The majority of telecom carriers in the United States are failing to provide customers with a full range of online customer service capabilities, according to a study conducted in late August by online services provider Brulant.

The study found that 69% of home pages don't allow customers to log in to their account. Nearly 40% of home pages don't have "site search" functionality and only 38% offer a "help" link.

None of the telecom carriers studied by Brulant provide account security information on their home pages.

"When customers fail to get their basic account needs met via the home page, it creates a sense of dissatisfaction that is difficult for the telecom provider to overcome later in the customer service relationship," said Rich Drab, a partner with Brulant's telecom practice.

The carriers studied include Qwest, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile, MCI, Vonage, Skype, Windstream, SunCom, and several others whose names weren't disclosed. Out of the carriers discussed, Sprint and Vonage scored the highest in various categories. Both offer services on their home pages, such as account sign-in, a customer service link, and site search.

MCI and Skype scored the lowest on the survey.

Most carriers don't take into consideration customers with special needs and site performance. Only 15% of carriers link to information for the disabled. About 8% of sites are available in text-only or low bandwidth view, while 15% of carriers offer a browser recommendation for viewing their sites.

This is the second critical report on the telecom industry's customer service practices this year. A University of Michigan, American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) survey, published back in May, found that only 75.2% of U.S. customers polled were happy with the service they were getting.