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Overall complaints to the telecommunications industry ombudsman (TIO) are slowing year on year and it’s a sign that telco providers and customers are working better together to sort any issues.

In aggregate this is a win for consumers because you can be more confident that telcos are delivering better services and are more willing to resolve problems before they are taken to the ombudsman.

But the headline figure doesn’t always tell the full story.

The numbers were collected before the bushfires and pandemic. What troubles the ombudsman is a rise in the proportion of small businesses making complaints – 14.7% in the 2019 financial year, up from 12.4% the previous year.

It should be noted that more than 19,000 complaints to the TIO from small businesses were made in the 2019 financial year, down 6.2% on 2018. These numbers are in line with overall complaints falling.

However, the TIO says thousands of small businesses are still being sold unsuitable products and expect their new connection to be top priority. A provider told the TIO “the reality is that no service is sold with a guaranteed 100% up time, and sometimes the remedy can involve significant delays”.

The TIO also finds telco providers and small businesses aren’t always working well together when faults occur and small businesses are suffering significant financial losses if they don’t have a back-up plan.

Ombudsman Judi Jones says the issues that top the list of small business complaints hasn’t changed since the bushfires or during the pandemic, but they’re likely to have had far greater impact. And this concerns the TIO because it’s acutely aware of the role small businesses play in our economy.

“Any issues between a small business and their provider in the delivery of a service can have significant consequences,” says Jones. “During government restrictions to curb the pandemic, many small businesses became solely reliant on phone and internet services to continue operating.”

She says as we begin to return to workplaces, it is crucial for small businesses to have a back-up plan.

The TIO has put together some guidance around how telcos and their small business customers can work together to fix faults.