News Release
Charter Expands St. Louis Customer Care Call Center
"Charter is committed to providing value through a quality end-to-end customer experience," said Joe Stackhouse, Senior Vice President of Customer Operations for Charter. "Company wide, we increased our call center personnel by 55 percent, or about 2,300 agents, since 2006. In addition, we have increased our technical personnel by 12 percent, or about 500 people, year over year. We believe these and other efforts are beginning to have the desired effect."
Charter recently reorganized its customer care center operations around specific needs of the customer to route calls to designated centers, where agents are specially trained in one of three areas: sales and retention, billing, and repair. This system is meant to ensure the most qualified agent handles every call.
The Company also recently implemented a workforce management technology which enables the dynamic dispatch of technicians based on availability, location and skill set. This improves efficiency and ensures properly trained and equipped technicians are routed to service each call. Charter has also narrowed service windows to 4 or 2 hours, from historical 8 hour windows.
"We provide quality video, high-speed Internet and telephone service with compelling savings, value and convenience through the Charter Bundle. We know we need to support those services with quality customer care, and we are making meaningful improvements," said Mr. Stackhouse. "But we also understand improving our customers' experience is a job that is never really complete. Customers in our home town of St. Louis and around the country should know we remain dedicated to this goal and dedicated to the communities in which we do business."
Headquartered in St. Louis, Charter employs over 2,100 people here. The Company provides over $1 million of complimentary educational video programming and support materials for area schools. And in the past four years Charter has invested over $400 million in capital in Missouri alone.
About Charter Communications(R)
Charter Communications, Inc. is a leading broadband communications company and the third-largest publicly traded cable operator in the United States. Charter provides a full range of advanced broadband services, including advanced Charter Digital Cable(R) video entertainment programming, Charter High-Speed(R) Internet access, and Charter Telephone(R). Charter Business(TM) similarly provides scalable, tailored, and cost-effective broadband communications solutions to business organizations, such as business-to-business Internet access, data networking, video and music entertainment services, and business telephone. Charter's advertising sales and production services are sold under the Charter Media(R) brand. More information about Charter can be found at www.charter.com.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:
This release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, regarding, among other things, our plans, strategies and prospects, both business and financial. Although we believe that our plans, intentions and expectations reflected in or suggested by these forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot assure you that we will achieve or realize these plans, intentions or expectations. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions including, without limitation, the factors described under "Risk Factors" from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Many of the forward-looking statements contained in this release may be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "should," "planned," "will," "may," "intend," "estimated," "aim," "on track," "target," "opportunity" and "potential," among others. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements we make in this release are set forth in other reports or documents that we file from time to time with the SEC, and include, but are not limited to:
-- the availability, in general, of funds to meet interest payment obligations under our debt and to fund our operations and necessary capital expenditures, either through cash flows from operating activities, further borrowings or other sources and, in particular, our ability to fund debt obligations (by dividend, investment or otherwise) to the applicable obligor of such debt;
-- our ability to comply with all covenants in our indentures and credit facilities, any violation of which could trigger a default of our other obligations under cross-default provisions;
-- our ability to pay or refinance debt prior to or when it becomes due and/or refinance that debt through new issuances, exchange offers or otherwise, including restructuring our balance sheet and leverage position;
-- competition from other distributors, including incumbent telephone companies, direct broadcast satellite operators, wireless broadband providers, and DSL providers;
-- difficulties in introducing, growing, and operating our telephone services, such as our ability to adequately meet customer expectations for the reliability of voice services;
-- our ability to adequately meet demand for installations and customer service;
-- our ability to sustain and grow revenues and cash flows from operating activities by offering video, high-speed Internet, telephone and other services, and to maintain and grow our customer base, particularly in the face of increasingly aggressive competition;
-- our ability to obtain programming at reasonable prices or to adequately raise prices to offset the effects of higher programming costs;
-- general business conditions, economic uncertainty or slowdown; and
-- the effects of governmental regulation, including but not limited to local and state franchise authorities, on our business.
All forward-looking statements attributable to us or any person acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. We are under no duty or obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this release.
SOURCE: Charter Communications, Inc.
Charter Communications, Inc.
Media:
Anita Lamont, 314-543-2215
or
Analysts:
Mary Jo Moehle, 314-543-2397