§ Mr. Ben ChapmanTo ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many agencies of her Department use interactive voice response systems when dealing with telephone inquiries from the general public. [127115]
§ Mr. Ian McCartneyThe Government Car and Despatch Agency, which is the only agency of the Cabinet Office, does not normally deal with members of the general public and does not use interactive voice response systems.
The Central Office of Information is a department and executive agency that reports to my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office. It does not itself use interactive voice response systems when dealing with inquires that it receives directly from the general public. However, as part of its Direct Marketing services it employs agents, on behalf of Government clients, who use interactive voice response systems as a backup to live handling of calls.