Quality data collection is the foundation of all successful political research projects.

The RTNielson Co. specializes in political telephone data collection. Since 1992, the RTNielson Co. has conducted thousands of successful political surveys by telephone for a diverse clientele from every region of the United States. Our clients rely on us to provide them with reliable, accurate political polling data they can depend on.

Call Center Facilities
The RTNielson Co. has its own call center in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah equipped with 350 computer-aided-telephone-interviewing (CATI) stations. The size of our call center allows us to comfortably manage even the largest political calling projects.

Phone Room Technical Information
The RTNielson Co. uses a state-of-the-art PRO*T*S computer-assisted dialing and interviewer management system. This equipment has numerous high-tech data collection capabilities including remote monitoring, digital voice capture and digital pre-recorded message playback, that is known as IVB or Interactive Voice Broadcast.

Interviewing Staff
The RTNielson Co. works diligently to recruit and train superior individuals for our interviewer staff. We utilize demanding pre-employment screening criteria and focus on hiring applicants who demonstrate genuine potential to become successful interviewers. The majority of our callers have neutral accents, which is a distinct advantage when doing political telephone surveys.

Interview Training
All interviewers must complete a comprehensive training program. The initial orientation sessions cover the basic requirements and skills necessary for professional data collection. The two-day classes include extensive practice calling and individual coaching. Once hired, all callers are required to attend weekly seminars designed to refine and develop their telephone skills. Our interviewers understand that political research is a valid scientific activity. They are trained and prepared to collect reliable, accurate data.

Validation
The standard practice or the RTNielson Co. is to validate 10% of the surveys in each project we conduct.

Monitoring
We monitor every interviewer several times during each shift. We provide employees with immediate feedback concerning their interviewing techniques. Our callers realize that any falsification of data is grounds for immediate dismissal. We also have excellent remote monitoring capabilities for clients. .

Voice-Capture and IVB (Interactive Voice Broadcast)
Our voice-capture equipment permits us to record the open ended portions of any telephone survey, the open-ended questions, for example. We digitally record the responses in a .WAV file and then transfer the recordings to a CD, which can be sent to the client for review and analysis.

IVB or pre-recorded message playback provides our clients with the option of playing pre-recorded messages to respondents. The messages can be recorded in a political candidate’s own voice or done by professional voice-over talent. The messages can be delivered to live respondents or left on answering machines. IVB is a major component of modern political voter contact technology.

Spanish Language Interviewing
NSØN has the capability to conduct telephone surveys in Spanish and many other languages. We have access to a pool of experienced interviewers who speak Spanish and other languages.

Project Managers
Every political project we undertake is assigned to a specific Project Manager who remains fully involved in the job from beginning to end. Our project managers are specialists who can be reached after hours. All clients receive daily progress reports from their Project Manager with current information about the status of their particular survey.

Programming
Our CATI specialists program all political questionnaires into our computer system precisely to client specifications. They provide simulation disks of the questionnaires for clients to review and okay prior to starting the fieldwork.

Tabulation
Our data tabulation specialists provide clients with any dataset files they prefer.

Account Executives
Our Account Executives thoroughly understand the complicated business of political telephone survey research. They provide clients with expert advice about all aspects of this business including questionnaire development and design, sampling, quotas, cooperation rates and incidence rates, etc. Once they receive the specific parameters of a project, they return a bid promptly. Our Account Executives work closely with our clients to manage costs and save money wherever possible. Their goal is to provide our customers with superb quality service at a fair and reasonable price.