David Winnick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Winnick on 2014-04-03.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will put arrangements in place to enable telephone callers to the Tax Credit Office in Preston to raise queries with an official rather than through the automatic telephone system.

Mr David Gauke

The introduction of HMRC’s Intelligent Telephony Automation (ITA) system has enabled HMRC to significantly reduce call handling and call waiting times and increase satisfaction.

The speech recognition technology system reacts to what the caller says instead of selecting an option by pushing a button on their phone. ITA allows customers to say what they want to discuss when they telephone HMRC. For the majority of customers, this means their queries are answered by tailored informational messages, without the need to speak to an adviser. If a customer still wants to speak to someone, ITA ensures the adviser is already aware of the customer’s reason for calling, offering a more effective customer service.

This enables HMRC to offer a more efficient and tailored customer service and where necessary, give the customer extra support.