Google tests a feature that calls businesses on your behalf and holds until an agent is available | TechCrunch::Google is testing a feature that places a call to a business , waits on hold and then give you a call once a representative is available.
And as businesses replace human phone support with AI, the future will just be two AIs waiting to talk to each other.
I’ll have my guy contact your guy
Business services are so shitty the answer is: another service.
Reminds me of supplemental insurance plans. Fractal capitalism.
My company stresses customer service. We have our phones set up to ring the person, after two rings, ring all department phones, after 4, anyone who can answer outside calls.
Every call is answered. Everyone is trained how to start a call and get them to the right person.
I’m on that list even though I shouldn’t be. I volunteered to be a 4th ring because I value that mentality.
The company I work for does that as well for its retail environment, it sounds good on paper but the only thing it’s done is all the secondary phones now are ignored until it’s a transfer ring. After a certain time of day(when the receptionist goes home) it just won’t be answered unless a manager is the one who answers. This is partially due to the lack of training of the secondary and partially of the “no departments ever close” policy so if you answer it you are expected to help even if it’s on the opposite side in an area you know nothing about
The reason business service is so bad is because it actually hurts them to provide good service. Most of the time it’s someone complaining or asking the company for a refund, etc. It’s better for business to make the process as difficult as possible to discourage anyone from trying to lodge a complaint. It’s a type of dark pattern.
This seems like an overly complicated explanation when the alternative explanation is so simple: More call center employees can answer more phones, but call center employees cost money to hire, and businesses do not like spending money.
But the entire department is a loss for them… Can you tell me the last time you called customer support to give them more money?
It’s two sides of the same coin… It’s as simple as you say, but not as innocent
I can tell you the last time I called customer support and it caused me to return the product and never buy from that company again
That’s harder for companies to put into an excel sheet, though
Our customer support is full of (older) people buying stuff from us. Not everyone likes using websites when a phone will work!
“Hi thank you for holding, this is–”
“Please hold while your client becomes available. This service brought to you by Google No-U…”
Staticy jazz music
“Thank you for holding, sir. What may i do for you?”
"Actually, could you put me back on hold, that jazz station is lit "
Great using AI to wait out hold time to talk to a different AI.
Next up, getting your AI to talk to the other AI too.
My computer to talk to the company’s computer? So a website?
If they ever get this perfected, the next step would be to deal with the inevitable “you actually have the wrong department. Please hold while I transfer you to some other asshole”.
Then they’ll kill it like they do everything else. I won’t be using this or testing it because I have zero trust it’ll even exist next month.
I’ve been using it for months. I don’t expect it’ll be free forever, but I’m using it while it’s around. Not using it is like not watching a movie because it won’t be streaming on Netflix forever. Enjoy it while it’s here. Of course, if you didn’t want to support Google, that’s a different story altogether and I would support that.
I don’t understand how we’ve had telephones for 150 years and this is only now a thing.
Didn’t bell experiment with this back in the 90s? Bell call answer service or something? Would wait on hold for you then cal you back.
That existed in this universe right?
I don’t know why businesses don’t just do this. At least, those who want to deal with customer calls in good faith.
In Canada there’s a healthcare support line where you can call and talk to a nurse, like if you have something going on where you’re not sure if you should go to the ER or just wait it out. They get pretty busy, so when the wait is going to be a while, they’ll have you enter a callback number and then just give you a call when it’s your turn.
Then they don’t need to have phone line capacity for all active agents plus everyone in queue (which can be much higher than the number of agents), they just need capacity for agents plus everyone going through the process to get added to the list plus everyone who decides to just wait instead.
And I don’t need to sit around giving my attention to my phone any time their hold music gets to a lull or they play a patronizing recording with PR speak about important my call is to them.
My last few Pixels have had a similar option when calling IVR systems. “hold for me” it’s labeled as. I still have to navigate the initial prompts but once it’s hold time, I hit the button and it sits through the hold music, promoting me once it detects an agent.
It will Speech to Text the menus if you press the option as soon as you dial in. That’s a little less useful currently.
One of the things I miss after dropping Graphene on my Pixel 8.
promoting me once it detects an agent
“hi this is Jeremy, how-”
“I’m a let you finish but this caller is the greatest caller of all time”
“OK i-”
“of all time!”
Many businesses already offer a call-back function where the next available agent just calls you. I’m tired of big tech shoehorning itself into every nook and cranny of life.
You apparently haven’t tried calling local government agencies in mid-size cities, or a good chunk of airlines. It’s frustrating and I welcome anything that can help.
Straight into a judgemental, ad hominem attack pretending to know anything about a total stranger, dismissing any possibility of life experience with your imaginary knowledge, just because they have a different opinion. Amazing.
