Let your agent wait on hold and patch you in when a human answers

Ask your agent to hold for you. CallForMe dials the support line, presses through the phone menu, and waits silently on hold. When a live person picks up, the assistant introduces the call and patches in your phone using transfer_to, so you talk to the rep directly and skip the hold music entirely.

What you say to your agent

Call Southwest customer service, get through the menu, wait on hold, and call me when a live agent picks up.

Hold queues are the worst part of customer service. You can't walk away because you might miss the pickup. With transfer_to, the waiting happens on CallForMe's line and your phone only rings when there's a person on the other end.

What your agent does

1. find_business if you didn't give a number. For big companies, your agent can also use the customer service number from your booking email.
2. plan_call to confirm the goal and see the cost estimate for a long hold.
3. place_call with your phone in transfer_to:

{
  "phone": "+18005550100",
  "business_name": "Airline customer service",
  "goal": "Get through the phone menu to a live agent about changing an existing reservation. When a human answers, tell them you're connecting the customer and transfer the call.",
  "details": "Existing booking, confirmation ABC123. Choose options for changing a reservation. If asked for a language, choose English.",
  "on_behalf_of": "Jake Marsh",
  "transfer_to": "+12145550199",
  "constraints": "Do not make changes to the booking yourself. Only connect the customer."
}

4. get_call with wait_seconds: 50, looping while the status is in_progress. Your agent can tell you "still on hold, 12 minutes so far" as it goes.
5. When a person answers, the assistant introduces the call and your phone rings. The transcript and summary still come back in get_call after the call ends.

Example result

Example transcript excerpt:

Menu: For existing reservations, press 2. (assistant presses 2, then 1) Menu: Your estimated wait time is more than 20 minutes. (18 minutes on hold) Rep: Thanks for calling, this is Dana, how can I help? Assistant: Hi Dana, I'm an automated assistant calling on behalf of Jake Marsh about a change to his reservation. I'm connecting him now. (call transferred to Jake)

What your agent tells you:

Tips

• Keep your phone nearby and unsilenced. The rep is waiting when it rings.
• Call at quiet hours. Early morning and mid-afternoon on weekdays tend to have shorter queues. Your agent can schedule this if it supports timed tasks.
• Put your confirmation or account number in details. Some menus ask for it by keypad before they route you.
• Don't have the assistant verify your identity. It never gives card numbers, SSNs, or passwords. That part is for you once you're connected.

What it costs

Hold time counts as call time. The first 5 minutes are included in the $1, then it's $0.25 a minute. An 18-minute hold is about $4.25. A call is capped at 30 minutes, so the most a single hold call can cost is $7.25.

Related

• Hold and patch-in, explained
• Airline rebooking and compensation
• How phone menus and hold work
• Pricing

Questions