Service improvement in call centres

The call centre industry relies upon technology; the conventional speech telephone, to serve customers. Call centres do not exist for the customer to physically interact with, apart from via the telephone, and are in effect virtual organizations. Hence, the criteria used to assess the service is different from a face-to-face service encounter. Whilst call centres have benefited customers, by increasing the time period that services are available, there is also evidence that it has frustrated them. This research aims to explore the contribution technology has made to service improvement in this emerging virtual servicescape.