SYRACUSE, NY--(Marketwire - Feb 28, 2012) - [ USA Datanet ], the [ Voice over IP ] (VoIP) pioneer and full-service nationwide telecommunications services subsidiary of Warwick Valley Telephone Company (NASDAQ: [ WWVY ]) (referred to as [ WVT Communications Group ]), today announced it was presented with a Bronze Stevie® Award in the Customer Service Department of the Year - Telecommunications category in the sixth annual [ Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service ]. Nicknamed the Stevies for the Greek word for "crowned," the trophies were presented to honorees during a gala banquet on Monday, February 27^th at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. More than 350 nominated customer service and sales executives from the U.S. and several other countries attended. The presentations were broadcast live by Business TalkRadio Network.

Excelling in sales and customer service is essential for success in business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service recognizes organizations and individuals for their recent achievements in these disciplines. More than 100 members of seven specialized judging committees determined Stevie Award placements from among the Finalists during final judging this year.

"USA Datanet has, since its founding in 1998, maintained the highest standards in all aspects of the customer experience and we are pleased to be recognized by the Stevie Awards in this esteemed business competition," said Jay Conn, vice president of operations, USA Datanet. "A proactive customer service department where representatives work with customers to not only resolve issues, but put plans, processes, or solutions in place to mitigate the risk of those same issues arising again is paramount to the success of any business or organization. We are honored to be recognized for our significant achievements relating to our customer service strategies and efforts. This accomplishment is gratifying for both our customers and employees."

More than 1,000 entries from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted to this year's competition, an increase of almost 30% over 2011. Finalists were determined by the average scores of 93 professionals worldwide, acting as preliminary judges. Entries were considered in 27 categories for customer service professionals, including Contact Center of the Year, Award for Innovation in Customer Service, and Customer Service Department of the Year; 38 categories for sales professionals, ranging from Senior Sales Executive of the Year to Sales Training or Coaching Program of the Year to Sales Department of the Year of the Year; and categories to recognize new products and services and solution providers.

USA Datanet's mission is to deliver maximum value by providing dynamic and innovative communications solutions and to be recognized leaders in the communications industry by providing exemplary benefits to its employees, customers and shareholders. "Inspiring a team to aspire to be world-class involves persistence and permanence in spite of all obstacles which differentiate the strong teams from the weak teams. This does not just happen by itself," said Kathryn Cancel, director of customer service, USA Datanet. "We provide our team members with comprehensive, individualized training sessions that continue with advanced training sessions further down their career paths. Training and development is critical for all team members and works to build the team strength needed to succeed."

"We're delighted to kick off our celebration of the 10^th year of the Stevie Awards movement with the 2012 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, which is the first program in which we conferred Silver and Bronze Stevie Awards," said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards. "It's gratifying and inspiring to have received so many remarkable entries for this year's competition."

Details about the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service and the list of Stevie winners in all categories are available at [ www.stevieawards.com/sales ].

About USA Datanet
[ USA Datanet ], a WVT Communications Group company, is a pioneer in [ Voice over IP ] (VoIP) and a full-service nationwide telecommunications company. The company is a cloud services provider that offers business-class hosted IP voice and data solutions as well as wholesale services to the SMB market (businesses with under 35 employees). For more information, visit [ http://usadatanet.com ] and the USA Datanet YouTube channel at [ http://youtube.com/usadatanet ].

About The Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about The Stevie Awards at [ www.stevieawards.com ].

Sponsors and supporters of the 6^th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service include American Support, Coloredge Los Angeles * New York, Competence Call Center, SDL and ValueSelling Associates.

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