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Fonolo Lets You Skip Automated Phone Menus

by Chad Mumm on January 30, 2009 at 09:26 AM



Our time is valuable, and there is nothing more maddening than spending it wading through automated phone menus. That's why we are excited by Fonolo, a new Web service that allows you to bypass those menus and hop straight to where you want to be. According to the Fonolo site copy, this new convenience is known as "deep dialing."

Here's how it works: After creating a profile with your phone number, you can search a large list of companies (379, at current count). After finding the one you want, the site provides you with a visual representation of the automated menu, complete with a script of what the machine will be saying at a particular level of the menu ("if you feel like giving up now, press 1"), and gives you the option of placing a call to any level of the system. The service then dials the company and navigates to where you've selected, then calls your phone and connects the calls.


It's a well-designed interface that is obvious to use, and the site keeps track of your call history and even allows for bookmarking and call recording -- and yes, there is an iPhone app that is unfortunately not on the AppStore yet (Fonolo is pushing for early first quarter release). With so many companies slashing jobs, you can guarantee that many call centers will be getting the axe, meaning more and more automation.

Fonolo is still very much a beta site, meaning some of the kinks are still being worked out, but we tried it out and found that it worked quite smoothly. Best of all, it's totally Web-based, so you won't need to download any software. Ready to do some deep-dialing? [From: Fonolo.com, via Unplggd]

Tags: beta, call center, customer service, CustomerService, fonolo, new products, NewProducts

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