Ring and Rank

How does your telecom carrier measure up in online customer service?

Not bad, judging from new research by The Customer Respect Group.

Of the 55 telecommunications companies evaluated in the study, most scored higher than those in other industries. Firms were rated on their Web sites, timely e-mail response and privacy policies.

Wireless companies scored highest in e-mail response. They answered almost every e-mail, with two-thirds responding within a day.

When it came to trust, though, wireless firms scored lower than traditional outfits. Some 22% of telecom companies market personal information without express customer permission, compared with 33% of the wireless carriers.

The chart indicates scores for the top telecoms. The average score in the industry was 5.9,