I telephoned a large business today. As usual, the answering machine
> asked me to enter my account number "for faster service". I did so.
> After the usual parade through many menus I was connected to an actual
> human being. The first thing she asked me for was my account number,
> even though I had keyed it in "for faster service".
> I find this happens all the time.
> What is the point of requesting an account number if it isn't going to
> be automatically forwarded to the person handling the call?
[snip]
With today's fancy computer systems, the idea is that after getting my
> account number, my account screen is immediately displayed to the
> person handling my call, saving the time to ask for my account number
> and her to key it it. But this never happens. [snip]
> Anyone familiar with the programming of these 'automated' systems and
> would care to comment? Thanks.
Automatic Call Distribution systems are very expensive, and every company that runs a "customer service" number tries anything it can to cut costs, which usually means outsourcing to third-party vendors, who sometimes have different systems, software, and displays than those you started with at the company you called.
In other words, although their in-house equipment might record your number, they have transferred your call to another system or company that can't make use of the information. This is especially common in out-of-hours call centers, where costs are low enough to justify the added time to manually key your number into the foreign system.
HTH.
William
(Filter noise from my address for direct replies)