Internet Startup Cirrostratus, together with Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) in frastructure provider Soho66, has launched a free online service to help customers dialing into call centers navigate the menu trees.
"Many people find phoning call centers a real pain. Our service is aiming to make things a lot easier. One click on a link or the bookmarks list and our server will phone up the call center and get through all the menus," said John Hemming, founder of Cirrostratus, in a statement. "This is a lot faster than when people have to phone up and is less irritating."
The system uses WebRTC and the internet to make the call, meaning that normal phone systems aren't tied up while callers wait on hold to speak to agents.
"This is a very exciting and valuable service for customers...and the businesses who operate the call centers themselves," said David McManus, marketing manager at Soho66, in a statement. "This is because it makes them more accessible to their own customer base and less off-putting when it comes to having to ring them for something, increasing their customer friendliness."
The system currently only works on recent versions of Google's Chrome browser, but Cirrostratus is working on versions for Microsoft Edge and Firefox.