Most people have experienced problems when dealing with call centres, according to recent research. But to offer a better service, firms may need to improve their overall processes rather than just their technology.

According to Optimising the power of call centres, a report from research firm Mintel, most people have had bad experiences with call centres. In a survey of 2,000 people in the UK, only five percent said they had never had a problem when dealing with them.

The main reason for complaint concerned call centres leaving users on hold for long periods - almost two-thirds of respondents cited this as a frustration and a third said it led them to hang up. Forty-four percent were unhappy with automated and interactive voice response (IVR) systems, which often failed to offer appropriate options for redirecting calls.

To improve services, businesses should focus less on technology and more on strategy. Fazal Ahmad, customer relationship management (CRM) business manager at Logica Telecoms Solutions, said firms should empower call-centre staff to make more decisions, rather than requiring them to consult managers and keep customers waiting. "Firms need to say to staff, 'To this extent we'll give you the authority to get a deal and keep the customer,'" said Ahmad.

IVR systems could also be improved by ensuring IT staff work alongside business strategists when deciding on routing paths, said Ahmad. "There is the technology around to route calls to the right person, but you can't just expect the IT department to get this right. Companies need to think about how the customer likes to interact when designing the system."