Most businesses are still unaware that they can use social networking sites to improve customer service.

An Alterian investigation into what businesses believe social media could best achieve, found that less than one per cent of firms thought that networking sites could improve customer service.

The research also discovered that 30 per cent of businesses aimed to gain new customers through social media while 26 per cent thought it would increase brand awareness and 24 per cent said retaining customers was the central objective.

Alterian CEO David Eldridge said that more companies should utilise social media as it is an efficient way to improve customer service and using the sites can be easily combined with a marketing strategy.

He said: "It's surprising that brands are reporting that they don't highly value deploying customer service in the social media channel.

"Many are underutilizing this approach, as all brands need to be prepared to handle their customers' complaints and act on them."

The research revealed that despite a lack of emphasis on how to improve customer service, three out of four marketers said that their brand was engaged in social media in someway and only three per cent claimed they were not engaged at all.

Businesses are still unsure how to measure the success of social media as 42 per cent said they did not know how to gauge return on investment (ROI), however, 57 per cent believed investing in social media was a worthwhile investment.

In addition, 35 per cent of businesses thought it was too early to calculate the ROI offered by social media but no business regretted investing.

Minerva Health Centre has announced that is using the latest webcam technology in a bid to improve customer service by providing easier access to communication.

NHS Central Lancashire, which runs the centre, has joined forces with Lancashire County Council to provide advice on local services through a new TellyTalk system, a virtual face-to-face service using webcam technology.

Gaynor Thomas, NHS Central Lancashire programme support officer, said that using modern technology was a great way to offer information to people who cannot make it into the centre such as the elderly or disabled.

"Staff from the council's customer service team are at the end of the phone line and camera so you can have a chat without having to go to one of their offices," she said.

TellyTalk allows customers to see and speak to a member of Lancashire County Council's customer service team.