TransUnion Study Reveals Phone's Critical Role in Customer Engagement Despite Rise of Digital Channels

A 2025 TransUnion study reveals phones remain crucial for customer service, despite an increase in digital communication channels.

Quiver AI Summary

A recent study by Forrester Consulting, commissioned by TransUnion, reveals that despite the growing use of digital communication channels, the phone remains a vital tool for businesses, with 86% of decision-makers acknowledging it as their most important channel for customer service and revenue generation. The study highlights ongoing challenges, such as inaccurate contact data and the rise of call spoofing, which negatively impact customer trust and increase operational costs. While companies have reduced the number of outbound calls by 26%, they still rely on phone communication for urgent matters. Enhancing caller identification and implementing protection against call spoofing are seen as critical for improving customer engagement. The study emphasizes the importance of adapting outbound strategies to focus on urgent and personal communications to enhance the customer experience.

Potential Positives

• Study demonstrates that the phone remains a critical tool for customer engagement, highlighting its importance in enhancing sales and customer service strategies.
• TransUnion’s solutions, such as branded calling and call authentication, are positioned as effective measures to enhance customer experience, increase revenues, and mitigate fraud risk, aligning with market needs.
• Participation in the Enterprise Connect 2025 conference offers TransUnion a platform to showcase its innovations and engage with key industry decision-makers.

Potential Negatives

• Decision-makers noted a significant increase in customer service inquiries due to call spoofing, leading to increased operational costs, which indicates an ongoing challenge for the company in addressing security issues.
• 72% of decision-makers have observed a decline in customer trust due to call spoofing, suggesting a negative impact on customer retention that could affect long-term business performance.
• 55% of decision-makers reported inadequate call spoofing protection from current technologies, an increase from 38% since the previous study in 2022, highlighting a worsening situation regarding trust and security in their communications solutions.

FAQ

What is the main finding of the 2025 Forrester study commissioned by TransUnion?

The study found that 86% of decision-makers view the phone as the most important outbound channel for customer service and revenue growth.

How has the use of phone communications changed according to the study?

Decision-makers reported making 26% fewer calls but continued to rely on the phone for urgent service issues and personal matters.

What are the key pain points highlighted in the 2025 study?

Key pain points include inaccurate customer contact data and increasing threats from call spoofing, impacting customer engagement and trust.

What solutions do decision-makers believe improve customer engagement?

Improving customer engagement is tied to accurate caller ID, protection against call spoofing, and clear authentication indications on outgoing calls.

What impact does call spoofing have on customer trust?

72% of decision-makers reported a decline in customer trust due to call spoofing, negatively impacting retention and operational costs.

Disclaimer: This is an AI-generated summary of a press release distributed by GlobeNewswire. The model used to summarize this release may make mistakes. See the full release here.

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• TODD C. SKINNER (President, International) sold 3,090 shares for an estimated $313,573
• JENNIFER A. WILLIAMS (SVP, Chief Accounting Officer) sold 200 shares for an estimated $19,148

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Full Release

CHICAGO, March 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- While channels like email and messaging are more prevalent, the phone remains one of the most business-critical tools available, according to a 2025 study from Forrester Consulting, commissioned by TransUnion (NYSE: TRU). The study found 86% of decision-makers across a wide range of industries agree the phone is the most important outbound channel for meeting customer service goals and increasing revenues.

The study surveyed 719 decision-makers responsible for their company’s outbound call experience strategy, technology selection, and security. Its findings provide an update to the 2022 study and highlight key pain points, including inaccurate customer contact data and the threat of call spoofing. The full findings are available in the study,


Optimizing Outbound Communications: Strategies And Technologies For Effective Customer Engagement. The State of Outbound Communications in 2025


.

Decision-makers indicated their companies made 26% fewer calls while increasing use of other digital channels; however, the phone remains their top channel for urgent customer service issues and discussing personal matters.

“Business leaders understand the critical role communications solutions play in helping companies promote their brand while protecting consumers,” said James Garvert, senior vice president of TruContact™ Communications Solutions at TransUnion. “Adoption of customer contact, branded calling and call authentication solutions has proven to help businesses enhance the customer experience, increase revenues, and reduce fraud risk.”

Importance of communications and contact solutions




Three in four decision-makers say accurate caller information displayed on outbound calls is important for improving customer engagement and increasing answer rates. This rich content can be displayed through branded calling. Among the most valuable features of branded calling, respondents identified the following as “important” or “critical” to improving customer engagement and contact rates.

Most Important Features to Drive Customer Engagement

Damaging effects of fraud and call-spoofing




Decision-makers noted the need for protection against call spoofing, with 80% reporting an uptick in customer service inquiries due to call spoofing and subsequent increased operational costs.

In addition, 72% have observed a decline in customer trust due to call spoofing, directly affecting retention. Despite the recognized need for robust solutions, effective measures are elusive—and that problem appears to have gotten worse. The current survey found 55% of decision-makers said their current technologies lack adequate call spoofing protection, representing an increase from 38% since 2022.

The study notes that businesses can also improve customer experience by focusing their use of the phone channel on urgent and personal matters—when it is most valued—and by understanding and respecting consumers’ individual contact preferences.

Click here


to read Optimizing Outbound Communications: Strategies And Technologies For Effective Customer Engagement. The State of Outbound Communications 2025.

Learn more about TransUnion


Branded Call Display (BCD)


, part of the


Trusted Call Solutions (TCS)


suite, and our suite of


Customer Contact Intelligence solutions


.

TransUnion will be at Enterprise Connect 2025 at booth #1327. Senior Director of Product Management, Mick Moss, will be speaking at the show on Tuesday March 18, 2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. on the


Restoring Trust in the Voice Channel with Branded Calling


panel and on Thursday, March 20, 9:00 a.m. - 9:45 a.m. on the


Building Trust in Outbound Calling Systems


panel.

Survey Methodology



In this study, Forrester conducted an online survey of 719 decision-makers at automotive dealer, collections, financial services, healthcare, insurance, travel and hospitality, and wealth management organizations in the US to evaluate the current state of outbound communications. Survey participants included decision-makers in customer experience/service, call center/contact center, IT, IT security, marketing/advertising, operations, and risk/compliance/fraud. Respondents were offered a small incentive as a thank-you for time spent on the survey. The study was completed in November 2024.

About TransUnion (NYSE: TRU)



TransUnion is a global information and insights company with over 13,000 associates operating in more than 30 countries. We make trust possible by ensuring each person is reliably represented in the marketplace. We do this with a Tru™ picture of each person: an actionable view of consumers, stewarded with care. Through our acquisitions and technology investments we have developed innovative solutions that extend beyond our strong foundation in core credit into areas such as marketing, fraud, risk and advanced analytics. As a result, consumers and businesses can transact with confidence and achieve great things. We call this Information for Good

^®

— and it leads to economic opportunity, great experiences and personal empowerment for millions of people around the world.


http://www.transunion.com/business


.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.