2005 Keynote Performance Awards for "Best Service Levels" Keynote service level studies probe much deeper into the reliability and responsiveness of leading Web sites* in a particular industry category than the Web transaction performance indices. However, the service level studies are time-limited, whereas the transaction indices run all year round. The service level studies are based on a comparison of key performance factors, which describe the technical quality and health of a site. Performance factors include things such as average response time (over high speed, and dial up connections), response consistency, geographic uniformity, load handling, page design, site reliability and outages. Study results are typically obtained by taking over 6500 individual measurements of each site over a four-week period, From this data, over 40 distinct service level metrics are computed and compared for all sites included and then overall winners are selected based upon the sites performance in each key area. * With the exception of the VoIP studies which evaluate the actual Internet phone service. Best Service Levels for Responsiveness and Reliability Auto insurance GEICO Banking (customers) - Responsiveness Washington Mutual Banking (customers) - Reliability Washington Mutual Banking (prospects) Wells Fargo Brokerage (customers) - Responsiveness E*TRADE FINANCIAL Brokerage (customers) - Reliability E*TRADE FINANCIAL Brokerage (prospects) Ameritrade Computer hardware - Responsiveness Apple Computer Computer hardware - Reliability Apple Computer Credit Card (customers) Bank of America Retail Williams-Sonoma VoIP Service Vonage Wireless (prospects) - Responsiveness Virgin Mobile Wireless (prospects) - Reliability Virgin Mobile