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Kiwis willing to embrace AI as phone hold times decrease

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Wed, 11 Mar 2026, 9:30am
Photo / 123RF
Photo / 123RF

Kiwis willing to embrace AI as phone hold times decrease

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Wed, 11 Mar 2026, 9:30am

Kiwis are spending less time on hold to customer service call centres. 

Research from AI platform ServiceNow estimates New Zealanders spent 22 million hours waiting on hold last year – two million less than the year before. 

It says banks and retailers have the fastest resolution time of 2.4 days on average, while government and manufacturing lag behind at 6.5 days. 

ServiceNow Country Manager Kate Tulp told Mike Hosking the improvements are being driven by AI. 

She says 72% of New Zealanders say that they're willing to embrace AI and actually want to use self-service first. 

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