Customer satisfaction has become a major part of the Internal Revenue Service Mission Statement. To help us achieve our mission and assess how we are perceived by those we serve, SOI Director Tom Petska has given his full support to the Statistical Information Services (SIS) Office Customer Satisfaction Survey now under way.

This survey, long in development by Kevin Cecco and Diane Dixon in close consultation with Beth Kilss and David Jordan, was finally approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and will soon be given to a total of 400 SOI customers. These customers will be selected by a random number generator from among our usual roster of callers, including consultants, corporations, the media, academia, State and local governments, and other Federal agencies.

The survey contains 17 questions on such topics as the timeliness and completeness of information provided and the usefulness of the website. It also asks how the respondent found out about SIS and how often he or she contacts the office. It is hoped that survey results will affirm SIS's own timeliness statistics, which are actually quite high.

The survey period will last from January through July 2003. SIS staff members Cynthia Belmonte, Emily Gross, Eric Henry, Charles Hicks, David Jordan, and Brian Raub will adminster the survey. Kevin Cecco and Diane Dixon will analyze the results, and findings will be released 60 days after close of the survey.