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Time taken to respond to initial contacts

Chapter 4

4.1 Similar to results reported in April 2003, 57% of contacts claimed to have received a response within Oftel’s target time-scales. Due to slight changes to the survey, results for phone and written contacts from the first two surveys are not directly comparable to the latest results.

Meeting Oftel’s targets

4.2 Throughout this study those who made written contacts (including email) appear most likely to remember receiving a response within the time-scales Oftel has set. Consistently high proportions of email contacts remember receiving a response within Oftel’s 2 day target. However, this wave indicates a slight fall (from 77% to 63%) which is consistent with the lower response rate reported in Oftel’s statistics that show that 79% of replies were sent in 2 days compared to 89% 6 months ago. The lower levels may reflect the increased number of contacts directed to Oftel during this period, which were combined with lower staffing levels at this time. The differences between the research data and Oftel’s statistics may relate to the time-lapse between emails being sent and accessed by the recipient.

4.3 The proportion of written contacts (via letter) receiving a full reply within seven days (allowing for postage), remains stable at around 7 in 10 (68%), again lower than reported in Oftel statistics which indicate full replies were sent to 94% of letters within 4 days.

4.4 Around half (54%) of all phone contacts said their enquiry/complaint was resolved or referred on the same day and a further 12% were unsure. However, 99% of calls during this period were dealt with on the same day they were made, according to Oftel’s statistics.

Figure 4a: % consumers received reply within Oftel’s target
Base: All consumers contacting Oftel, May’03 - Oct ’03 (Base: email 59, phone 382, letter 70)

Yes No Dont Know

Did you receive a FULL response to your letter within seven working days?*

63% 27% 10%

Did you receive a FULL response to your letter within seven working days?*

68% 19% 13%

Was your phone call enquiry/ complaint resolved or referred on the same day?

54% 33% 12%

* apply caution as base size less than 100

Telephone queuing system

4.5 Oftel uses an automated queuing system which consumers will be forwarded to if an advisor is unavailable. During the period May to October 2003 a fifth of phone contacts were held in a queue when they called Oftel. This figure is broadly similar to last wave, which is perhaps surprising given the higher proportion of contacts Oftel received during this final period of research. Similar to previous findings, the vast majority (94%) of consumers held on to speak to an advisor. Overall, it is appears that the queuing system is not a barrier to consumers wishing to contact Oftel.

4.6 8 in 10 consumers phoning Oftel called just once before speaking to an advisor as shown in figure 4b. While this has fallen from 85% in November 2002 this may well be a reflection of the increased level of calls received during this period combined with low staffing levels. However, overall consumers do not appear to experience problems contacting Oftel by telephone.

Figure 4b: Average number of times consumer called before speaking to advisor
Base: All consumers contacting Oftel by phone, May ’03 – Oct ’03 (Base: 382)

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