Do Callers Prefer to Talk to a Person or an Automated Answering System?

In today’s mobile device driven society, one that has not changed is the desire to be able to speak to a live person instead of an automated answering system. Sure, automated systems are great when you want to find out if a payment to your account has posted or the balance in your checking account.

However, things easily become cumbersome, frustrating, and irritating for callers when they have to navigate through series after series of options before they are transferred to another queue and placed on hold. Some businesses have even resorted to disabling the ability to bypass the automated system’s options and pressing zero to get to a live person, forcing them to listen to every option.

The reason for automated systems stems from the fact they can provide self-service options to free up a live support agent’s time to dedicate to callers that need help beyond self-service offerings. While this can be a good thing, it can take away from the personalized experiences of speaking directly to a live person.

These live experiences can help put callers at ease while affording the live agent the ability to address customers’ concerns and reason well beyond the capabilities of an automated system. Plus, a computer cannot calm an irate or upset caller, which experienced telephone agents can.

Another reason businesses use automated systems is to better direct calls to the right customer service department. Often, as is the case in medium and large firms, there are different departments for billing issues, sales issues, and technical support issues. Using an automated system prevents customers from being routed to the wrong department.

When it comes to customer service and support, people, including your customers, want to talk to a live person, not an automated system. Even though automated systems might have their place to help route calls to English or Spanish speaking support agents, their use should be limited and help callers get to a live person quickly.

To learn more about our live telephone support services for your business, please call Personalized Communications at 1-800-606-9898 today!