UK Public Sector Hold Times Now Worse Than Banks, Claims New 8x8 Survey

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[{"type":"text","content":"\nHealthcare and government agencies top the frustration list as 75% of Brits say poor routing and long waits undermine urgent calls\n\n\n LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nThree out of four UK consumers say they often fail to reach the right department when calling about an urgent issue – and many won’t wait more than 10 minutes on hold, according to a new survey commissioned by 8x8, Inc. (NASDAQ: EGHT), the industry’s most integrated platform for customer experience (CX).\n\n\nThe Streetview survey revealed that even when the matter is critical, 31% of respondents will abandon a call within 10 minutes. For an urgent text message, 70% of Brits expect a reply within five minutes.\n\n\nLess than 0.2% – four people – said they would stay on a call for more than an hour.\n\n\nAcross the UK, people in Cardiff were the most impatient with almost 8% saying they would hang up in under five minutes, compared to 1.4% in Norwich.\n\n\nHealthcare and government agencies top the frustration list - and women are more annoyed than men\n\n\nHistorically, banks have been on the receiving end of the majority of caller frustration. But with only 28% of respondents citing current frustrations with bank wait times, essential public services now draw the most ire from callers:\n\n\n\n35% cite healthcare providers as their top source of hold time frustration.\n\n\n\n33% point to national government agencies, such as HMRC and DVLA.\n\n\n\n31% name local councils for delays resolving basic issues like council tax or bin and trash collection.\n\n\n\nWomen reported higher frustration with healthcare wait times than men (41% vs. 28%). While most of the country was aligned in annoyance at wait times, slight regional differences did emerge, with North West residents being the least tolerant of local council delays.\n\n\nThe findings come after an 8x8 survey earlier this year showing that 62% of the UK demands fines for companies that keep them on hold for too long.\n\n\n“Wait times are a solvable problem”\n\n\n“UK consumers won’t tolerate long wait times or poor call routing for urgent matters,” said Jamie Snaddon, EMEA Managing Director at 8x8, Inc. “In an age of AI, chatbots, and multiple contact options, wait times are a solvable problem. Businesses need to modernize contact center strategies with intelligent routing, automated callbacks, and real-time messagin...

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