Waiting in a call centre phone queue for more than five minutes and 58 seconds is bad for your health, new research shows. Experts found callers' stress levels and blood pressure rise dangerously high as they become frustrated with the delay in getting through.
一項新的研究表明，在電話呼叫中心排隊等候超過5分58秒，對健康有害。專家發現，當接通被延遲時，打電話者會覺得很沮喪，他們的精神壓力和血壓會上升到非常危險的高度。
Dr Roger Henderson, a stress expert and GP said: We live in an age where for many people time is the most valuable commodity of all. More and more people are unwilling to wait. ‘I call this phenomenon ‘speed greed’, which reflects our growing demand for instantly access to information and service. ‘It is part of human nature to rarely be satisfied with what we have in life.”
壓力專家、全科醫生羅杰・亨德森漢德森博士說：在我們生活時代里，對許多人來說，時間是最寶貴的商品。越來越多的人不愿意等待。我把這種現象稱為‘速度貪婪’，它反應了我們日益增長的、對立即獲得信息及服務的需要。這是人性的一部分，極少滿足于我們已經擁有的生活。”
Dr Henderson said other symptoms of queue induced stress include a racing heartbeat, sweaty palms and headaches. This could develop into a more serious medical condition such high blood pressure, chronic anxiety, stomach and bowel upsets - or even the breakdown of relationship, he warned.
亨德森博士說，排隊誘發的其他癥狀包括心跳加快，手心出汗和頭疼。他警告說，這很可能發展成更嚴重的健康狀況，比如高血壓、長期焦慮、腸胃系統紊亂，甚至導致人際關系破裂。
And not surprisingly, 67 per cent admitted to feeling ‘annoyed’ when they are forced to wait too long. A third also experienced stress, 19 per cent became ‘angry’ and 16 per cent feel their custom is ‘not valued’.
這一點也不奇怪,67%的人承認，當他們被迫等待太長時間時會感到惱火”。三分之一的人感到緊張，19%的人變得生氣”，16%的人認為他們的風俗習慣不被重視”。
Furthermore, long waits in a queue are not just bad for customers' health but for the company's reputation too, the study found. Almost 70 per cent said their impression of a company was ‘permanently damaged’. Just under a quarter have even terminated a contract as a result of their wait.
此外，研究發現，長時間的排隊等待并不僅僅對客戶的健康有害，也對公司的聲譽有影響。差不多70%的人說，這永久的損害了他們對一家公司的印象。低于四分之一的人甚至會因為他們等待太久而合公司終止合約。
The length of time Brits wait varies with the type of queue they are in but it averages between seven minutes and 18 seconds. They will wait five minutes 58 seconds for a call centre, six minutes 32 seconds at a supermarket checkout and 10 minutes 57 seconds for public transport. That increases to 13 minutes exactly when queuing for service at a restaurant.
英國人的等待時間長度和他們等待隊伍類型而變化，但平均時間是7分18秒。人們會等待呼叫中心5分58秒，等待超市結賬6分32秒，等待公共交通工具10分57秒。在等待餐廳服務時，則增加至13分鐘整。
編譯：董璐瑩
