Mr. Taylor writes:

It would be funny if it weren't so depressing — and such bad business. Countless chief executives pledge to improve their company's products and services by listening to the "voice of the customer." Memo to the corner office: Answer the phone! How can companies listen to their customers if those customers have such a hard time reaching a human being when they call?

How indeed? We at Call Center have been saying it. So have some of the better vendors of speech and IVR systems. Who isn't getting it yet? How hard can it be? Why is this still an issue?

Taylor spoke to Richard Shapiro, of the Center for Client Retention, a company that measures customer service satisfaction through targeted phone interviews. "You create more value through a dialogue with a live agent. A call is an opportunity to build a relationship, to encourage customers to stay with the brand. There can be a real return on this investment."

Maybe, but why am I skeptical? Because I don't want a relationship with a company, much less its call center. I want my problems solved. See our editor Keith Dawson's thoughts on customer happiness in his editor's page last October.

Taylor talks about Commerce Bank, a company he credits with "injecting a playful spirit into a notoriously bland business." That's great, as long as it doesn't degenerate into employees offering "free smiles" and institutionalized "flair" à la Office Space.

Taylor notes: "To be sure, few companies can summon the everyday exuberance of Commerce Bank. But there is another cost-effective strategy for enhancing the human element: make the company so easy to do business with that fewer customers call with problems, which frees resources to meet the needs of those who do call."

That's true, and it reminds me of what Keith said in his editor's page: "The quickest way to create “happy customers” is to take advantage of the expectation gap that people walk in with. They expect a certain level of service. If you exceed it, you create interaction happiness."

But why do people call the call centers in the first place? I only call when something's wrong. Aren't most people like that? Taylor's next commenter is Mark Hurst of Creative Good, a consulting firm: "The reason people are dialing the 1-800 number is that they're having a bad experience in some other channel. If e-commerce were much, much simpler, a huge percentage of these calls would never be made."

Finally, as an exhibit of the concept above, Taylor talks to ING Direct, an online bank that has such simple services that their customers hardly ever call. "The key word for us is simplicity. If you eliminate service charges and hidden fees, you eliminate most of the problems and complaints. Then the only reason for people to call is to do business. And those are calls you're eager to take," said ING's Jim Kelly.