The Wired Threat Level blog said Nacchio refused a February 27, 2001 request from the NSA for phone records. That refusal prompted the government to retaliate by denying contracts to Qwest, according to Nacchio’s court documents.

In his insider trading case, the presiding judge would not permit that testimony to be brought into the trial. The Rocky Mountain News said, “Nacchio would have to take the stand to raise the classified defense,” at his original trial.

Court documents from the original trial cited by Rocky Mountain News have no trace of Nacchio’s contention:

The topic itself is redacted each time it appears in the hundreds of pages of documents, but there is mention of Nacchio believing the request was both inappropriate and illegal, and repeatedly refusing to go along with it.

The NSA contract was awarded in July 2001 to companies other than Qwest.

Nacchio’s case is on appeal, but it now poses the possibility of revealing domestic surveillance began before 9/11. Meanwhile, the House has a bill under consideration to address domestic spying; the bill has elicited a veto threat from President Bush if it does not include “retroactive immunity” for the telecoms concerned.

My dsl from Qwest wasn’t working. Things happen and I didn’t worry about it right away while I made some coffee. It eventually led me to a what turned out to be a rather useless customer service call.

Like I said, at first I didn’t worry, but an hour later, a cup of coffee, and a few manual restarts of my dsl box without success and I was ready to give Qwest a call to find out what was happening and hopefully correct the problem so I could read whatever email was waiting for me and start my work day. The phone call was a good example of what not to do when handling a customer service call and I though I’d share.

Naturally my call was sent to one of those automated call handlers. Unlike the usual menu of options that would lead me to tech support this system provided no menu. Instead I was greeted by a recorded voice asking me if the number I had called from was my number. The voice was pleasant enough, which I assume was to make me believe the call was more personal. It didn’t. instead of giving me options the voice required me to answer questions so it could decide where to direct my call.

Unfortunately for me, the questions did nothing to direct my call anywhere. The questions weren’t designed for someone who knew where they need to be directed, but more for someone who had no idea who to talk to. The questions really had nothing to do with my issue and I felt as though it would take all day to get anywhere. From the moment the system answered the call it caused frustration for me. Pity the poor person who eventually would have to talk to me.

Even when I answered to one question that I needed tech support I was asked more questions and was told that it sounded like my issue would best be dealt with some other department. After being asked again if I wanted tech support I cursed out the recorded voice and repeatedly pressed 0 on my phone in the hopes of getting an operator.

It took until the now very annoying voice was finished with it’s latest question or suggestion (In all honesty I was no longer listening to that voice any longer) before my call was switched to a line that was spposed to take me to an operator. Of course that simply meant I was placed on hold. After another recording told me how important my call was to Qwest the system hung up on me.

As luck would have it, my dsl connection had started working so there was no need to call back, but this call has become yet another reason for me to switch service providers. Believe me there are many reasons not to use Qwest.

What Made the Service Call Poor And What Should Qwest Have Done

What Qwest did wrong?

• They provided no options to get to where I knew where I wanted to go.
• They forced me to respond to questions that offered no help or took me any closer to where I wanted to go.
• They played an obviously insincere message to me about how important they think I am.
• They hung up on me before I had ever gotten through to anyone or any useful information.

What could they have done to make my customer service experience better?

• Since I knew where I wanted to be directed they should have provided me with a menu of options to not require me to have to answer their questions. They should have provided a menu of options regardless of whether or not I knew who I wanted to talk to. The automated question and answer voice could have been an option for anyone who wasn’t sure who they should be speaking to.
• They could have and should have provided an option immediately for me to speak to a real person instead of the automated system.
• They could be sincere in their messages. Instead of telling me how important my call is, tell me how long they anticipate the wait will be or how many calls are ahead of mine. Even better, hire more people to answer the calls. Their insincerity was obvious and had the opposite effect than what Qwest would hope. I don’t see them as caring about me at all.
• They should have completed my call without hanging up on me.

In the end Qwest not only didn’t answer any of my questions or help in any way, they simply hung up on me. Had I needed to call back I would have had to deal with the same annoying and unhelpful questions and answers directing me nowhere. They showed clearly as they usually do that they are not concerned with me or the issues that led me to call them. If you can believe it they’ve directed me in the past to find an answer on their website even when my issue was that I couldn’t connect to the internet.

What Qwest should have done was direct me as fast as possible to the department that could best respond to my needs. While I don’t care for the usual automated phone systems at least the push button response to a menu would have me getting closer to who I wanted to speak to and even provide the illusion that I was indeed doing something other than being kept on hold. And one of the menu items should always be the option to connect to a real live person.

If The Call Was A Website

If that customer service call had been a website, the automated question and answer would be like requiring you to fill out form after form as navigation. It might have been thought up as a helpful well to help me find my way, but we don’t always need to find our way. Sometimes we know where we want to go and sometimes we just want to explore on our own. How many pages of a website would you visit if you needed to fill out a form to get to them?

The insincere message is similar telling someone how much you’ll protect their information and then not provide a secure connection for them when you ask for their credit card. It’s telling your visitors that you value their privacy as you sell their email address to the highest bidder. And the system hanging up is like having your page or site crash when someone requests a page.

You wouldn’t expect a site like that to convert many visitors into customers. A poor customer service call fails to convert a customer into a loyal customer. My dsl will still be provided by Qwest tomorrow, but unless they dramatically improve their service and support I’m not likely to stay with them as my service provider.

What Qwest failed to recognize is that the only way to have quality customer service is to practice quality customer service. It doesn’t matter how much you tell me my call is important if you don’t ever answer it. It obviously wasn’t important to the company.

In all fairness to Qwest there are probably some people who would find such a question and answer system helpful. Still it could easily have been an option at the initial menu instead of the initial menu. I have also been hung up on by other companies. I swear it has nothing to do with me as I really am nice to customer service representatives. I do know systems have problems sometimes, but getting hung up on is never somethig good. It’s also not the first time I’ve heard that message about how important I am. Of course the number of times I’ve heard it helps to make it so insincere. At just about every point in that call my experience could have been better and every part of improving that experience was something Qwest has control over. I’ll give them the hanging up thing. Maybe they just sensed my frustration and figured it was the best option.

Customer service is vital to any business. It’s is much less expensive to keep an existing customer than to find a new one. With just a little concern for my call Qwest could have kept me happy and loyal. A good customer service experience can even keep help turn an irate customer into a loyal one. Loyal customers recommend your business, lowering the cost of customer acquisition. Instead Qwest has let me know when I’m having trouble with their service I can expect no help from them. They have not made me a loyal customer. I am less likely to call and tie up their phone lines, but I am also less likely to remain a customer.

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Qwest Communications has not enjoyed the best publicity, with numerous websites hosting complaints, many at length, about the company’s shortcomings. Bad feelings and bad words have been the norm.

Yet today, news of a website called Thank You Qwest began making the rounds. And blogs have been displaying a badge praising Qwest for being NSA-free.

It started when the National Security Agency began making the rounds of telecoms, USA Today reported. While AT&T, Verizon, and BellSouth readily capitulated to requests for millions of phone records, Qwest had problems with the request.

Nacchio saw the request as being potentially illegal. Also, should Qwest have been found in violation of the law, immense financial penalties could have been assessed to it. Qwest wanted to see legal backing for the NSA request, which was not accompanied by a court order.

NSA’s response to that, according to the article, proves very interesting:

Nacchio left Qwest in 2002. His successor, Richard Noteabart, reportedly ended talks with the NSA in 2004. However, a spokesperson for Qwest said in the report, “We can’t talk about this. It’s a classified situation.”

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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.

The OneFlex VoIP product from Qwest will make an excellent addition to the Microsoft line and the opportunities it presents the software company would numerous. The two companies will combine to offer the VoIP, email, Internet access, collaboration, present, instant messaging and desktop services.

“Although pricing has certainly been a key factor in the early development of the VoIP industry, we believe that it’s the richness of the customer experience that will ultimately drive mainstream adoption of VoIP,” said Michael O’Hara, general manager of marketing for the Communications Sector at Microsoft. “Qwest is focused on delivering greater value to its SMB customers, and we’re pleased to be working with Qwest to offer integrated communications services that enhance their customers’ productivity.”

The benefits for Microsoft are obvious. This will give them one more option to include in much of their software. Microsoft plans on packing this into the Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005 as well as Windows SharePoint Services with Sylantro Systems Application Feature Server, Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. It’s easy to see it in their upcoming Windows: Vista also. This will provide a simple option to allow small business not only to have all the services mentioned, but, as long as the primarily use Microsoft products, they will have even more flexibility to utilize this VoIP feature, whether it’s in a PowerPoint presentation or just flipping through email.

This will make an awesome addition for Qwest too. Qwest recently fought a number of battles in the telecommunications industry that were something less than fruitful . While the company still remains successful, this will be a major deal for them as it could potentially increase their market share in a lot of different markets and them to other where they previously had no presence at all.

“Small and medium-sized businesses want access to the same types of communications services that large enterprises enjoy today, but the investment and resources required to manage those services have traditionally been out of their reach,” said Tom Richards, executive vice president of the business markets group at Qwest. “With Microsoft, we can make this a reality for our customers. We’ll be able to provide SMBs with powerful, yet easy-to-use telephony and desktop capabilities.”

John Stith is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.

Qwest and Verizon have been fighting this battle for months now in this game of one-upmanship and also for the very survival. If Qwest loses this fight, it may cost them a way as they struggle to compete in an ever merging market but some MCI stockholder are urging member to vote down the Verizon offer. Qwest is the smallest regional phone company.

The battle began back in February when the two companies started going after MCI, the second largest long distance carrier behind AT&T (in the process of being acquired by SBC).

Leon Cooperman, the chairman and chief executive of Omega, a hedge fund that owns about 12 million MCI shares, said in the Wall Street Journal, he told Qwest he was disappointed that the company had dropped out of the running. “I’d welcome them back. I’d be happy to consider giving them my proxy on my shares. I would be shocked if many, many other similarly situated investors would not be willing to do the same thing,” Mr. Cooperman said.

Most people thought this battle was over last week when the MCI board elected to go with Verizon’s offers of $26 a share in cash and stocks instead of Qwest’s offer was $30.

Right now Quest movers and shakers are talking to various stockholders at MCI to see what the chances are this would work for Qwest and the possibility Verizon’s offer get voted down. If stockholders vote down the Verizon bid, it will change the scenario because Qwest will certainly still be in the fight and Verizon may come back with a better deal.

When this war ends is anybody’s bet.

John Stith is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.

It’s over. Qwest Communications, continually rebuffed by MCI despite offering a package more appealing to MCI’s shareholders, has walked away from the table.

But Qwest won’t waste time worrying about the issue, despite their bitter complaints about MCI’s board on Monday.

“There’s a number of strong options before us. We’ve already begun looking at those options in earnest, and we think the market is full of great opportunities,” said Qwest Chief Executive Dick Notebaert.

Mr. Notebaert will have to hope one of those options can drive down the company’s $17 billion USD debt. Despite the debt, the company has no plans to enter bankruptcy proceedings.

The company did post a profit in the first quarter of $57 million USD, thanks to cost reduction measures that included cutting jobs.

“We are very pleased with the progress we’ve made in the first quarter, and I think it bodes well for the whole year,” Mr. Notebaert said.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.

Qwest had quite a first-quarter compared to last year’s as far as earnings. The company earned $57 million, which is quite impressive considering that it lost $310 million in the same quarter in 2004.

Qwest’s chairman and CEO, Richard C. Notebaert had this to say: “Qwest continues to realize positive results as key initiatives continue to stimulate new growth and improve profitability.”

“We have strengthened our operating performance and improved our competitive position, while pursuing opportunities to drive future growth,” he added.

Qwest’s revenue took a 0.9% hit dropping to $3.45 billion from last year’s $3.48 billion.

“Our ability to stabilize revenues, as well as our continued diligence on cost containment and optimization, has resulted in meaningful margin expansion. EBITDA margins increased to more than 28 percent compared with 25 percent a year ago,” said Qwest’s chief financial officer, Oren G. Shaffer. “We continue to improve our competitive position, performance and financial flexibility.”

Verizon ended up getting MCI for $8.54 billion, although Qwest’s final offer was $9.9 billion.

Chris is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.

The two telecommunication suitors, who have been in a bidding war for MCI for three months now, ping-ponged back and forth with billion dollar offers, both promising good faith dealings.

While Qwest offered $9.85 billion at $30 a share to Verizon’s $8.5 billion at $26, MCI shareholders believe Verizon to be a better deal.

Shareholders said the opinion was based on Qwest’s shaky financial history, a tale that is full of debt and an uncertain future. They seem to view tried-and-true telecom giant Verizon as a more attractive prospect, despite the smaller engagement ring.

“From the standpoint of risk versus reward, Verizon’s revised offer presents MCI with a stronger, superior choice,” Nicholas Katzenbach, MCI chairman, said in a statement.

He continued to say that a number of MCI’s most important clients preferred the deal proffered by Verizon and threatened to take away their business if Qwest was chosen.

MCI’s current deal with Verizon is at $7.8 billion with Qwest’s latest bid at $9.9 billion.

A ComputerWorld article says, “Although MCI’s board has decided that the Qwest offer is superior, it hasn’t yet changed its recommendation to shareholders to accept the Verizon deal. Under the terms of the merger previously agreed on, Verizon has until Friday to submit a revised offer or let its current offer stand. MCI’s board then has until May 3 to change or keep its current recommendation.”

Qwest has been rejected three times, though Verizon’s offers have been lower. MCI maintained that Verizon offered the company better financial stability and growth opportunities.

MCI would suffer a $240 million penalty if it backs out to go with Qwest. Verizon has been given until April 29 to come up with a better offer or stay with the one it has already made. MCI’s board will then have until May 3 to change or keep its recommendation.

Qwest has said that this was the company’s final offer. We’ll see what card Verizon plays next.

Chris is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.

MCI today declared Qwest’s $9.9 billion offer to be superior to its $7.8 billion agreement with Verizon.

Qwest has been rejected three times, though Verizon’s offers have been lower. MCI maintained that Verizon offered the company better financial stability and growth opportunities.

Qwest has said that this was the company’s final offer. I assume we will see how true that is after Verizon makes its next move.

Verizon has been given until April 29 to come up with a better offer.

Chris is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.