§ 8AA-57. Consumer protection provisions; office and telephone availability.

(a) The licensee shall maintain (1) at least one conveniently located business office and full service center in the County and (2) payment and equipment return centers no farther than a fifteen (15) mile radius from the address at which the subscriber receives cable service. As an alternative to providing such equipment return centers, licensee may provide subscribers the ability to return equipment by using a postage-prepaid delivery service at no cost to the subscriber. The payment and return centers shall be open at a minimum from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, including some weekend and evening hours. The office shall make available for its customers parking within reasonable proximity of the office.

(b) Each licensee shall maintain a telephone system with a publicly listed toll free telephone number under the business name familiar to subscribers and employ a sufficient number of telephone lines and answering equipment or service to allow reasonable access by subscribers and members of the public to contact the licensee on a full time basis at any time twenty-four (24) hours a day, each day of the year.

(c) Knowledgeable, qualified company representatives will be available to answer customer telephone inquiries twenty-four (24) hours per day, seven (7) days per week including holidays. A company supervisor will be available to a customer upon request. If a supervisor is not available, the supervisor will call back the customer no later than the first three (3) hours of the next normal business day.

(d) Under normal operating conditions, telephone answer time by a customer service representative, including wait time, and the time required to transfer the call, shall not exceed thirty (30) seconds. Licensees that utilize automated answering and distributing equipment will limit the number of routine rings to five (5) or fewer. Licensees not utilizing automated equipment shall make every effort to answer incoming calls as promptly as the automated systems. Percent of abandoned telephone calls out of total calls received shall not exceed ten (10) percent, average. These standards shall be met no less than ninety (90) percent of the time measured on a quarterly basis. "Normal operating conditions" means those service conditions which are within the control of the cable operator. Those conditions which are not within the control of the cable operator include, but are not limited to, natural disasters, civil disturbances, power outages, telephone network outages, and severe or unusual weather conditions. Those conditions which are ordinarily within the control of the cable operator include, but are not limited to, special promotions, pay-per-view events, rate increases, regular peak or seasonal demand periods, and maintenance or upgrade of the cable system.

(e) Under normal operating conditions, in a given quarter no more than three (3) percent of customer calls shall receive a busy signal.

(f)

If the County determines that the licensee fails to conform to the required telephone standards in this Section for two (2) consecutive quarters:

(1)

The Director may require the licensee to provide the County with a communication traffic study within sixty (60) days of notice. The study will be conducted on all customer service trunk lines and must include information on the efficiency of the communication system measured from the telephone company's central office, as well as other performance information available from the licensee's communication equipment. The study must provide information that confirms that the licensee's communications system is properly trunked and staffed to meet the requirements of this chapter using generally accepted telephonic engineering standards.

(2)

Based upon the findings of the traffic study that additional personnel are needed and other relevant considerations, the Director may require the licensee to staff a minimum specified number of customer service representatives to handle telephone calls. The minimum number shall be one (1) such customer service representative for each one hundred (100) calls received daily. For purposes of this calculation, the number of calls shall be the median number of calls received on a daily basis for the two (2) consecutive quarters during which the standards were not met. If, following a County order for minimum staffing requirements, the licensee's performance meets the required telephone standards for any two (2) consecutive quarters, the County will rescind its minimum staffing order provided the licensee continues to conform to the required telephone standards.

(Ord. No. 90-73, § 1, 7-24-90; Ord. No. 01-44, § 1, 3-20-01; Ord. No. 03-122, § 1, 5-6-03)