Press Release 16th May 2013 - On Hold for Seven Years
A self-confessed 'call centre menu enthusiast' has quit his job as an IT Manager to launch a one-man crusade against automated customer phone systems. Nigel Clarke has devoted seven years to researching, calling and cataloguing the intricate phone menus of several hundred companies - from BT to Virgin Holidays. The results of this research are revealed today on his website pleasepress1.com. One trial user of the service described the codes as "the biggest breakthrough this side of the Enigma machine."
Nigel has made more than 12,000 documented calls to call centres, gathering vital data to save millions from undue time wastage and stress. House movers, insurance claimants, mobile phone users and many more will save hours thanks to Nigel's work which will enable them to skip past the annoying automated voice menus. In his work Nigel also found that two thirds of call centres (68%) use introductions or additional advertising between options.
According to Nigel, the worst call centres have more than 80 options in their phone menus with up to 7 levels of menu. "Some might say this is the modern equivalent of Dante's circles of hell." said Nigel. An example is HMRC, where it can take up to 6 minutes just to get through their phone menus before a long wait in the queue at the consumer's expense. As one of the UK's busiest call centres, they receive 79 million calls per year, or a potential 4.3 million working hours just navigating menus. Nigel believes that with better menu design, at least 3 million caller hours could be saved here alone.
The cost of waiting is enormous. This combined 'navigation time' across all companies could be costing UK consumers an incredible £100million** in phone charges every year.
By using the simple telephone key codes that Nigel is publishing today, typically, consumers will be able to shave several minutes off their call times to contact centres.
Some of the most extreme examples include:
Nigel believes his campaign has the potential to save almost 1 billion** minutes of call time per year by shortening soul-destroying codes.
Nigel, who has launched a local Call Centre Menu Enthusiasts Group, said: "Everyone knows that calling your insurance or gas company is a pain but for most, it's not an everyday problem. However, the cumulative effect of these calls is really quite devastating when you're moving house or having an issue. I've been working in IT for over 30 years and nothing gets me riled up like having my time wasted through inefficient design. This is why I've devoted the best part of seven years to solving this issue."
Steve Bryant, who recently moved house said: "During the move, I would guess that I've spent around six hours on the phone. From updating my details to cancelling a direct debit, every job involving a call centre would fill me with dread. Even when I knew exactly what I wanted, the options would leave me confused or at the mercy of yet another transfer."
- Ends -
* HMRC 79,000,000 calls per year. Average menu takes 3m 20 secs to navigate = 263,070,000 mins. That's 1 million mins per day (260 working days per year) or 7 working years per day (average UK working day of 8.25 hrs)
** assumes 40 million adults in UK make 24 calls per year to call
centres = 960,000,000 calls
If each saved just 1 minute @ 10p a minute = £96million.
Although some calls are free, they cost the companies money to
receive them
Many calls from mobiles cost over 40p per minute.
Please Press 1 is free to use, and saves people money on expensive
call costs.
About PleasePress1
The Please Press 1 website (pleasepress1.com) helps users to quickly 'Press Ahead' through the menu options to the service they require. The website displays the menu options available, often shortening calls by several minutes, saving time, expensive call costs and much frustration.
We believe that good customer service should come as standard, and that this should extend to the phone menu systems that customers have to navigate. Our aim is for companies to give much more consideration to their customers when designing these menus, by making them as simple and quick to use as possible.