In a world where consumers expect instant answers, here are six companies dedicated to helping in 140 characters or less.

Comcast

Many have argued that Comcast was the company who pioneered real time responses to customer service issues. The transition of Comcast’s original Twitter agent, Frank Eliason, was part of the inspiration for this post. Frank quickly became a web celebrity of sorts, standing for a new service directive in a very sensitive corner of the industry. Well done, Frank, and good luck to your successor, Bill at ComcastCares.




Xbox

Microsoft’s Xbox brand, an Edelman client, was so confident in their service record that they went after a Guinness World Record- and won it! XboxSupport’s Elite Tweet Fleet are the first to hold the title of “Most Responsive Brand on Twitter.”




Zappos

Zappos_Service is a name known well among the Internet’s footwear fiends. The Twitter response team is generous with various perks like free shipping while the profile also acts as a collection zone for the comments of happy clients. Customers with service issues are quickly prompted to Direct Message the brand for faster, private order attention.




BT

BT, the UK communications group, updates the names of the agents manning BTCare on a daily basis. The team members on deck connect customers with service information while also directing them to relevant instruction materials for set-up.




Boingo

Boingo is a wireless provider (you may recognize the name from your last layover) that uses their Twitter profile both to address customer concerns as well as to broaden conversation around the brand. Boingo recognizes a Hotspot of the Day as well as links to daily “news of the weird.”




BlackBerry

BlackBerryHelp, also an Edelman client, puts a few faces to customer support. Brian, Scott. Thomas, Pavel, and Mike are a few RIM employees who actively engage customers looking for all types of BlackBerry related help opportunities. In addition, the team shares useful user tips and tags them with #bbtips so you can keep track and browse at your leisure.




Which companies have provided you with excellent customer service on Twitter?