Research has suggested that the complexity of modern mobile phones is leaving users frustrated and angry, with 61 percent of those interviewed saying that setting up a new phone is as challenging as moving your bank account.
Compiled by Mformation, the survey, which questioned 4,000 people in the UK and US, found that 85 percent of users were frustrated by the difficulty of getting a new phone working. 95 percent of those interviewed said that if the initial set-up was easier, they would be willing to try more new services.
Mformation spokesman Matthew Bancroft said, "There is an enormous range of things modern phones are capable of doing but the paradox is that many people are not using these capabilities." He added that users who have a bad experience trying to get a feature to work will often not try again. "If an application does not work once or twice, they just will not use it or try again," he said.
Bancroft also said that many people were spending an hour or more trying to get their new handset to do what they wanted, when it should only take 15 minutes or so.
Director of devices, software and platforms at mobile analysts CCS Insight, Geoff Blaber, said that it is a problem that mobile operators are trying to solve, with many investing in staff training and in-store help desks which can help customers get more out of their phones.
Blaber added that giving customers more help with their phones is good business too. "Operators are trying to move revenues away from a reliance on voice and text which are declining. To make that transition they need to be sure that the services are identifiable and easy to configure and use," he said.