarters rather than months. The three oldest months drop out of the annual calculation with each report rather than only one at a time. Although this is inconsistent with measurement on a rolling monthly average basis, that reporting would be impossibly complex if companies were asked to calculate true rolling annual average using 12 months of data in each quarterly report. Since companies will have submitted monthly data for every month, all parties will be able to calculate a true rolling monthly average if performance questions arise.

Notes

2. See exception under Special Services Performance Area definition

3. This is true for all measures except Network Reliability (area 8) and Special Services: Mean Time to Repair.