call-center (1)

CATI / Telephone Research

Taverner Research Group leverages Computer‑Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) to conduct structured telephone surveys using software-guided scripts. This method allows interviewers to focus on engaging respondents while the system handles routing logic, quota management, and real-time data capture, resulting in faster, more accurate fieldwork and streamlined analysis.

What is CATI Research?

CATI stands for Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing. It is a traditional method of conducting qualitative or quantitative market research, yet one that remains as relevant as ever. Over the phone, a market research telephone interviewer will read questions from a questionnaire displayed on a screen. Once the respondent answers, the interviewer inputs their answer or feedback into CATI software.

While CATI interviewing used to be predominantly landline-based, these days we have excellent access to geo-specific and age-specific mobile numbers. This means that the majority of CATI interviews today are conducted via mobile phones.

What are the Benefits of CATI Research?

There are many benefits of conducting CATI market research, including:

Cost-effective

When compared to face-to-face interviews, CATI research is cost-effective since it can all be done remotely.

Immediate responses

Unlike with email or digital surveys, CATI market research provides immediate responses. This means your business receives the data it needs much faster.

Eliminates manual errors

Since CATI software automatically enters and transfers data to a central system, there is no need to manually enter data. This significantly reduces the likelihood of data processing errors.

Qualitative feedback

CATI research is one of the best ways to perform qualitative research since the interviewer is talking directly with the respondents and can explain questions or add a human touch to the process.

Data quality control

Since recordings of conversations are automatically registered by CATI software, they can easily be examined to ensure quality data control. This ensures the data you receive is always consistent and accurate.

How Can Taverner Help your Business?

Taverner Research Group has one of the largest CATI research capabilities in Australia and New Zealand. We have 40+ CATI stations operating in in Sydney, Coffs Harbour and Wollongong. For over 25 years, we have specialised in providing our clients with unrivalled quality and consistency in data collection.

The high-quality data we collect through our CATI market research can help your business in a variety of ways – from enhancing business awareness and expanding market reach to evaluating competitors, carrying out customer satisfaction surveys or performing research on your customer base.

Why choose Taverner?

  • We perform all of our CATI market research services in-house to assure quality and accuracy.
  • We customise each of our studies to your specific brand and business context.
  • Research is conducted by our 100 fully trained field operators located throughout NSW.
  • 24/7 operational capability and multilingual operators representing most major foreign languages, including with CaLD groups in Australia.
  • We have separate, multi-station executive interviewing facilities for sensitive or higher-level CATI projects.
  • We can create a personalised CATI research strategy for your business ranging from small-scale studies (n=10) all the way up to large-scale population studies (n=3,000+).

CATI FAQs

What is CATI (Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing)?

CATI is a research method where trained interviewers conduct phone surveys using computer software to record responses. The system automatically manages question routing and data entry, improving accuracy and consistency across interviews.

What advantages does CATI offer over traditional phone surveys?

CATI reduces data entry errors, improves survey flow and ensures every question is asked correctly. It allows instant data capture, quicker turnaround times and better quality control compared with manual phone surveys.

Are there any drawbacks to using CATI?

CATI can be more resource-intensive than online surveys and may have limited reach for audiences who are difficult to contact by phone. However, it remains one of the most reliable methods for collecting high-quality data from specific target groups, and one of the few ways of conducting representative research at volume.

When is CATI particularly suitable?

CATI is ideal for projects requiring representative sampling, complex question routing or interviewer guidance. It works well for customer satisfaction studies, community attitude tracking and stakeholder or policy research.

How does CATI enable better monitoring during fieldwork?

Supervisors can monitor CATI interviews in real time to ensure accuracy and professionalism. The system provides live progress reports, call outcomes and quota updates, helping maintain high data quality throughout the project.

How can insights and findings be provided to me?

Taverner Research works in partnership with every client to deliver insights in a clear and practical way. We provide detailed reports, visual summaries and presentations that highlight what matters most to your organisation.

Before each project, we review past research to plan a more effective approach and reduce unnecessary complexity and cost. You’ll work directly with experienced researchers who stay closely involved throughout the process, offering a proactive and personalised experience. Clients often tell us they value how easy and enjoyable we are to work with.

Get in touch

Have any questions? We’d love to hear from you