UUNET USES INVERSE'S UK-BENCHMARK TO ACQUIRE & RETAIN QUALITY-CONSCIOUS CUSTOMERS
UUNET is the latest Internet Service Provider (ISP) in the UK to subscribe to the UK Inverse Internet BenchMark, the unique quality-of-service measurement reports and ratings service from Inverse Network Technology. UUNET will use UK BenchMark data to enhance operations throughout its dial-up network in the UK. The company will also be using the data to market its services, including the website publication of its monthly results.
"Our decision to subscribe to the Inverse UK BenchMark is significant throughout the company," explains Joe Clift, UUNET's marketing director. "Internal operations utilises the data to ensure that our network performance is as good as it should be. In marketing terms, we plan to use the reports to reassure our existing customer base that service quality is being maintained, as well as to attract new customers  hence the move to share our results with the public via the website month by month. As we are the leading ISP for business on a global scale, the quality of the network we provide for our customers is vital. UK BenchMark gives us a robust, objective comparison of our performance in relation to our competitors".
The Inverse UK Benchmark is a monthly report which measures the UK's top 18 ISPs in terms of quality of dial-up access from the end-user's perspective. Nine metrics are measured each month, including Call Failure Rate (during business and evening hours), Average Time to Login, and Time to Download a Web Page. Measurements are taken from over 60,000 standardised, automated calls to the 18 ISPs' frontline dial-in numbers. Access to a standard 'basket' of popular websites in the UK, Europe and the US is also measured. The collected data is analysed by Inverse, to produce an industry average within each metric, and also to determine the ISPs' Ratings (A+, A, B etc.) against pre-set thresholds for each metric.
"ISPs who subscribe to the UK BenchMark are entitled to use their own Ratings and metric results in marketing material," says Inverse's European managing director Peter Dove. "Because UUNET is such a prominent player, we look forward to seeing Internet users being made more aware of relative performance as a result of our data. As more ISPs adopt these objective measurements, their customers will benefit from a much more open and merit-based marketplace".
Service-Level Management System: Complementing BenchMark
In order to give service providers and enterprises information on the actual performance of IP network and application services, Inverse recently launched Inverse IP InSight', a service-level management software system. IP InSight is deployed on the user's PC Â plus other points on the IP network - to record the end-user's actual network experience. IP InSight facilitates negotiation and management of realistic Service Level Agreements (SLAs) between ISPs and the enterprise, lowers operational costs, and also streamlines the help desk function.
Inverse Network Technology is a leading provider of service level management software and Internet measurement services that allow enterprises and service providers to measure service quality for applications such as: remote access outsourcing, customer care, VPNs, and electronic commerce. Inverse helps ISPs and enterprises enhance performance and reliability, and improve customer satisfaction of their IP networks and applications. Founded in 1996, the company is located in Sunnyvale, California. Its European offices are located in London. For more information, call Inverse Network Technology's European office on 0207 589 5706 or visit the Inverse web site at http://www.inversenet.com.
