Autumn 2006

Work done at some contact centres is wildly inefficient, especially in the public service sector, according to Contactcentres.com, an independent consultancy in this market. It maintains that almost double the workload could be handled by up to 50 per cent less resource. According to director Judith Pokora: "Currently the industry is unregulated with no independent body to represent the views of consumers."

According to Pokora and fellow-director Ian Munro, many companies aren't using their technology properly, leading to inefficient call handling and longer queuing times for increasingly frustrated customers.

In response, the organisation says it plans to set up what it calls a "centre of excellence" in contact centre management. It will highlight best practice, and aims to demonstrate "how it should be done." As examples of good practice, the company cites developments by existing clients such as AXA, Hutchinson 3G and HBOS, which are said to have made "swift, dramatic and profitable changes".