A New Google Assistant Feature, 'Hold For Me,' Waits On Hold So You Don't Have To (techcrunch.com) 41
"In previous years, [Google] launched Call Screen to vet your incoming calls, Duplex for restaurant reservations, and just this month, a feature called Verified Calls that will tell you who is calling and why," reports TechCrunch. Today, Google introduced a feature called "Hold For Me," which will make the Google Assistant stay on the line for you when you're placed on hold, then alert you when someone picks up. From the report: In the short demo of "Hold for Me," Google showed how a Pixel device owner is able to activate the new feature after they've been placed on hold. This is done by tapping a new button that appears on the phone screen above the buttons for muting the call, turning on speakerphone, and the other in-call phone controls. Once activated, you're alerted with a message that says "Don't hand up," where you're advised that Google Assistant is listening to the call for you, so you can do other things.
A button is also available on this screen that lets you tap to return to the call at any time, and below that an on-screen message says "music playing" to indicate if the Google Assistant is still hearing the hold music. You can also choose to press the red hang up button to end the call from this screen. When a person comes on the line, the device will alert you it's time to return to the call. Google says the new feature will come to its new Pixel 5 devices, which will soon be followed by its older-generation Pixel phones via the next "Pixel feature drop" roll out.
A button is also available on this screen that lets you tap to return to the call at any time, and below that an on-screen message says "music playing" to indicate if the Google Assistant is still hearing the hold music. You can also choose to press the red hang up button to end the call from this screen. When a person comes on the line, the device will alert you it's time to return to the call. Google says the new feature will come to its new Pixel 5 devices, which will soon be followed by its older-generation Pixel phones via the next "Pixel feature drop" roll out.
Talking on hold (Score:5, Interesting)
I wonder if it works with the most annoying kind of hold, where they interrupt the music every twenty seconds to say that your call is important to us, please continue to hold.
Can the software distinguish between that and someone actually answering the call? I find it difficult to do that myself, sometimes, so I don't know how well a program will be able to do it for me.
Re:Talking on hold (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
But it's a good thing they repeat the message, because their FAQ/diagnosis tool might have been updated in the past minute since the last message.
Re:Talking on hold (Score:5, Funny)
In Belgium, some comedians turned the tables on one of the most notorious telecom operators by placing a shipping container in front of the parking lot entrance with a phone number for them to call, and then transfering them back and forth and playing music for hours. It's probably the most hilarious piece of Belgian television I've ever seen. And it worked, they actually did improve their customer service afterwards. Here it is with English subtitles: https://vimeo.com/113504317 [vimeo.com]
Re: (Score:2)
In Belgium, some comedians turned the tables on one of the most notorious telecom operators by placing a shipping container in front of the parking lot entrance with a phone number for them to call, and then transfering them back and forth and playing music for hours.
"Will someone be there between noon and 7 pm?" That's art.
Re: Talking on hold (Score:2)
Key press 3.
"You have chosen option 2, a free container for one month at" followed by their address... Brilliant!
Worse when you recorded the messages (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Itâ(TM)s a good question, maybe something along the lines of: H.M.: âThank you for having unrecognisable speech and randomly choosing a number that seemed vaguely related to what you called about from our mind-numbingly ponderous menu. Your call is ever so important to us, so important the one guy we barely employ in the wilds of Outer Mongolia to answer all our c.s. calls will be with you in half an hourâ(TM) G.A.: âIs that a human being?â(TM) H.M.: [Chirpy Ukelele-based tune/Kenny G-alike] G.A. = continues to hold ?
When you get placed into one of those ridiculous menus, just swear at the phone a few times or try hitting zero a couple times. Usually that gets me to a person.
Re: (Score:2)
My bank's IVR told me, "Please tell us the reason for your call?"
My reply of "I want to talk to a human" got me put through to their contact centre. I was so surprised I wrote to thank them.
Re: Talking on hold (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Don't forget the "please listen carefully since our menu options hve changed". They never tell you on what date the menu options have changed so you can know that you don't need to listen if they changed 5 years ago, and most of the time the claim that the options have changed is just BS.
Does anyone know why the *bleep* they do that? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Especially when the reason you're on the helpline is that they sold you crap.
Re:Does anyone know why the *bleep* they do that? (Score:4, Insightful)
I understand when they interrupt to try and get me to take a callback or to sell me crap, but when they literally just tell me to keep holding it's utterly pointless. There's got to be a reason and I'm sure it's pointless. Maybe they found morons were forgetting they were waiting for somebody.
If you would realize that they are actually trying to irritate the shit out of you, it all makes more sense.
Oh, you're pissed off? What might you do? Hang up?
That's the idea. They want you to fuck off.
Re:Does anyone know why the *bleep* they do that? (Score:5, Funny)
"Hello, thankyou for calling --company name--, how might I end this call?"
Re: (Score:2)
I like the ones that tell you to use the broken thing you're calling about to fix the problem:
"Did you know you can diagnose problems with your internet connection through our website?" ummm... if I could get to your website, then my internet would be working wouldn't it?
"Have you tried emailing your request to us?" ... well I'm calling because my email doesn't work, so sure!
"Try our online chat, available Mon-Fri 8-4" (in a timezone they don't specify) ... well, it's 3am right now, so I'll get right on tha
Re: (Score:2)
I would guess the guys at Google would've been put on hold enough times to actually know about that and handle it. I mean, if they played j
Re: (Score:2)
Apparently it does cope with that. It's probably not very difficult, just wait for the voice to stop speaking and then see if the music resumes, or ask a question to see if there is a response. It also has speech recognition so it can probably understand that "please continue to hold" isn't telling it that the operator picked up.
Re: (Score:1)
They just need to add one more feature (Score:5, Funny)
When it alerts you to come back on the line, remind you who you're calling and why you called. Otherwise, it'll be Assistant saying:
Re: (Score:2)
One Small Step (Score:2)
"It takes four hundred thirty people to man a starship. With this, you don't need anyone. One machine can do all those things they send men out to do now. Men no longer need die in space or on some alien world. Men can live and go on to achieve greater things than fact-finding and dying for galactic space, which is neither ours to give or to take. They can't understand. We don't want to destroy life; we want to save it!"
I like to think computers waiting on hold for me, is one small step toward Daystrom's vi
In an old anime called Nadesico (Score:2)
I always like it when anime explains it's bullshit. Like how in Evangelian the reason you had teenagers piloting insanely powerful war vessels is that only people born after a certain time ("second impact" IIRC) could do it.
Re: (Score:3)
"It takes four hundred thirty people to man a starship. With this, you don't need anyone. One machine can do all those things they send men out to do now. Men no longer need die in space or on some alien world. Men can live and go on to achieve greater things than fact-finding and dying for galactic space, which is neither ours to give or to take. They can't understand. We don't want to destroy life; we want to save it!"
I like to think computers waiting on hold for me, is one small step toward Daystrom's vision coming true. I don't want to wait on hold in space. I don't want to wait on hold on some alien world. And some day, I won't have to!
Nice quote!
What they don't tell you is that four hundred and ten of those people are there to be on hold to tech support for a variety of starship components.
But seriously, there is something wrong if it takes an AI to pretend to be a person on hold because you need to speak to someone, and that someone is scripted like a machine anyway, and all because their tech is broken and their documentation and automated help is of no use. Maybe they should just improve their tech and their support.
Don't hand up! (Score:2)
That's the real differentiating feature here.
Re: (Score:2)
It's bots all the way down (Score:1)
"my bot will call your bot"
I'll wait for the 'hold my beer' bot (Score:2, Insightful)
This is just stupid.
Sounds like a good idea (Score:3)
Of course it has to be implemented well enough that it really knows when someone comes on the line, and not just a recording. Would be most useful for those calls where they tell you "Your call is important to us. We estimate your wait time will be 129 minutes. Please continue to hold for the next available representative". If I know calling back another time won't yield shorter waits, I usually put my phone on speaker and go about life until someone answers, but this would be a good backup if I stop paying attention.
IMO anyone with phone queues that get at all busy should have a call back feature where they call you when it gets to your place in line, but unfortunately many don't.
at long last! (Score:2)
We discussed this as a possible feature for the Wildfire Assistant c1995-6. We called it "Counter-hold".
so they reinvented (Score:2)
using speaker phone and the mute button?
Re: (Score:2)
using speaker phone and the mute button?
Except with your speaker phone, you have to listen to the annoying music and constant "this call is important to us, please stay on the line, all our operators are busy helping other customers, did you know you can buy more shit from us like this random thing you don't fucking care about"
Re: (Score:2)
I always wondered, if "this call is important to us"... Why don't you hire enough people to answer the phone?!?!
Once again Slashdot, there is NOTHING in this comment remotely related to ASCII art. I know, I spent way too many hours of my life making that stuff back in my highschool days!
Navigate robot menu to a human (Score:2)
Solution to a problem that should not exist (Score:2)
Some of us may be old enough to remember when 3 minutes of being on hold was not an acceptable standard of customer service. Of course, back then businesses did not insist any customer who dared contact them was a meaningless annoyance, and deserved to be abused and ignored for daring to call their phone number.
Amazing how much money a business saves when the accepted standard for "customer service" phone response time is measured with a calendar.
amazing (Score:1)