We all suffer the call centre menu
choices: press 1 for xx, presss 2 for xxx only to reach another menu and
another. It is enough to drive us to distraction and so difficult for
anyone who does not speak the language fluently. Sometimes we can go
through several menus only to reach a message saying they are now closed.
Nigel Clarke had enough. “There’s got to be a way to do something about
this”,’ he recalls. ‘Then I realised that, if you know the correct numbers to
dial, you can usually bypass menu systems without having to listen to various
options.’
Nigel is an IT man on a mission. His long journey of discovery ended when he
launched www. pleasepress1.com, a website which lists ‘shortcuts’ that allow
users to wade straight through the intricate phone menus of 130 sprawling
corporations — including the likes of Asda and Argos — to reach an actual
person, in the department they want, in a matter of seconds.
Handy: Nigel's quick list to help you bypass those annoying automated messages
Has cyberspace ever, in its short
history, provided a more useful service?
Surely not. Nigel’s site shows, for example, that Lloyds
TSB customers wanting to make an accidental damage claim on their home
insurance can reach an operator in seconds by dialling 0800 056 3040 and then
entering the numbers 1-3-2-1-1-5-5. Each digit has to be punched in as the
recorded voice starts to announce the options for that particular menu. This can save the calling customer at least
three minutes.
Good call: Nigel painstakingly listed
the bypass numbers for 130 organisations, including Asda and Argos. Using other ‘shortcuts’ for such
organisations as HM Revenue & Customs — which Nigel has identified as the
proud owner of Britain’s worst call centre — can save users of the site as much
as eight minutes per call.
Nigel says he isn’t opposed to IVR (Interactive Voice Response) systems on
principle; merely those that have been poorly designed or deliberately created
to be time-consuming and frustrating to navigate.
Indeed, he suspects that many companies
create systems with a large number of ‘menu options’ and several ‘levels’ of
recorded menus to dissuade customers from complaining, or returning faulty
goods.
‘When you want to buy something,
there’s usually a freephone number that allows you to get straight through to
an operator. But once they have taken your money, you often have to start
paying to contact them — so the companies have a vested interest in making the
calls as long as possible.’
It seems the little man can beat the system after all.
Early signs are indeed positive. Since
its formal launch last week, www.pleasepress1.com, which is funded by
advertising, has been visited by roughly 250,000 users.
Nigel is meanwhile searching for
venture capital to help him improve the site’s technical capabilities.
He would also like users to help
‘map’ the IVR systems of Britain’s local councils, which he says have ‘some of
the worst’ call centres in the country.
‘It would be great to eventually employ
a few people,’ he says. ‘Call centres are everywhere, so if this takes off, who
knows where it could end up?’
And, no matter how large his internet
venture grows, does he hereby promise never to install an automated phone
system?
‘Absolutely,’ he says.
‘That’s a promise.’
(Antonia - Personally, I find pressing the option for 'Sales' connects me quickly.)
