META Group And Oxford Business Research Join Forces To Offer Customized Call Center Benchmarking And Analysis; First-Of-Kind Industry, Peer Group, And Competitor Assessments

Business Wire, August 1, 1997

STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--August 1, 1997--META Group (NASDAQ: METG) today announced that META Metrix, its benchmarking and comparative assessment practice, will collaborate with Oxford Business Research to provide customized call center benchmarking and analysis to companies wanting to assess and improve call center performance.

META Metrix provides industry and peer group comparative benchmarking, while Oxford Business Research offers assessments that target specific competitors.

"The value this combined effort brings to our clients is the ability to compare their call centers to a wide range of benchmarks -- from industry and peer group, to individual competitor," said Suzanne Novak, director of META Metrix. "Nobody else is offering this range of call center benchmarking and analysis."

The benchmarking and analysis will target call centers and will combine industry research and call center benchmarking metrics to help companies: -- Quantify the performance of both inbound and outbound operations; -- Improve functional areas, including customer service, technical support, lead generation, and telesales performance; -- Develop forecasting, operating, capital, and IT requirements; -- Establish internal performance capabilities vs. benchmarks; and -- Build revenue and call volume operating models.

Suzanne Novak and Michael Kelleher, vice president of Oxford Business Research, will co-manage client engagements.

Customized Assessment

Benchmarking and analysis will be customized to the client's needs, budget, and issues. In assessing a company's call center, the alliance will look at such areas as strategic business alignment (business goals and objectives, evolution of the call center/help desk, customer base), people issues (hiring and recruiting, employee profiles, salary, benefits, incentives, performance measurements), process issues (operations review, customer service/satisfaction, employee performance, marketing), and technology (call processing, call center/help desk management, desktop tools for agents, customer management). Pricing will range from $60,000 - $100,000 per assessment, depending on the client's requirements.

META Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:METG), is an independent market assessment company that provides research, analysis, and advisory services for information technology developments and trends. Serving more than 1,300 clients worldwide, META Group distinguishes itself with broad service coverage and highly personal service. For more information, visit www.metagroup.com.

Oxford Business Research supports the strategic and operational decision making of Fortune 500 organizations by providing in-depth sales and marketing research based on business specifics. It provides customized research by allowing clients the flexibility to select particular companies to learn from and unique issues to resolve. Resulting data is decisive, lending significant and immediate impact to client decision-making accuracy. For more information, visit www.oxfordassociates.com.

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CONTACT: Dr. Patricia Neptune

Neptune Group International Inc.

203-221-2820 or

pneptune@neptunegp.com