Plan to end telephone inquiry maze
Relief may be at hand for callers frustrated and confused by automated government telephone services.
The Labour Department and Water Supplies Department are planning to install 'intelligent calling centres' which officials say will be more user-friendly.
The pilot systems will streamline directory menus, making the inquiry route more 'navigable'.
'It will be simpler and more user-friendly,' said Efficiency Unit assistant director Grace Pun Wu Kam-yin.
The proposals followed the Ombudsman's criticisms that callers often got stuck in the maze of directories governed by automated voice instructions.
Mrs Pun admitted the existing interactive voice response system failed to cope with growing demand after it was introduced to major departments in 1992.
'Frankly speaking, the service is not satisfactory,' she said.
The old system left operators unaware of what information the callers wanted when they escaped the automatic menu in search of human assistance.
'This annoys the callers if they have to tell their whole story again,' Mrs Pun said. The new system reveals a caller's 'history' to the operator immediately on a computer screen and is linked to the departments' databases, facilitating consistent replies to similar inquiries.
The number of callers waiting to talk to the operator and the lines engaged will also be displayed for a quicker response, she said.
The Finance Committee will be asked this month to approve funding for implementing the two projects early next year.
The scheme will be introduced to other departments if successful.
The unit is also exploring the idea of a 'one-stop' inquiry service for various departments.
