USCG Operations Systems Center Received Center of Excellence Award

U.S. Coast Guard Operations Systems Center, Customer Support Division in Kearneysville, WV became one of the first federal government call center’s certified as a Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal and Purdue University's Center for Customer-Driven Quality, a premier benchmarking organization within the call center industry.Kearneysville, WV. February 10, 2005 - U.S. Coast Guard Operations Systems Center, Customer Support Division in Kearneysville, WV became one of the first federal government call center's certified as a Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal and Purdue University's Center for Customer-Driven Quality, a premier benchmarking organization within the call center industry. The certification compares best practice metrics from the world's largest database of call center performance information and is presented to an elite group of centers that demonstrate the highest standards of efficiency and operational effectiveness. To receive the award a call center must place in the top 10% of all call centers included in the database (currently more than 20,000 call centers). LCDR Stuart Ehrenberg the division Chief for the Call Center said, "This was a highly beneficial experience to have such a thorough outside audit of our internal business practices. The certification process gave us a target to aim for and a tremendous insight into areas we can concentrate on to further improve our business model. This was truly a team effort between on-site Coast Guard management and the prime contractor for the Call Center, STG Inc, who deserve much kudos for their efforts. The Coast Guard will benefit from this process for many years to come". "We are proud of this accomplishment," said April Funkhouser, Help Desk Operations Manager, "Our call center has accomplished a tremendous amount over the past twelve months, and we plan to continue to raise the bar for our user community." "A contact center that seeks and achieves the Center of Excellence Certification from Purdue University's Center for Customer-Driven Quality demonstrates a remarkable commitment to service excellence," said Dr. Jon Anton, Founder of Purdue University's Center for Customer-Driven Quality. "The obvious beneficiaries of this commitment are the center's customers, employees, and shareholders." Purdue's and BenchmarkPortal's certification process is unique in that it focuses on quantitative results and is based on an objective scorecard. Representatives used 12 months of operational data for the assessment and entered it into a comprehensive database, comparing it to thousands of other call centers similar to OSC CSD in size and call type. About BenchmarkPortal BenchmarkPortal is the custodian of the Purdue University Center for Customer-Driven Quality database of contact center metrics, the largest in the world. It provides reports, products and services for contact centers in the areas of operational metrics, customer satisfaction measurement and agent satisfaction measurement. BenchmarkPortal's Web site can be found at: www.BenchmarkPortal.com For additional information contact: Susan Hampton BenchmarkPortal, Inc. SusanHampton@BenchmarkPortal.com About Operations Systems Center The Operations Systems Center (OSC) is a government-owned, contractor-operated unit with the primary function of providing full life-cycle support for operationally focused Coast Guard Automated Information Systems. These systems support the Coast Guard's five strategic missions: Protection of Natural Resources, National Defense, and Maritime Safety, Mobility, and Security.