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?
> 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. (Some systems are
> fancy enough to check the caller ID of your phone number and use that
> to bring up your account, but these get fouled if you call from work
> or a different phone.)
> Anyone familiar with the programming of these 'automated' systems and
> would care to comment? Thanks.
In many large contact centers, the account data is sent along with the call so that the agent screen has your account information displayed when you pop into their headset. In a perfect world, this even works when your call is automagically transferred by the system before the agent gets your call.
Many companies have this integration working correctly. Many aren't even aware that it isn't working. And even when it does work, you have to account for intermittent system outages, IP hiccups, etc.
Here's one vendor that sells the stuff that drives that feature:
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