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Hosted Call Centers Getting Better: Survey

By TMCnet Staff

When it comes to contact center customer service, a new report says about 60 percent of consumers reported they’ve seen an improvement in the service since 2013. Yet despite these improvements, there are a couple of areas that still need attention, among which is the concern and frustration such as incompetent and inarticulate agents. These numbers are according to a survey by CorvisaCloud of more than 1,200 consumers who are dealing with call centers.

The report looked at a number of different trends, including keeping customers happy and industries with excellent and poor customer service. The survey also looked at the top way contact centers are working to keep customers happy. The report was also done in 2013 and there was a 10 percent increase in the frequency of people contacting customer service.

The most interesting part, for contact centers is that customers still largely prefer using the phone over any other medium for making contact. Some 55 percent of survey respondents said they preferred using the phone over Web forms and chat. “Technology has made it possible for businesses to provide support to more customers, at all times of the day and week, and through a variety of channels. In today's 'go go go' world, that makes a big difference and can be especially valuable for smaller businesses with fewer staff resources," Matt Lautz, president and chief information officer for CorvisaCloud, told eWEEK.

The survey looked at a variety of different factors including time of day, when it came to what customers prefer. Forty-three percent said they pick up the phone to call customer service operators in the afternoon, while 40 percent said they do so in the morning. Hold times are still a big issue when it comes to keeping customers happy. The survey found that as many as 32 percent of contact center customers will hang up if they have been waiting longer than five minutes.