A customer service consulting firm said a study it will releasenext week has found that customer satisfaction with insuranceindustry contact centers improved more than any other industry.

According to the research by Ann Arbor, Mich.-based CFI Group,customer service representatives score better than most sectors,trailing only retail contact center service reps.

The findings represent a big turnaround for insurers. Last year,the CFI survey found that insurance call center service scoredbelow average ratings compared to five other industries.

The 2007 survey placed insurers second to last in customer callservice satisfaction, with a rating of 68 on the index's 100 pointscale.

This year's good news was somewhat tempered, as CRI said itfound that 17 percent of customers reported their issues were stillunresolved after calling.

For those customers who still had unresolved issues,satisfaction was 47 percent lower--and nearly half of thosecustomers are considering, or have already decided to take theirbusiness elsewhere, the firm found

The findings are contained in the second annual CFI GroupContact Center Satisfaction Index, due to be released onTuesday.

CFI Group said it uses the methodology of the University ofMichigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) to determinethe impacts of customer satisfaction with call centers on loyalty,retention, word of mouth, and even return on investment.

This year, the company said its Contact Center SatisfactionIndex measured customer satisfaction with call centers in eightdifferent industries--two more than last year--including: Banking,cable and satellite TV, cell phone service, insurance, personalcomputers, retail, government and hotels. The last two were addedthis year.

The study, said CFI, provides insights into how insurance callcenters perform relative to call centers in other industries, andalso highlights the strengths and weaknesses in call centers ineach specific industry.