HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have plans to use a callers voice as their password in an effort to speed up phone calls.
In systems that are being used by banks, a customer’s voice recording is turned into encrypted biometric data, which is then used when they call to clear security checks. HMRC are planning to trial a system like this.
HMRC has come under heavy fire for the poor handling of its customer service phone lines. According to statistics, for January through November last year, the phone line went dead on almost 44,000 callers who had been waiting 70 minutes.
The Public Accounts Committee in their January report concluded that HMRC was deliberately running a poor phone service to try and get taxpayers to use online help instead. Last year, HMRC announced that they were closing their phone line altogether between April and September. However, they had to reverse that decision the next day after a backlash.
It seems that efforts are now being made to modernise the phone service and make it more efficient.
If you are having difficulty contacting HMRC or would like help in dealing with them, please call us and we would be happy to help you!
See: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c07z5d0v79ko
UK businesses are increasingly worried about rising operating costs, with concern over both energy and fuel prices reaching their highest levels since the Office for National Statistics (ONS) began tracking them.
Small UK companies are being asked to develop security ideas and products for Britain’s transport sector with an unusually tight deadline. As the geopolitical situation becomes increasingly dangerous, with sabotage to the UK’s physical and cyber infrastructure by countries such as Russia and Iran increasing daily, new security projects are topping the government’s ‘hopeful’ list.
