Phones

Break out of "phone jail" with GetHuman

Merlin — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 15:49:01 -0400

In yesterday’s post about putting customer service numbers onto your mobile phone, commenter Joe suggested checking out Paul English’s wonderful GetHuman, a website that diligently collects and updates the phone numbers (and key punches) necessary to get you straight through to a human being at 500 well-known companies.

I realize this site is ancient news to a lot of you, but I couldn’t believe I’d never featured it in its own post here; I’ve been loving and using the crap out of GH (and the preceding IVR) for years now. Consider the oversight rectiﬁed.

Paul also shares some smart tips for intrepid information seekers (Hint: that fast “0” mashing tip has worked great for me):

Interrupt. Press 0 (or 0# or #0 or 0* or *0) repeatedly, sometimes quickly. Unfortunately the same keystroke does not always work for each company. Many IVRs will connect to a human after a few “invalid entries”, although some IVRs will hangup. :-(

Talk. Say “get human” (or “agent” or “representative”) or raise your voice, or just mumble. :) The IVR might connect you to a human after one of these key or unknown phrases.

Just hold, pretending you have only an old rotary phone….

A propos of nothing

I seem to recall mathowie once telling me that if you repeatedly scream obscenities at a voice robot, you sometimes get straight through. I’m not sure if it actually ever works, but it just feels great to scream the f-word into a phone sometimes.

Also new to me: here’s a list of the 500 companies and their secret knocks that’s suitable for printing at teeny-tiny size and sticking into your notebook or backpack. Or – if you’re feeling particularly ambitious – one imagines it wouldn’t be too hard to convert the HTML table into a CSV ﬁle that could pretty easily be munged into an importable list. Just if you’re feeling ambitious.

Conﬁdential to Paul: If it’s not a programmatic nightmare for you, I suspect that exporting your list to a downloadable vCard (with the secret code in “Notes”) would make you a hero. Also? You need you a prominent PayPal link, my friend. :) Great work, and thanks.

Update 2007-10-06 17:27:12 PDT

cshneid and dansays have each done us the honor of mashing up a vCard version of the GetHuman 500. So now you can get all 500 numbers into Address Book (and onto your iPhone) with a nice, easy import. Worked great for me!

See post comments for more info. – mdm

Update 2007-10-07 07:06:26 PDT

Paul has added a tab-separated ﬁle and a vCard version of the gethuman database on his site. Whenever the database is updated, you can grab a new copy for your Address Book. Thanks for the fast response, Paul. more »

”Break out of "phone jail" with GetHuman” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on October 06, 2007. Except as noted, it's ©2009 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

Dansays: Put all your customer service numbers into Address Book

Merlin — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 18:26:27 -0400

This morning, like a lot of other people, I was locked out of using my PayPal debit card while the site (and apparently its glass-jawed transaction processing network) took a total dirtnap. So it goes. That’s only indirectly the point of this post (although I did kind of feel like opening a “Can of Cory” on The Pal).

Point is, my pal dansays left a great comment on my whiny Flickr post laying out why he’s put all the customer service numbers of products and sites he uses right into his Apple Address Book. Great advice that I’ll be taking this weekend:

The number syncs to my iPhone, so it’s handy when I need it.

I have a record of the number, should the website decide to, ahem, “streamline” their customer service department by removing all traces of their phone number from their website and forcing all communications through email. This happened to me just last week.

I have a central place to keep all notes related to customer service conversations. Whenever resolving disputes, I switch into hyper-documentation mode. Who I talked with, when I talked with them, and what they promised me.

Smart fella, that Dan. 1 and 2 may seem obvious, but 3 is super-clever. If you’ve ever had to throw down with a dopey company, you know the importance of the paper trail. I really like the idea of having that with me on my Mac and on my iPhone.

”Dansays: Put all your customer service numbers into Address Book” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on October 05, 2007. Except as noted, it's ©2009 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

GrandCentral: For a "life-hackier" phone

Merlin — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 10:08:16 -0400

I do a lot these days to get pickier about where my time and attention go, and keeping unnecessary phone calls at bay is near the top of the hit list. For years now, I’ve pled for “Spam Assassin” or something like regular expressions for my phone. GrandCentral may not be that smart yet, but it’s years ahead of the options I’ve seen from landline carriers.

The features of Google’s recent acquisition are many and powerful, but a few of my own favorite bits bubble up in this screengrab I took this morning (from a robot UPS phone call, alerting me to a signature-required package that’s out on the truck).

I can’t imagine going back to typical phone options after having access to:

Visual voicemail
Multiple options for banning nuisance or spam numbers
Good email integration (including receiving alerts and forwarding messages)
Web-based calling (with pretty okay privacy protection)
A single online location for managing all my telephone “stuff”

GrandCentral is still in semi-private beta, but you can sign up to receive an invitation as they roll-in new users. I’d recommend getting in line now, because if you suffer from the same phone frustrations that I do, GrandCentral may be worth a throw for you.

”GrandCentral: For a "life-hackier" phone” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on September 07, 2007. Except as noted, it's ©2009 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

43F Podcast: A Phone Made of Human Ass

Merlin — Wed, 26 Oct 2005 13:00:24 -0400

A Phone Made of Human Ass (mp3)

43folders.com - Everything–including this piece of crap phone–will eventually break. Prepare yourself by capturing what you want to be different next time. (3:55)

Rated…mmm…let’s say “PG-13.” Listen over at Odeo, and see a photo of the assy phone for yourself.

”43F Podcast: A Phone Made of Human Ass” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on October 26, 2005. Except as noted, it's ©2009 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

How do you get creative with your phonecam?

Merlin — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 08:34:32 -0400

Your mobile phone camera can be more than a fast way to send your kitty photos to Grandma Pearl. Like a lot of people, I use mine as a ubiquitous capture device, recording ephemeral information and visual documentation wherever and whenever it’s needed.

I’m mostly curious to hear how other folks are using their phonecams (open comments below), but I’ll get the ball rolling with a few ideas, old and new:

Remember where you parked - In a parking lot or garage, snap a photo of the section where you’ve parked. If you’re parked on the street in a strange neighborhood, grab a picture of an address, a landmark, or of the signs for the cross street.
“Wishlist” items you might want to buy later - If you’re out and about and happen to see a CD, book, or other consumable you might want to pick up later on, snap a photo of the item’s barcode. When you get home you can look the item up on Amazon or Froogle.com and ﬁnd the best price, or just add it to your canonical online wishlist.
Show people where you’ve put things - If you’ve moved the mayonnaise jar with little Tyler’s college money or relocated the good scissors to your work bench, snap a photo and mail it to your housemates.
Document your fender bender - If you get hit by another car (and once you’re safely off the road), take a few fast photos of the damage as well as the other driver’s tag and operator’s license.

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Record the hours of a new store - New dry cleaner or Thai restaurant you want to try? Grab a photo of the hours.
Capture inspiring design - See a poster, interior, or typeface you particularly like? Grab a snapshot and use it for later inspiration, research, or as part of a mood board.
Hunt for houses and apartments - If you’re looking at potential apartments or a new house, get photos of the kitchen, the bedrooms—even the view from out of some windows.
Doublecheck your shopping selection - Can’t remember whether you were supposed to pick up 5 10-penny nails or 10 5-penny nails? Send a photo to the one who sent you on the errand, and have them approve your purchase by return call or IM.

Document your haircut - Snap a few photos of a haircut that turned out well. Get the front, the sides, and the back, and make sure to note the name of the operator. Ask them to describe how to ask for this haircut again, and type it up wherever you’re storing the photo, online or otherwise.
Carry your To-do list - If you’re traveling particularly light one day and just have a couple things to remember while you’re out, jot the tasks, phone numbers, or what have you on a sheet of paper, photograph it, and you’re done.

Okay, that’s enough of my yakkin’. You tell me: what’s a cool use for recording or recalling stuff on the go with your phonecam? Appropriate links to Flickr-like sites are encouraged.

Technorati Tags: lifehacks, moblogging, phonecams, photography

”How do you get creative with your phonecam?” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on September 21, 2005. Except as noted, it's ©2009 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"