When it comes to customer satisfaction in the United States, Verizon Enterprise Solutions ranks highest in the large enterprise business segment among business wireline service providers, according to the J.D. Power 2016 U.S. Business Wireline Satisfaction Study released on July 21.

Verizon Enterprise outperformed the industry average in overall satisfaction. The study addresses six factors of satisfaction, in order of importance:

• Performance and reliability,

• Cost of service,

• Communications,

• Sales representatives and account executives,

• Billing, and

• Customer service.

The study found that providers offering value-added services that improve technology capabilities for business customers (e.g. managed services to support network infrastructure) achieve higher overall satisfaction scores than do providers not offering such services. It also notes that the top reason businesses chose their current provider is network quality and network speed (35 percent).

"This award from J.D. Power is demonstration that we are making strong progress in delivering hands-down, the best customer experience in the industry," said Chris Formant, senior vice president and group president of Verizon Enterprise Solutions. "We strive every day to provide the best tech solutions coupled with the highest levels of service and expertise so that our customers can focus on their own core business and leave the communications infrastructure to us."

The study is based on responses from more than 3,300 business customers of data and voice services including large enterprise businesses (companies with 500 or more employees) in the United States and includes evaluations of their data and voice service providers. The study was fielded in April and May 2016.

Serving 99 percent of the Fortune 500, Verizon Enterprise Solutions creates global connections that generate growth, drive business innovation and move society forward. With industry-specific solutions and a full range of global wholesale offerings provided over the company's secure mobility, cloud, strategic networking and advanced communications platforms, Verizon Enterprise Solutions helps open new opportunities around the world for innovation, investment and business transformation.