Calling time on phone rage

Guidance on how to deal with angry customers with a bad case of phone rage is now available from the Scottish Government.

A new digital guide, designed to help workers and organisations tackle customer phone rage, has been launched by the Scottish Government in a bid to help reduce incidents of verbal abuse and encourage better reporting of the problem.

The guide, developed to protect and support workers whose job involves interacting with customers over the phone, takes the user on a journey through what constitutes phone rage, its impact and the consequences of ignoring it.  

A training section has been added to provide tips and advice for both staff and employers on how to manage aggressive callers effectively, including information on how to conduct a workplace audit and develop a policy for the protection of staff.

According to research by Capita UK, the top trigger of customer rage is the inaccessibility to the call being answered, such as the phone ringing out, being put on hold or queuing only for the phone to go dead. 

Although the frustration of the individual is recognised in these circumstances, the clear message behind the Scottish Government’s Violence at Work campaign is that any for of abuse is completely unacceptable, in some cases criminal, and should be reported to either an employer or the police.