TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROVIDERS SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESSES

Sydney, 3 June 2020: Complaints from small businesses to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) fell by 6.2 per cent during 2018-19.

Commenting on the TIO report into small business complaints, released today, Communications Alliance CEO, John Stanton, said the study provided useful insights into the ways in which small businesses and telco providers need to work collaboratively to continue to reduce service issues and complaint volumes.

“The report highlights what all parties can do to ensure small businesses get the best telco service possible, including a focus on ordering suitable communications services, providing accurate address details, managing faults and ensuring businesses have back-up plans in place.”

“The TIO has focused on the proportion of total complaints coming from small business, which is a reflection of the fact that complaints from residential customers fell even more rapidly last financial year (i.e. by 23.2 per cent) than did complaints from small businesses.

“Telecommunications services are vital to small businesses, and falling complaint numbers show that the hard work industry has been doing to improve the customer experience has been having an impact.”

As part of principles jointly agreed with the Federal Government, industry has also provided a range of benefits and initiatives to small businesses affected by COVID-19, in order to keep them connected, assist with financial hardship and provide options to help businesses successfully ‘hibernate’ until conditions allow them to re-open.