Xogsiiye Survey Report
Department of Public Relations
Table of Contents
- Introduction............................................................................................................................ 3
- Objectives and Methods........................................................................................................ 3
- Results................................................................................................................................... 4
List of Figures
Figure 1. Frequency of the number of calls made by phone number...................................... 3
Figure 2. IVR sections of interest.............................................................................................. 4
Figure 5. Did you find the Xogsiiye service useful?.................................................................. 5
Figure 6. If less or not useful, why?.......................................................................................... 5
Figure 3. How did you hear about Xogsiiye?............................................................................ 6
Figure 4. What do you think is the best way to promote this service?..................................... 6
In the 4th quarter of 2020 the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism (MoTIT) together with Shaqodoon and Spark, launched the Xogsiiye Interactive Voice Response (IVR) service. Xogsiiye provides information about how to register and license a business, access to financial services, access to business development services, and information about tourist sites and planning.
The system received a great deal of attention in the first months of operation. However, the number of calls gradually declined from 881 in December 2020 to 94 in March 2021. As a measure to investigate and address potential issues with the service, the MoTIT conducted a survey in April 2021.
The results of the survey are presented in this report. Section two briefly explains the main objectives and survey methods. Section three delves into the survey results. Section four summarises.
The IVR Survey aimed at:
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- Understanding what type of information callers seek to obtain.
- Evaluating user acceptance and satisfaction.
- Identifying the main sources of information through which callers knew about Xogsiiye.
- Identifying actions for improving the outreach and usability of Xogsiiye.
To this end, the team identified a total of 365 callers out of the 1119 calls made from December to March. Callers were identified based on their phone number, which assumed they do not use more than one phone number and that the same phone number cannot be used by two or more people. Considering only callers that called a maximum of 20 times, the average number of calls by user was 5.6. Figure 1 below shows the number of calls by phone number. It is reasonable to expect that callers call more than once, as this can be thought of as a means to go back to the main menu and explore different options. It is surprising to find some users called more than 20 times, and further exploration would be needed to determine why this was the case.
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200 |
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150 |
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100 |
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50 |
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Based on the above, the Xogsiiye team aimed at calling all 365 IVR users, achieving a response rate of 27.3% and a total of 100 complete interviews. Most of these respondents (83%) were based in Maroodijeex, followed by Awdal (7%), Toghdeer (6%), Saaxil (2%), Sanaag (1%) and Sool (1%). The total number of interviews conducted is far from the ideal
(188). In light of this and for the sake of simplicity, population parameters have not been estimated and the analysis is based on descriptive statistics of the 100 interviewees. Yet, these are still highly valuable and are expected to be consistent with population characteristics.
Data were collected by phone interviews undertaken by the Xogsiiye team between the 10th and 29th of April 2021. Interviews were conducted using the Computer-Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) software KoBo Toolbox. The Xogsiiye team combines officers from the Departments of Trade, ICT, and Planning, which were responsible for different tasks, including quality control. For the purpose of conducting the survey, 8 MoTIT officers were trained. This demonstrates good inter-departmental coordination. Data cleaning and analysis was carried out at the Department of Planning and Development with external support in report writing and data analysis.
IVR Sections of Interest
Out of the 100 interviewees, interest in using Xogsiiye was focused on obtaining information about how to register and license a business, and about funding options. In total, 84 respondents called seeking information about either these two areas or one of them. Information about tourist sites and planning, and business development services featured as less prominent (Figure 1).
Figure 2. IVR sections of interest
Business Registration and
Licensing
Finance
Tourism and Planning
Business Development
0 20 40 60
Number of Respondents
User Satisfaction
With regard to user satisfaction, 88% of respondents found the Xogsiiye service useful, with 55% indicating it is very useful, 27% useful, 8% less useful, and 12% not useful at all. Out of those who thought the service was less useful than expected, or did not find it useful at all, they argued that information was not detailed enough or the call cost was too high. Respondents also highlighted that it took too long to reach the information they needed.
Figure 3. Did you find the Xogsiiye service useful?
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Yes; very useful Yes; useful Yes; but less
useful
No; not useful at all
Figure 4. If less or not useful, why?
No detailed information
Cost is high
Too long to listen
Other
Information is not organised
0 5 10 15
Number of Respondents
Interviewees were also asked whether they thought that further information should be included in the service or the existing information was adequate. 18% answered additional information should be included. This is aligned with the 13 respondents who argued they found the IVR system less useful or not useful at all because the information provided required further detail. 82% responded that the existing information was adequate.
Communication Channels
An important component of the survey was to identify the most effective marketing channels. In this regard, most respondents knew about Xogsiiye through social media. The second most common channel of information was ‘word of mouth’. News in TV ranked the last. 14% of respondents indicated they knew about Xogsiiye through other channels. These were, mainly, SMS messages and through Shaqodoon’s own advertising. In turn, when asked about what they thought was the best channel of communication, social media was the most preferred option, indicated by 89 respondents. This was followed by local TV advertisements and the use of billboards, which were recognised as effective by 27 and 7 respondents, respectively. Finally, 3 respondents suggested using SMS messages.
Figure 5. How did you hear about Xogsiiye?
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Social media News in TV Word of mouth Other
Figure 6. What do you think is the best way to promote this service?
Social media
Local TV
Billboards
Other
Newspapers
0 20 40 60 80 100
Number of Respondents
Recommendations
Finally, interviewers asked an open question in relation to recommendations for further improvement of the service. Responses can be grouped as follows:
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- Strengthen advertising efforts: Generally speaking, they argued that they found the service useful and that it is important that a larger number of people know about Xogsiiye. Some respondents also indicated they only heard about Xogsiiye once, suggesting that advertising is important not just in terms of the marketing channel used but also with respect to the frequency and length throughout which advertisement campaigns are held active.
- Improve the service: 12 people argued that the service needs improvement. They did not detail in which way it should be improved, most likely because they already did in other parts of the interview.
- Reduce or eliminate the cost of calls. This is aligned with similar responses to other interview questions and this response was given by 6 interviewees.
Apart from the above, there were interesting proposals such as increasing the information about tourist sites so as to trigger the interest of the caller. Some interviewees recommended summarising the information provided and this way reduce the call length. Also, they suggested establishing a ‘call back’ service option. The latter has already been addressed and the Xogsiiye team is now able to call back callers who requested further information. Finally, it is worth mentioning 31 respondents used this question to encourage and congratulate the Ministry and project partners on the work done.
As part of the Xogsiiye project, this survey has analysed the extent to which customers are satisfied with the service provided, the main information they were seeking to obtain, the main communication channels through which they knew about the existence of Xogsiiye, and the recommendations they would make to improve the service.
Overall, respondents found Xogsiiye useful, with only 12% of respondents indicating they did not find Xogsiiye useful at all. They highlighted that information is not detailed enough, the cost is too high, and that it is too long to listen as the main reasons why they were dissatisfied with the service. It is interesting to note the conflict between increasing the detail of the information provided while also reducing the duration of calls. Reconciling these two critiques will require creative solutions from the Xogsiiye teams and partners. Finally, it must be noted that only 18% of respondents indicated they thought Xogsiiye should include further information, meaning that 82% considered the information currently available is adequate.
With regard to communication channels and advertisement, respondents highlighted that the main reason why they used Xogsiiye was to obtain information about how to register and license a business, and about funding options. With regard to communication channels, social media was identified as the most effective one with over 50% of respondents indicating they knew about Xogsiiye through such channel. ‘Word of mouth’ was also an effective communication channel. This is coherent with interviewees’ responses to the question of how they would advertise Xogsiiye, to which 89 considered social media as appropriate, complemented with local TV and billboard advertising.
Finally, the recommendations respondents gave can be summarised in the following 3 arguments: strengthen advertising, improve the service, and reduce or eliminate costs. They did not provide further detail with respect to their request to improve the service, and it is assumed this was already captured by other survey questions. It is worth mentioning that 31 respondents congratulated the MoTIT, Shaqodoon and partners on the development of the Xogsiiye IVR system.
