In the latest quarterly telecommunications survey commissioned by the Communications Alliance and conducted by Roy Morgan Research, the number of customers satisfied with services provided by their telco, including complaints handling, the ease of understanding bills and contacting their service provider, jumped from 82% in the previous quarter (March) to 85% in June.

Consumer satisfaction levels are also up from 80% in the first poll conducted at the beginning of 2013, with this latest poll taken last month showing a record high in the percentage of satisfied customers.

The Communications Alliance says this latest poll, the 10th in a series, shows “an encouraging lift” in customer satisfaction with the way service providers handle their complaints – 76% of customers were satisfied/neutral, compared to 67% in the previous quarter and 66% at the time of the first survey, and the proportion of customers declaring themselves “very satisfied” or “satisfied” are both at record highs.

And, the alliance says the latest poll also shows continuing improvement in customer satisfaction with the ease of understanding their bills, which has risen by 7% since surveying began (89% of respondents satisfied/neutral, up from 82% in the first wave survey).

Also showing improvement is the number of customers who said they are satisfied with the ease of contacting their service provider, with80% of respondents satisfied/neutral, up from 69% in the first survey back in 2013.

According to the alliance, many service providers already deliver “outstanding customer service” and industry’s concerted improvement efforts, combined with the impact of the TCP Code, has already seen customer complaints to the industry ombudsman fall by more than 40% to an eight year low, recorded at the end of 2014.

The enforceable Code was created by Communications Alliance, industry representatives and other stakeholders, and registered by the industry regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) late in 2012.