A University of Glasgow researcher has received a £40,000 grant to research the influence of voice tones for call centres. How voice tones make us feel and how they can persuade us to part with out money more freely are among some of the questions asked.

Suzy Orr, a PhD from the Department of English Language has received the grant from the Economic and Social Research Council.

"Suzy's work is very timely," explains Dr Jane Stuart-Smith at the Department of English Language. "While we all know intuitively that we alter our speech when we talk to other people, we actually know surprisingly little about the type of fine-grained adjustments to pronunciation that speakers make. Talking to agents in call centres is now a common activity for most people and provides the perfect opportunity to observe how and why speakers vary their speech during telephone mediated communication."

The pilot to Suzy's research was carried out in a Kwik-Fit insurance call centre in Uddingston last year. Suzy examined how agents were adjusting elements of their speech in order to be more like that of their customers. She focussed on "t-glottalling" (the sound in words like "butter") which is stereotypical of Glaswegian vernacular. The pilot supported the "accomodation theory" that suggests that if we want to gain someone's approval we change our language to be similar to their own.

"As a call centre with an excellent record of customer service, we are certain that our company and the industry as a whole would benefit from further research of this kind," explains Martin Oliver Managing Director of Kwik-Fit Financial Services in Uddingston. "We already receive a lot of feedback from out customers on the speed and fluency of our staff. Independent research may be important in determining our recruitment and training procedures in the future."

Suzy Orr explains: "My next study will examine calls made by telephone sales people working on outbound calls to answer questions such as 'What makes a good sales person?' and ' Are there any particular linguistic strategies they could use to achieve a sale?'"

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For further details please contact Mike Findlay at the University Press Office on 0141 330-8593 or email: m.findlay@admin.gla.ac.uk.

Suzy's aim is to provide crucial insights into the nature of communication in call centres. She would be delighted to hear from companies based in Glasgow city centre who would be interested in being involved. For further details please contact Suzy Orr directly on 0141 589-1817 or email:suzy_orr@yahoo.co.uk.

First published: 4 May 2004