2nd December, 2008 - Telephonetics VIP, a leading provider of speech recognition and intelligent customer interaction technology, surveyed attendees at Call Centre Expo [1] to ascertain how they are going to exit the current economic climate in a stronger position. Loud and clear, we heard that focus on the customer is key. The winners will be those who strive to keep their customers happy, whilst also trying to save money. 

And this is where automation plays a crucial part. The routine and repetitive can be automated to give customers a clear and consistent way of transacting. As part of that automation, an immediate survey can be carried out giving management incredibly valuable information about how they are viewed by their customers (or suppliers or employees).

100% of respondents cited customer surveys as important. 100% also wanted to improve their response rates. Organisations are keen to learn customer opinion but do not have the resources available to collect the data, or worry that the act of asking a customer for input will of itself create customer unhappiness! Customer opinion is especially important in the current uncertain economic climate. Those organisations that listen to and focus on meeting their customers’ needs are best placed to emerge a stronger organisation against competitors in the current challenging marketplace[2].

60% of respondents took payments over the telephone, although only 25% of respondents took 50% or more of their payments in this way. However all respondents agreed that payment security was a concern. Key reasons why automation can play here: using automation for payment services allows customers to make payments at a convenient time, and removing the need to speak with a human operator enhances privacy of financial data.

92% of respondents found that answering brochure requests was time consuming, did not add value to the customer experience and agreed that automating such requests would be of benefit. With Telephonetics VIP solutions, an organisation can transfer between real life interaction and automation, ensuring the transactional piece is done efficiently whilst the customer also has the chance to hear about any new offers or information from a live agent.

Anthony Mckay, Chief Executive Officer, Telephonetics VIP summarises: “The findings of our survey quite clearly demonstrate that there is a real need for automation and the benefits it can provide within the contact centre environment.  In particular, there is great value in collecting and acting upon information from customers. We have seen this need increase steadily and expect to see this trend continue over the coming year especially considering the economic slowdown which will force organisations to save money but not at the expense of customer satisfaction”.


[1] Telephonetics VIP randomly conducted a survey of 60 attendees at Call Centre Expo on 15th & 16th September 2008. The questionnaire was in conjunction with a competition entry. Call Centre Expo attracts high-level decision makers from customer service, operations, contact centres, HR, marketing, sales and IT from key organisations across all market sectors.  The information collected is not statistically significant. Survey questions are available by emailing [email protected].

[2] In a recent Policy Voice survey conducted by the IoD, 1114 IoD members responded to the question “Thinking of the current economic situation, has your organisation made any of the following changes to its business practices?” drew the conclusion that “After 15 years of economic growth the party is over. Across the whole economy companies are undoubtedly leaner and fitter this time around compared with the last recession. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t significant savings to be made. Budget setting for 2009 is going to be a very tough process in order to squeeze out every possible cost saving.”