NYNEX becomes first regional communications company to offer customers monthly bill in Spanish

NEW YORK, NY -- NYNEX has become the first regional communications company in the United States to offer its residential customers the opportunity to receive their monthly bills in Spanish.

During September, the company completed the rollout of its Spanish bill to some 140,000 customers in New York State who previously had indicated their preference to receive customer information in their native language.

The offer followed several months of research with some 30,000 customers in the New York City area earlier this year.

"NYNEX has a keen understanding of the unique and challenging communications requirements of all New Yorkers," said Carlos Santiago, NYNEX managing director for Ethnic and Premium Markets. "Introduction of a Spanish bill is clear indication that NYNEX -- New York's communications company -- takes the innovative and relevant measures necessary to make its' customers lives easier and more rewarding."

Santiago pointed out that customer satisfaction was the driving force behind the innovative project. "Our Spanish-speaking customers told us this is an important issue for them, and we responded. It's an example of NYNEX helping its fellow New Yorkers," he said.

NYNEX also has been working with several long distance carriers to provide their information in Spanish.

In the development of the bill, NYNEX needed to accurately translate some 4,000 phrases for charges. An added concern was that Spanish translations often use approximately 25 percent more characters than English, important given the limited printing space on a bill. In addition to the bill now printed in Spanish, both mailing and return envelopes also are printed in Spanish.

To receive their NYNEX bill in Spanish, customers should call their local business office.

The new bill is just one of a host of services NYNEX provides to its Spanish-speaking customers. (See related information at end of this release.)

For NYNEX, the Spanish bill is another first in bill printing advances. NYNEX was the first regional communications company to print bills using both sides of the bill paper. NYNEX also was the first to offer the bill in Braille and enlarged print for visually impaired customers.

NYNEX ACTIVITIES FOR SPANISH-SPEAKING CUSTOMERS

Multi-Lingual Center -- This 25-year-old service center, formerly known as La Telefonica, has 230 representatives from every Latin-American country and Spain, providing Spanish-speaking customers with quality sales and customer service (orders and billing) in their preferred language.

Direct Marketing Center -- NYNEX has staffed a bi-lingual center with 30 reps within the sales organization dedicated to order processing from inbound and outbound telemarketing.

1-800-555-HOLA -- Currently serving customers in the Bronx only, this service provides Spanish-language directory assistance. Future expansion plans are under development.

La Conexion -- This two-year-old sales office, currently staffed by 12 representatives, provides Spanish-language sales and customer service support to New York metro area small business customers. La Conexion is in a trial phase focusing on customers based in the Bronx and northern Manhattan.

Public Offices -- Several NYNEX public offices are located within largely ethnic neighborhoods. The bi-lingual reps at these offices facilitate NYNEX bill payment for the 40 percent of Hispanic customers who pay their bills in person, as well as handle order processing and billing inquiries.

Spanish Yellow Pages -- The 10-year-old Spanish Yellow Pages, covering the entire New York metro area, are distributed to approximately a half-million customers.

Other -- NYNEX has introduced prompts in Spanish for Call Answering service in New England and for VoiceDialing throughout the Northeast. Several of the company's sales agents conduct inbound and outbound telemarketing in Spanish. Also, product brochures, White Pages calling guides, and company information are available in Spanish.

NYNEX is a global communications and media company that provides a full range of services in the northeastern United States and high-growth markets around the world, including the United Kingdom, Thailand, Gibraltar, Greece, Indonesia, the Philippines, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

The Corporation is a leader in the telecommunications, wireless communications, cable television, directory publishing and entertainment and information services.