Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4511870.stm

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People phoning government call centres face "chaos", with more than a third of calls not being answered, the Liberal Democrats have said.
Figures obtained by the party show that since 2003 over 119m calls - or 36.6% of those made - were abandoned, went unrecorded or met with an engaged tone.

Of the 10 departments included in the figures, the Department for Work and Pensions missed most calls - 62m.

It says it has improved in the past six months with only 7.7% of calls missed.

However, Lib Dem work and pensions spokesman David Laws said the public was facing "enormous frustration" and "chaos".

The hotline with the worst record was that for Attendance Allowance/Disability Living Allowance, with 79% of calls abandoned, met with an engaged tone or lost in the system;

Mr Laws said: "The government's direct line to the public is failing.

"Over 119 million phone calls from the public have been missed since 2003 - a colossal waste of people's time and an enormous frustration.

"Over one in three people calling government helplines are receiving engaged tones or abandoning calls when they should be able to speak to an adviser."

He said the government had to get its helplines working and had to simplify the welfare system because the complexity was generating the "huge call volumes".

Mr Laws said the actual number of missed calls was higher than 119 million, as not all departments had provided information.
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And I thought one of the main benefits of rip-off 084/087 numbers was to improve call handling. Lies, lies and yet more lies.

idb wrote on Dec 9^th, 2005 at 11:43am:

And I thought one of the main benefits of rip-off 084/087 numbers was to improve call handling. Lies, lies and yet more lies.

Does this add fuel to our cause and getting it publicity in the media? Perhaps an investigation by You and Yours.

How long are these unsuccessful calls? A FOI request will probably work here as they must know, as they always say that these numbers give them their beloved call statistics.

How much has this cost the caller and how much has the government department made?

why can I just see a response saying....
"But if we didnt use NGN we wouldnt be able to give you, your stats!"