Speakeasy, Inc. Communications Simplifed

Speakeasy Newsletter: Message from the CEO

Dear Speakeasy Customers,

Speakeasy is a company that is continuously shaped and molded by its customers. I founded the company with that vision in 1994 and in fact, over the past eight years, Speakeasy has been built upon the feedback, suggestions, and constructive criticism of its customers. Your opinions guide us in everything from our technical support practices to development of new Speakeasy products and services. We strive to meet your needs, but of course, there's always room for improvement - and that's why I'm writing.

I'd love to hear about new ways you would like to use your broadband connection. What new services intrigue you and what would you like Speakeasy to offer that it currently doesn't? In addition, I'm extremely interested in any complaints or criticisms you may have regarding Speakeasy. We always benefit from your input. So, I'm asking: What can we do to make Speakeasy even better for you? And, if we're not meeting your needs, what should we do differently to ensure that you become delighted with us?

I put a great deal of personal focus on maintaining value for our customers. Accordingly, I spend a lot of time reviewing your Customer Satisfaction feedback and considering how to improve our service offerings. This effort has resulted in a number of excellent new services launching during the month of October, which I will detail below. But, before I do, I want to remind you to please feel free to reply to this email with any ideas, suggestions, criticisms, or questions you may have. I will review all of your feedback and endeavor to respond to it personally within 10 business days.

Finally, thanks again for your business. It's your support, suggestions and, most importantly, your referrals that have enabled us to grow and become so successful even as other providers are cutting back on services. And it's through you (and your referrals!) that we'll continue to grow.

Speakeasy State of the Union
Over the past ten months, we've achieved some pretty significant goals and we look forward to attaining many more. Following is a little more about what we're up to!

Early in the summer we secured additional funding that provided capital to improve and expand our services and network design.

As always, our primary goals are Superior Customer Service and the Highest Quality Broadband Performance and Reliability. Accordingly, here is where we have invested our resources:

Goal #1: Superior Customer Service
Have you recently received emails requesting feedback on your interaction with us? This feature is part of our Customer Satisfaction Index, which provides the entire company with a real-time rating directly from our customers. We take this feedback very seriously, and have a company goal to maintain an average rating of 4.0 or above.

Each time you contact us online or by telephone, our staff opens a Service Ticket in which they record the details and resolution (if applicable) of your issue. These Service Tickets' primary function is to manage the workflow of our Customer Support and Advanced Support team. Through Service Tickets, we track issues from start to finish and strive to provide a seamless service experience. Soon you will be able to open, update, and close Service Tickets directly in MySpeakeasy.

Our support representatives will endeavor to resolve your Service Ticket during your initial contact with us. If they are unable to do so, they will pass it to an Advanced Support representative who will follow-up with you for resolution within 24 hours. When Service Tickets are resolved, an automated request for feedback is sent, and you are given the opportunity to report on your total experience with us.

Also within MySpeakeasy is an easy-to-use Customer Survey that allows you to provide feedback regarding your overall satisfaction with Speakeasy service. It is our goal to be the best quality broadband service provider in the country. We're so serious about this that ratings for Service Tickets and Customer Surveys directly impact compensation for 70% of Speakeasy employees (and that includes Yours Truly).

Goal #2: Quality Broadband Reliability and Performance
We recently completed deployment of 11 additional Network Access points, providing localized backhaul routes in Baltimore, Cleveland, Dayton, Detroit, Houston, Miami, Minneapolis, Portland, Pittsburgh, Sacramento, and San Diego. We also partnered with Worldcom in order to diversify our DSL service levels and added an incredibly popular 1.5/768 ADSL service.

Goal #3: Pioneering Broadband Services
We're focused on tools and services our customers can really use. Throughout the month of October, we will be launching a number of new services designed to add value to your Speakeasy broadband experience. These services include:

We are working continually to improve your service experience with us. We absolutely value your business, and hope that you will take the time to provide some feedback on how we're doing.

Thank you!

Michael Apgar
President/CEO
Speakeasy
mda@speakeasy.net