After trying desperately to get through to a human at one of this country’s many monopolies (this one has this annoying interactive voice response system), finally getting through to one and explaining my predicament, I was told a secret. And the secret I was told is far more useful than that pseudo-scientific new age rant The Secret. And the secret is that to get to a human operator, dial #9.

Oh yes and whilst waiting for over 15 minutes for someone to pick up the phone, then being disconnected because that operator preferred her KFC over my deep voice, then re-phoning and waiting again, I had a vision. (Well it’s done to some extent in countries like the US.) Instead of the customer waiting patiently for an operator, why not have the operator phone the customer (well automatically) when he or she becomes available? Then, if you wish, have that operator wait patiently until you are ready to take his or her call? Accountants and call centre nerds will moan about the lack of efficiency of this plan, how it wastes time and money, and all that rubbish, but at the ‘bottom line’ (to use an accounting term), it keeps the customer happy (if that happiness is only in keeping the call centre operator waiting).

posted by rowanp at 1:21 pm & filed under ranting, technology |