Waiting on hold stinks.
Free service LucyPhone can listen to the hold music for you, then call you back when a real human picks up.
Lifehacker says head to Lucyphone’s site, look up the number of the company you’re calling (or add it to their database), then hand over your own number. Lucyphone calls you and rings the company, google-voice-style, and you then navigate the company phone tree the way you normally would.
When you inevitably get put on hold, hit the star (*) key twice, and LucyPhone will take over and you can hang up. When a human picks up on the other end, LucyPhone rings you back. There’s a chance that if you don’t pick up fast enough, the representative might throw you back on hold–hit “**” again, and LucyPhone jumps back in.
If you’ve got a service call to make that can only happen during business hours, LucyPhone could be a real time saver.
Photo by LucyPhone.