Tired of sitting on hold for customer service? A free app for iPhones and Android phones might be worth downloading.
The app helps people skip hold and talk to a real person, never navigate another phone tree again and forget the phrase: "Please stay on the line; your call is important to us."
Fast Customer's co-founder, Aaron Dragushan, said the concept came to him while he was sitting on hold himself.
"Why do we have to wait on hold when these companies have millions of computers and all these computers do is wait on hold with people?" he said. "What happens on the back end, our computer system calls into the company and navigates the voice system and when we reach a rep, they can press one, and they will connect out to you."
Fast Customer can also ring back to the user before a live operator has picked up.
Dragushan said the app has 2,700 numbers programmed in including all the Fortune 500s.
"That includes companies people call the most," said Dragushan.
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American Airlines reservations, National Car Rental and Verizon are just some of the 1-800 numbers programmed in.
Dragushan said the app has been download 50,000 times.
"The service isn't perfect. It doesn't work every time," he said. "But at no point is your experience anything other than push a button and go back to your life."
He said he has received $750,000 in investment money to improve the concept, which still has some technical issues.
Right now, the app doesn't have an interface that shows the call is live and that Fast Customer is on the line and waiting on hold. There's also no way to listen into the call to see if the line is still connected.
If the app is perfected, Dragushan envisions making money by having "on hold" calls sponsored by ads that would pop up on someone's smartphone while Fast Customer is doing the work.
