Cati Survey Usability And Its Importance

By Author: Faith Call Center
Total Articles: 49
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The technique of computer assisted telephone interviewing may be termed as a telephone survey technique in which the interviewer follows a
script which has been provided by a computer software. This software has a built-in logic which enhances the accuracy of the data thus obtained. The computer application is able to customize the flow of the questionnaire on the basis of the provided by the candidate and the information already known about the one facing the interview.

A Computer Aided Telephone Interviewing may proceed in the following manner:

• A computerized questionnaire is administered to the candidates over the phone.

• The interviewer sits in front of a computer screen and when instructed the computer dials the telephone number of the candidate to be called.

• When the participant is contacted, the interviewer reads the questions on the computer screen and records the respondent's answers directly into the computer.

• The program will personalize the questions and has the control for logically incorrect answers.

...
... • As the computer-assisted telephone interviewing software has a built-in logic, it skips those questions which are not applicable.

• This program can be constructed to place the results in such a format that can be read by statistical analysis programs.



A CATI survey can prove themselves as the most powerful method of approaching the target market. It makes the process of reaching to the respondents from a good customer database or random direct dialing easy. These telephone surveys are, generally, carried out by trained interviewers.

The advantages of these telephonic surveys are:

• These enhance the level of quality control of a business entity.

• These ensure that the questions are asked in the proper order to the correct candidate.

• These make it easier to reach low incidence segments.

• These surveys avoid potential errors as they enter the data automatically.

However, there are certain disadvantages of these surveys which are mentioned below:

• The interviewer has to wait for the time of the candidate so as to ensure that the candidate is not engaged and able to answer questions.

• It can prove itself very costly in the case if the candidates for telephonic interviews are difficult to find.

• The duration of the survey has to be limited to 15 minutes.

• It may not be easy to ask about sensitive topics.

• There may be a possibility of an interviewer's bias for a specific candidate.

Actually, these telephonic interviews are, somehow, similar to those standard interviews. The only difference is that the telephonic interviews are conducted by a virtual interviewer instead of a human being. Many candidates welcome these types of interview as it saves their time and they can get themselves interviewed for a job at any time. However, many respondents get annoyed with these interviews. Many a times, there are professionals who are responding to these surveys regarding their specialized tools. Like, teachers providing responses to the surveys conducted about the textbooks etc. The most beneficial thing of these telephonic interviews is that the human factor is totally removed hence, the chances of potential errors are reduced to a great extent.