new customer support representatives to provide more assistance to its near 4,000 dial-up subscribers.

The service is now available for nine hours a day during the work week.

Anna Basden and Jean Ann Dill have customer service experience with computers and the Internet.

IBL general manager, Peter Durhager, said: "We have extended our support services in response to what our customers are telling us they want. As our customer base grows, so do the demands on our support services. "By extending our support hours, we want to show our customers that we are listening to them. Ultimately, extra support hours will benefit our users.'' Last month, IBL conducted a series of customer focus groups to see how they were viewed in terms of services, new products and customer communication.

Mr. Durhager said: "We used the focus groups to confirm our customer requirements and moved quickly to provide additional, dedicated Help Desk services.''