Hello, is there anybody home?

Online brokers' phone services have often come under fire from clients trying to get through in busy periods to make a quick trade, only to be left holding the phone for periods of five, ten minutes or more while another trading opportunity slips slowly by. Both service and price have at times been designed to discourage clients from using the phone service and occupying more valuable human resources. A range of developments have taken place in the last year that have gone some way to address this previously perceived shortfall in an online broker’s service. While online brokers have encouraged clients to mouse click rather than phone dial, a number of developments have seen resources directed to the phone. The tech wreck of April 2000 and the ensuing slide in world markets has made people more cautious, a factor which can be addressed by placing trades by phone and reintroducing the human element. The advent of interactive voice recognition (IVR) technology, currently used by Commonwealth Securities, Merrill Lynch HSBC and TD Waterhouse, now allows clients to place phone trades without human intervention. There are some though that think IVR technology is missing the point ie investors who are using the phone are looking for human interaction, not technology that boasts no human intervention. A couple of the smaller discount brokers are promoting themselves based upon the personalised phone service delivered from experienced dealers. Two of these are Andrew West and Rivkin Discount Stockbroking which both execute far more phone trades than online trades. While not full advisory services, you do get access to experienced dealers who will manage the timing of your trade in the market. It would appear that the next development will be a more seamless integration with full advisory services. While it may appear that broking will complete the circle the client now has far greater choice of service and access to information.