By Michael Haisten 

Waiting on hold to speak with a real person in a call center is a common complaint among consumers.  So common that television shows and companies alike have capitalized on our collective pain by making fun of these frustrating experiences.  Saturday Night Live performed the Julie skit, and Discover created its line of advertisements starring Peggy.  A British study, commissioned in 2011 by the mobile network giffgaff, went so far as to indicate that waiting on hold for longer than 5 minutes and 58 seconds could actually lead to minor health problems due to increased blood pressure and anxiety.

Some companies are starting to listen to their customers, however, and are offering callbacks as an alternative to waiting on hold.  Callbacks can be offered in a phone menu, website, or mobile application.  I think most people and businesses would agree that a 10 minute wait time is generally a poor experience – a call center failure.  But the first time I used such a service, I received a callback in exactly 10 minutes, and I thought it was a customer service breakthrough.  I even told everyone at work the next day how great it was!  It certainly beat the alternative of being captive to my phone line waiting on hold.  It got me thinking about the fun or productive things people could be doing every day rather than waiting on hold with the companies we patronize.

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