back
6 comments
For who is wondering: IVR = Interactive Voice Response

I actually really dislike those systems. Many times I find myself having a question that is not obvious to them and I have to wade through all those menus to find an actual person that can help me.

Probably because the systems are designed to prevent you as much as possible from talking to a person. Terrible, those annoying clients ;-)

Well, nobody likes them, of course, it's 2015 and we still have to deal with touch tones and waiting endless amounts of time on the phone. Last week I just spent over 3 hours waiting for IRS to talk to me, which costs them, well, "us" essentially, at least a penny per minute. But sometimes your customers are low-tech. For example, I am trying to build an automated system for a church and most people there don't use Facebook or smartphones, so, the IVR system is a viable option for now.
I've just moved home and had to call numerous energy companies, ISPs, local authorities, etc to change my details; someone told me a while ago that if you just say "human" as a response to prompts you get put through straight away to a real person - and at least in my experience with Sky, BT, EON Energy and Thames Water it worked - I was put straight away through to a triage person or someone who could directly help me.
Sure it's "human" and not "shibboleet" as in https://xkcd.com/806/ ? :)
Never heard of this before and sounds great. I will certainly try it next time !