Verizon Business Boosts End-User Help Desk Capabilities With New Support Center

TULSA, Okla.  - Verizon Business is opening a new customer service and support center here to accommodate growing customer demand for its end-user help desk services.  The new center will greatly boost Verizon Business' overall ability to handle calls for technical support by more than doubling the capacity of its current help desk operations, while enhancing system redundancy.

Verizon Business 24 x 7 help desk services enable companies to cost-effectively outsource this function to help them increase productivity of their workers.  Handling more than 2.5 million help desk calls per year, Verizon Business continues to experience significant growth in its help desk outsourcing business.  The company expects this trend to continue as more professionals work remotely and require support to stay in touch with the office, better serve customers and boost productivity.

"At Verizon Business, we strive to go above and beyond for our customers, especially in the growing area of IT services support," said Michael Marcellin, vice president of product marketing for Verizon Business.  "In this case, it's about exceeding -- not meeting -- customer requirements as we launch this new center and work to increase customer satisfaction and productivity.  We are providing enterprise customers with an invaluable resource for seamlessly extending their IT departments."

The new facility has capacity for 400 highly trained consultants, who serve as the first point of contact for callers, helping to resolve issues with personal computers and handheld devices such as a Blackberry. 

Via a toll free number, workers can find help 365 days a year on how to access their company's systems, the Internet and e-mail, as well as manage issues with hardware and software applications, among other problems. 

Services also can be customized to meet an organization's specific IT support goals and objectives, with a choice of English and Spanish language capabilities.

Verizon Business' help desk employs ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) best practices for managing information technology (IT) infrastructure, development and operations.  Verizon Business was also recently recognized by leading industry analyst firm Gartner Inc. in the Leaders Quadrant of its "Magic Quadrant for Help Desk Outsourcing Services, North America, 2008" report.* 

Verizon Business IT Solutions and Hosting

Verizon Business' IT Service Desk is part of the company's comprehensive portfolio of IT and hosting solutions, which deliver complete, end-to-end, integrated IT and network solutions.  From simple colocation to full IT applications management, Verizon Business can serve as a true extension of a customer's IT organization.  Services include Data Center Colocation, Remote Backup and Restore, Hosted Messaging and Instant Messaging, IT Service Desk, Akamai Services, IP Application Hosting, and Remote IP Application Management.  More information is available by visiting http://www.verizonbusiness.com/us/itsolutions. 

About Verizon Business
Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), is a global IP leader and network-based partner for delivering integrated communications and information technology (IT) solutions to large-business and government customers worldwide.  Combining unsurpassed reach with managed services, security, mobility, collaboration and professional services capabilities, Verizon Business delivers global solutions that power innovation and enable its customers to do business better.  For more information, visit www.verizonbusiness.com.

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* Gartner Research "Magic Quadrant for Help Desk Outsourcing Services, North America, 2008," by Rich Matlus and William Maurer, February 28, 2008

The Gartner Magic Quadrant is copyrighted February 2008 by Gartner, Inc., and is reused with permission.  The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period.  It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner.  Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the "Leaders" quadrant.  The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action.  Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.