Consumers happy to hear from automated voice systems

More and more people are warming to the idea of receiving messages from automated voice systems, according to a report from BT and Nortel.

The survey of more than a thousand consumers in the UK and US found that seven in ten people would be happy to receive a call that used voice recognition to inform them that their plane, train or bus would be delayed.

While eight in ten people said they would look favourably on automated calls that informed them of the time of delivery of goods to their homes.

The research appears to challenge the view that people don’t like interacting with automated voice systems.

“It is a misconception that people are afraid of machines and always prefer human interaction,” said Andrew Small, head of CRM capability, BT Global Services.

“Business should be awake to this and consider how, why and when customers want to use a certain channel of communication.”

The report, Fragvergence: Changing consumer attitudes to diverse contact channels, found that two thirds of people would prefer companies to use advanced voice recognition to reduce their costs.