A new study into voice branding established that 52 per cent of consumers preferred Queen’s English whilst 34 per cent found Scottish accents to be most pleasing to the ear when speaking with someone in a call centre. ‘Scouse’ and ‘Brummie’ accents however were deemed the least appealing according to the study conducted by YouGov.

Following these findings, Nuance Communications has highlighted the importance of voice branding for business sales and customer services within off-shored call centres. Whilst many organisations continue to pursue the strategy of offshoring customer call centres in the belief that it will prove most cost effective, YouGov’s research reveals that around two-thirds of Britons find non-British accents hard to understand.

Ian Turner, Northern European general manager, Nuance Communications explains, “This research highlights a real business opportunity to those savvy enough to realize the importance of voice in portraying a brand in a call centre, businesses cannot afford to let the sound of their brand fall by the wayside as this can impact hugely on the public perception of a business. CEOs must take this factor into consideration if they are to successfully integrate the sense of their brand across their customer facing offerings.”