RWW Readers, Please Check The Bottom of This Post For Invite Info!
Do you hate calling customer service at a large company? It's safe to say we all do. Nearly every large corporation today utilizes phone menus to route your call to the correct department and it's nearly impossible to get a real person on the phone. Wouldn't it be great if there was a web app that did the calling for you and then rang you back when they reached the right spot in the phone menu? That would be a truly useful service, wouldn't it?
Now there's an app that will do the deep dialing for you. It's called Fonolo and it's dead-simple to use. To get started, you first find the company you want to call in the Fonolo directory and then click to display that company's phone menu. Instead of having to navigate the company's phone tree yourself, you just find the area or department you need to call and click the button that reads "call here."
Fonolo will then place the call and navigate the menu for you. When they reach the right spot, they'll call your phone and you'll be connected.
Although Fonolo's directory is nowhere near as extensive at the one at GetHuman.com, another popular site for getting a person on the phone, the big difference between the two sites is that Fonolo directs you to the area you want - which may or may not be speaking with a customer service agent. For example, you may just want to check an order status - there's really no need to speak to a person to do so - but people get frustrated with the menu so they just take the shortcut to customer service.
Unfortunately, after testing a few companies, it was easy to see why the company is still in private beta - the call quality was very poor. However, the company is aware of this and are working on this problem with their termination provider. The issue is due to the volume of calls - more than they expected, apparently. But if they can get that problem fixed, this will be an invaluable service.
The company has also just introduced a developer platform and API, which lets developers build applications that interact with the Deep Dialing service. Developers will be able to:
Developers can sign up at developer.fonolo.com.
A future API release will cover Fonolo's "Intelligent Call History" service, providing access to Deep Dial Bookmarks, call recordings and user notes. "We want users to access the power of these innovations through as many channels as possible, including mobile applications, soft-phone plug-ins and carrier integration," said Fonolo co-founder and CEO Shai Berger. "Today's announcement is the first step in making that possible."
After the app leaves beta, there will be a few more features available, like the ability to bookmark individual spots in a phone tree and the ability to record your calls.
If you would like to take a sneak peek at Fonolo, which is still in private beta, let us know by leaving a comment. We have 100 invites to distribute to our readers. Remember OpenID users, your comment won't display your email address, so please leave it in your comment itself.
Comments
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Just signing up for an invite.
Posted by: andy carvin | August 6, 2008 12:33 PM
I Can Haz an invite?
THANKS!
Posted by: tw3nty3ight | August 6, 2008 12:33 PM
i'd love an invite, thanks!
Posted by: Trent Olson | August 6, 2008 12:35 PM
I'd love a beta invite if you've got one. Thanks! Sounds like a very useful service.
Posted by: Billy Shipp | August 6, 2008 12:36 PM
This is awesome. I had an experience recently where I tried to reach a person while in one of those voice menu systems. It asked me what I wanted and I said "Customer Service" to which the system told me that "Customer Service" is not an option. I repeated it so I could record it. I still need to post the audio online on my blog.
Posted by: Al Degutis
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August 6, 2008 12:38 PM
I'd like to try this out. Here's hoping it works with DIRECTV at some point!
Posted by: Allie Osmar | August 6, 2008 12:43 PM
I am in for trying. I love just sitting there never punching a number. Eventually all systems have to transfer you to account for pulse dial phones
Posted by: Chris Miller | August 6, 2008 12:44 PM
This would save me much frustration during my busy day.I am anxious to test it out.
Posted by: doug coleman | August 6, 2008 12:48 PM
I would love an invite!
Posted by: Ryan Singer | August 6, 2008 12:55 PM
Sounds very interesting. Send me an invite!
Posted by: Mike Bosch | August 6, 2008 12:56 PM
Sounds promising. Would love to test.
Posted by: Shrisha Radhakrishna | August 6, 2008 12:56 PM
Invite please! lucaf at lucaf dot com
Posted by: Luca | August 6, 2008 1:03 PM
And I thought gethuman was cool! Would love to try it out!
Posted by: Brandon | August 6, 2008 1:09 PM
Will love to try this out!
Posted by: S. Rivera | August 6, 2008 1:11 PM
Seems like just what I need.
Would love the invite
Posted by: Suresh | August 6, 2008 1:12 PM
I would like to try it out, please sent an invite.
Thank you,
Posted by: CSwenor | August 6, 2008 1:18 PM
I'd like to try it out, thanks.
Posted by: Steve | August 6, 2008 1:19 PM
Definitely talked about this function over dinner once...nice good to see somebody finally executing it. Would love a beta.
Posted by: Q dub | August 6, 2008 1:22 PM
I would like an invite - thanks!
Posted by: Dennis | August 6, 2008 1:22 PM
May I please have an invite?
It's for my partner, who develops the UIs for these evil systems. :)
Posted by: frisco ted | August 6, 2008 1:23 PM
I'd like an invite, please, send me one!
Posted by: deemeetree | August 6, 2008 1:35 PM
Can I please have an invite
Posted by: Marin | August 6, 2008 1:54 PM
I'd love an invite--looks like a very cool service.
Posted by: Jordan Running | August 6, 2008 1:54 PM
I would also like an invite, please send me one.
Thanks.
Posted by: steve | August 6, 2008 2:04 PM
Interesting Concept... Will definitely love to give it a try..
BTW, adding a layer of voice-to-text and some AI (which I think they should have in their roadmap) can make this service virtually extensible to every organization in the world.
Posted by: Prateek Sharma | August 6, 2008 2:08 PM
Thats really interesting.. I hope they get the bugs squashed out.
I would love an invite.
Posted by: Jeff | August 6, 2008 2:16 PM
This is a fantastic idea. I'd love to try it.
Posted by: D. Archibald Smart | August 6, 2008 2:17 PM
I would like to turn the tables on a bunch of evil companies that routinely send me to voice mail hell - Please send me an invite. kthxbai
Posted by: Todd | August 6, 2008 2:20 PM
Have you tried www.nophonetrees.com
Same service kind of, you just name the company, give them your phone number and they call you once they've got a real human on the line.
Posted by: Andy Dietler | August 6, 2008 2:23 PM
An invite would be great. This looks interesting.
Posted by: Simon Gianoutsos | August 6, 2008 2:29 PM
Invite please!
Posted by: Melina | August 6, 2008 2:32 PM
Looking for an invite. It looks promising and interested to see how it works.
Posted by: Linh | August 6, 2008 2:35 PM
Would love an invite.
Posted by: Erica McGillivray | August 6, 2008 2:38 PM
Sounds like an interesting service. I'd love an invite if there are any going spare!
Posted by: Rob Hawkes | August 6, 2008 3:01 PM
Invite please
Posted by: Ralph Pina | August 6, 2008 3:06 PM
Invite please. Thank you.
Posted by: Mike | August 6, 2008 3:32 PM
Can I get an invite? Thanks!
Posted by: Gordon | August 6, 2008 3:36 PM
Can I get an invite? Thanks!
Posted by: Lolindir Faelivrin | August 6, 2008 3:43 PM
This is a brilliant idea. I'd love an invite if you still have one!
Posted by: Jeremy | August 6, 2008 3:47 PM
This is an amazing idea, I would LOVE an invite!
Thanks!
Posted by: Shana | August 6, 2008 4:07 PM
invite please
Posted by: atul | August 6, 2008 4:13 PM
invite please
Posted by: SIl | August 6, 2008 4:14 PM
Would love an invite!
Posted by: Sindre Fjeldstad | August 6, 2008 4:18 PM
This sounds too good to be true...I've got to try it!
Posted by: Thomas Ho | August 6, 2008 4:38 PM
I've love an invite too!
Posted by: dan | August 6, 2008 4:41 PM
er...I'd love one
Posted by: dan | August 6, 2008 4:44 PM
I'd like an invite!
Posted by: Alex | August 6, 2008 4:45 PM
I'd like an invite
Posted by: David | August 6, 2008 4:49 PM
I'd like an invite
Posted by: arvind | August 6, 2008 4:57 PM
Yes, for an invite.
Posted by: slogoo
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August 6, 2008 4:58 PM
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