None other than Accenture -- a longtime advocate of Customer Relationship Management technology -- has pronounced CRM a virtual failure in the telecom industry. Citing its own survey of 1000 UK consumers, it notes that CRM technology has not improved customer service.

Despite heavy investments in CRM on the service provider side, over half of respondents claim to have switched service providers because of poor service. "These findings are troubling for any industry with heavy customer interaction, given that poor service was the predominant reason for half of the respondents changing service providers in one industry or another last year," says John Freeland, global managing partner at Accenture's CRM practice. "Winning companies strike the right balance between using technology to help reduce costs, and streamlining the customer experience with well-considered processes that contribute to more personalized services."

One key annoyance was "technologies that delay or stop service" among 20% of respondents. However, long hold times was the key annoyance for 82%. Average UK consumers spend as much as six minutes on hold and speak to an average of 2.7 customer reps as they try to solve problems.

"I am not surprised by this report. It's a classic example of rolling out technology and expecting it to solve all your problems," says Chris Boorman, vice president of marketing for Europe at Salesforce.com. "Organizations need to focus on meeting business requirements first and foremost. They should not adapt to technology. Technology should adapt to companies, and it's crucial to customize for each industry. You cannot have an off-the-shelf product that suits every vertical sector."