What’s your favorite type of hold music? Do you like some smooth jazz or light rock? Or maybe you prefer silence while you wait? Me personally, I like to listen to some classical music while I’m waiting to talk to a customer service rep.
Whether it’s the recommendation to use nature sounds instead of actual music, a ranking of the top worst hold music 
songs of all time, or the innovative use of your own staff to record hold music – seems like everyone has an opinion on the matter. From everything about deciding on the music itself to inserting messaging throughout – I’ve even heard members talk about letting their customers choose which kind of hold music to listen to or let customers choose to wait in silence.
But, there may soon come a time when all of these questions are rendered irrelevant.
Meet LucyPhone.
LucyPhone is a friendly robot who waits on hold for you – so you never have to listen to hold music again.
All you have to do is go to the LucyPhone website and type in the number you want to call, plus your own number. You immediately get a callback from LucyPhone, who connects you with the company. After you go through the IVR and get put on hold, you press **. And this is where it gets cool – your phone call ends but LucyPhone stays on hold for you. When you are routed to the live rep, LucyPhone calls you right back and connects you to the rep.
If you want to see how it works, check out this video from the Consumerist.
And guess what? This service is also currently free!
I actually tried it out to call my local utility, and it worked like a charm for me – I had a few productive minutes to check e-mails before LucyPhone called me back and connected me with the rep. No more half-listening for a human voice or inwardly rating the song choices. Personally, I thought it was pretty cool stuff.
So, what do you think – is this a modern marvel or just the latest fad? Have you or your reps experienced LucyPhone yet?
CCC Members, my colleague Chris recently wrote a post on a similar technology for the iphone that is definitely worth the read. Or, take a look at our research on building an effective IVR – and see what customers hear while on hold.
Related posts:
on June 8, 2010
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This is cool and scary at the same time. Think about what you are doing. When this service is waiting for the **, it is waiting and is most likely a computer. Ever think the reason that it is free is that it is stealing your credentials. You just authenticated to your provider and are waiting for a service rep. Just hope you did not also try to get a hold of your bank. If so, they just got your secret authentication credentials, in most cases, your social and your full account number. And if your bank is as good (or bad) as mine, then it also could have recorded your full name as the Bank usually responds with ” This is account information for Firstname Lastname. I am OK with new technology, I would however prefer to wait for the operator when it comes to anything requiring me to enter credentials.
on June 9, 2010
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In Norway, and I am sure the same goes for other countries as well, many call centers have a similar service built in already. If there is a line, you can choose between waiting, hence listening to dull music, or you can type your number and they will call you back as soon as it’s your turn. That means you can do other things, and still keep your place in the line. I’ve tested this kind of service several times, and it works perfectly. When it comes to sensitive information, however, this solution is no better than LucyPhone. For everything else, like reservations and appointments, I believe this is the future. As a consumer I expect the service providers to recognize the value of my time.
on June 9, 2010
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Interesting thoughts Mimi, but it seems there is distinct difference between an automated “call back” and LucyPhone. Fun. LucyPhone is novel, its exciting, its technology working for you. Has anyone experimented with virtual holds and call backs to make the experience more about the company taking work off the customer’s back?
“We want to make this as easy and enjoyable as we can, so let us call you back, unless of course you really enjoy hold music!”
Has anyone tried interesting messaging that makes a consumer want to try it? Yes, I’m talking about marketing the experience of virtual hold – call it novel, call it ease, but call it something other than a mundane offer for a callback.
on February 7, 2011
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[...] blog post this past summer mentioned services like this one. “Don’t call us, we’ll call you”: new [...]