Call centres missing out

Many call centres are missing out on the latest industry technology, a new study has suggested, according to Direct Response.

According to research by Rostrvm Solutions, only 31% of consumer care complexes are using computer telephone integration (CTI).

The work found larger call centres are more likely to deploy this equipment, with 46% of those with more than 100 agents doing so, compared to 28% of those with fewer than 100 workers.

Axed Shop Direct staff were given a glimmer of hope today after industry experts said the call centre industry still had a future, Liverpool Echo reports.

The reassurance came as the company announced the closure of its Crosby contact centre, leaving 1 000 former Littlewoods workers facing redundancy.

But, according to a spokesman for call centre industry body Call Northwest, rival firms have already been in touch offering jobs to staff.

More than 10 000 Telecom customers affected by a fault that cut Internet access, in some cases since Friday, have been told to check a Web site for updates despite having no connection, reports The Dominion Post.

One such customer, Lee Keating, of Paraparaumu, said he had been without Internet access since Friday and was fed up. Telecom's outsourcing of its call centres to Manila had added to the confusion about the fault and when it would be fixed, he says.

"They can't understand English. They don't know enough about New Zealand."