County council bosses have paid for a new ‘easy listening’ soundtrack to please on-hold callers...and say customers are loving the new tunes.
Lincolnshire County Council had been receiving complaints about the ‘unpalatable’ default hold music that greeted customers ringing up for the Call Connect bus service so in February switched to using commercial songs.
The council said the move, which costs £175 a year, has helped stop customers from hanging up in frustration.
Coun Richard Davies Executive Member for Highways at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “People can be kept waiting for a few minutes at peak times so we use commercial songs for our on-hold music. Quite frankly, our callers love it.
“It costs just £175 per year and since we introduced it, we have reduced our abandoned call rate by half – from 4,000 calls per month to just 1,600.
“I would, however, like to take this opportunity to apologise for our use of the Lighthouse Family’s Ocean Drive. I accept this was a deplorable lapse in judgement and we deserve all the criticism we get.
“In our defence, it was either that or M People’s Movin On Up.”
Call Connect is the on-demand bus service that helps serve residents who are not on the county’s main service routes.
The full list of tracks used:
Everywhere – Fleetwood Mac
Penny Lover – Lionel Richie
Easy Like Sunday Morning – Lionel Richie
Dock of The Bay – Ottis Reading
Fall From The Stars – Simply Red
High – Lighthouse Family
Ocean Drive – Lighthouse Family
One of Us – Abba
Winner Takes It All – Abba
Say A Little Prayer – Aretha Franklin
Don`t Know Why – Norah Jones
Say What You Want – Texas
Stand By You – Pretenders
Suddenly – Billy Ocean
Time After Time – Cyndi Lauper
Waiting For A Star – Boy meets girl
Dreams – Fleetwood Mac
Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong
Nine Million Bicycles – Katie Melua