call centre users  lose patience  customers trying to get through to call centres are getting impatient and quicker to hang up  a survey suggests.  once past the welcome message  callers on average hang up after just 65 seconds of listening to canned music. the drop in patience comes as the number of calls to call centres is growing at a rate of 20% every year.  customers are getting used to the idea of an  always available  society   says cara diemont of it firm dimension data  which commissioned the survey. however  call centres also saw a sharp increase of customers simply abandoning calls  she says  from just over 5% in 2003 to a record 13.3% during last year. when automated phone message systems are taken out of the equation  where customers have to pick their way through multiple options and messages  the number of abandoned calls is even higher - a sixth of all callers give up rather than wait. one possible reason for the lack in patience  ms diemont says  is the fact that more customers are calling  on the move  using their mobile phones.  the surge in customers trying to get through to call centres is also a reflection of the centres  growing range of tasks.  once a call centre may have looked after mortgages  now its agents may also be responsible for credit cards  insurance and current accounts   ms diemont says. problems are occurring because increased responsibility is not going hand-in-hand with more training  the survey found.  in what dimension data calls an  alarming development   the average induction time for a call centre worker fell last year from 36 to just 21 days  leaving  agents not equipped to deal with customers . this  ms diemont warns  is  scary  and not good for the bottom line either. poor training frustrates both call centre workers and customers. as a result  call centres have a high  churn rate   with nearly a quarter of workers throwing in the towel every year  which in turn forces companies to pay for training new staff. resolution rates - the number of calls where a customer s query is resolved to mutual satisfaction - are running at just 50%. when the query is passed on to a second or third person - a specialist or manager - rates rise to about 70%  but that is still well below the industry target of an 85% resolution rate.  suggestions that  outsourcing  - relocating call centres to low-cost countries like india or south africa - is to blame are wrong  ms diemont says.  there are  no big differences in wait time and call resolution  between call centres based in europe or north america and those in developing countries around the world.  you can make call centres perform anywhere if you have good management and the right processes in place   she says. however  companies that decide to  offshore  their operations are driven not just by cost considerations. only 42% of them say that saving money is the main consideration when closing domestic call centre operations. half of them argue that workers in other countries offer better skills for the money. but not everybody believes that outsourcing and offshoring are the solution. nearly two-thirds of all firms polled for the survey have no plans to offshore their call centres. they give three key reasons for not making the move:  - call centre operations are part of their business  core function     - they are worried about the risk of going abroad    - they fear that they will damage their brand if they join the offshoring drive. the survey was conducted by sunovate on behalf of dimension data  and is based on in-depth questionnaires of 166 call centres in 24 countries and five continents. what are your experiences with call centres  are you happy to listen to vivaldi or greensleeves  or do you want an immediate response  and if you work in a call centre: did your training prepare you for your job