Hi, One of Cara's suggested apps, Dial Zero by Next Mobile Web, is in a list of 5 or so apps that I was drafting up back at the beginning of October (according to the save date in my mail), and never got around to finishing and posting. I'll just paste in the completed text for this entry after the excerpt of Cara's description, since there is an accompanying web site with more information that is also usable, and is of general interest as a way to get the fastest connection to customer service. For this reason I'm also cross-posting this to the macvisionaries list. There's also a description of a similar paid app called "Phone Tree Navigator -- Direct Line" ($0.99) that actually dials these contact numbers for you. (I couldn't test that app for accessibility since I have an iPod Touch).
> Cara Quinn wrote: > >> Okay, so the first and last ones are for us mall bunnies in the >> crowd, so they might not be must-haves for everyone, but check out >> the rest of these!… >> >> Enjoy! >> >> Cara :) >> >> >> Dial Zero >> >> Very cool app! This one allows you to select a business from >> about 600 or so, (I believe) and then simply double tap to call >> said business and be connected to a real-live human being! Yes, >> that's right, you may have heard of these strange creatures in myth >> and legend! They really do exist and you'll actually get to speak >> with one in real-time! Isn't that amazing?… I sure think so!… lol! >> … -Here's the linkie!… >> >> http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dial-zero/id284974033?mt=8 >> 1. Dial Zero by Next Mobile Web http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=284974033&mt=8 This app was described as "The Best app for Reaching a Human Being" and is basically a database of the best customer service numbers to use for over 600 major companies, and the number sequences you need to press in order to reach a human operator in the shortest amount of time, with minimal exposure to annoying voice prompts. Back story: There is a web site this app is based on called "gethuman.com": http://gethuman.com/ The web site grew out of an individual's campaign to do something to cut through the endless wait in customer help phone support, particularly the delays due to automated voice services that would direct you to listen to menus and punch in the next button. While there is extensive coverage of the companies in the U.S., data base coverage of other countries like Canada, the U.K., and Australia, is less complete, particularly in the app version. You can read the original story of one man's efforts to produce a phone guide to the customer service systems of major companies that gives you the quickest way to reach a human at this NPR Morning Edition web page, ("Phone Guide is a Real Customer Service" by Paul English, November 23, 2005): http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5024153 The page has a transcript of the episode, or you can get the mp3 file of the radio program from the download link. If you're only interested in the app, which is completely accessible, the main page comes up with an alphabetical listview which you can search or navigate in the usual fashion (e.g., if you do a two-finger downwards flick from any entry, the list will scroll, but it's a long way to go through over 600 entries; type in any part of a name, and the list will slim down to entries that match the letters as you type them in.) Double-tap your entry and read the page that gives the telephone number and also instructions for numbers to press to quickly get through the voice prompts. There are also user tips appended to each page. The main gethuman.com web page is also worth visiting, since it has more entries, especially for other countries, and has been continuously updated since the app was released. I've read that a second paid app, "Phone Tree Navigator - Direct Line" by Michael Schneider ($0.99) will actually dial company contact numbers for you if you have an iPhone, but works for a much smaller number of customer service contact numbers. Since I don't have an iPhone, I can't check this out for accessibility. Maybe someone with an iPhone would like to take a look at this. Here's the link to the iTunes Store for Direct Line: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=288458307&mt=8 HTH Cheers, Esther -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en.
