Do Customers Like Queue Position Announcements?

How customers feel about queue position announcements and how it could be good for CX

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Do Customers Like Queue Position Announcements
Contact CentreInsights

Published: August 30, 2021

Anwesha Roy - UC Today

Anwesha Roy

Generally, it is recommended that you keep customers updated and informed as they wait on the call queue, making the process as transparent as possible. But can repeated announcements and the same statement over and over again get annoying? Can queue position announcements actually damage CX, counter-intuitive to its intended purpose?  

Let’s discuss the pros and cons of queue position announcements in more detail, and how you could leverage them most effectively.  

3 Reasons Why Queue Position Announcements are Important for CX

  1. It keeps the customer in the loop and lets them plan 

Wait times on call queues can vary widely across peak business periods and intervals when traffic is especially low. Without a queue position statement, the customer might assume that the wait time will be an average of 1-2 minutes. When they have to wait for 5+ minutes at a stretch, it causes frustration and call abandonment. Announcing the queue position can address this so that customers can hang up if they cannot afford to wait. They also get an idea of which are your peak periods and plan interactions accordingly. In the long term, this leads to greater engagement and a stronger brand relationship.  

  1. It prevents the wait time from appearing longer than it is actually is 

When we wait, time tends to stretch out endlessly, making wait periods appear much longer than they actually are. This is because of human perception of unoccupied time, and our intrinsic tendency to think about the act of waiting when there is nothing else to distract us. Queue position announcements keep customers engaged and involved, providing incremental gratification as they can understand how the queue is progressing and what is the pace of change.  

  1. Queue position announcements reassure the customer with a human voice 

In a hyperconnected world, there’s always some form of self-service or alternative interaction channel (chat, email, etc.) available to the customer. That’s why when a customer reaches out to your contact centre, it means they want support from a live agent through real-time and synchronous communication. A thoughtfully recorded queue position announcement can offer customers immediate attention and reassurance, even before an agent is available. This can significantly improve CX, depending on the recording script and tonality you use.  

The Possible Downside  

Despite the three clear benefits discussed above, customers may not be happy with hearing queue position announcements when on hold. This is primarily due to misconfigured recordings and playback – the announcement may be played too frequently, even if there is no real change in queue position. A synthetic voice (as opposed to a human one) can add to the sense of frustration. Finally, it might be more advisable to announce the estimated time to answer so that the customer isn’t annoyed by queue skipping or ineffective queue management.  

Call centre queues will always be part of the support experience, as long as there is a heavy reliance on voice. By proactively tackling the downside and maximising the advantages, you can turn queue position announcements into a competitive advantage for CX.  

 

 

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