More Bang for Your Buck: Defeating Automated Machines

WSVN -- It's well known - talk is cheap.

But wouldn't it be nice to talk to an actual human being once in a while.

For her, time is money and that's why she doesn't have patience for a lot of prompts.

Barbie: "To no end, frustration, frustration, frustration."

But Barbie's days following voice commands could soon be coming to an end.

Computer whiz Paul English has decoded the combination for talking to a real person at over 70 companies.

Paul: "I just wanted to find a way to get through all the stuff and get to a human as quickly as I could."

Paul says the codes work as a fast pass to a customer service agent.

Sometimes -- it's as easy as pressing zero, sometimes -- it can be much more complicated.

Paul: "In most cases these are codes that aren't really documented."

For instance, for BellSouth, the trick is pressing star then zero. For American Airlines, press zero twice then say "agent."

Paul: "Its generally pretty simple."

But how simple? Well, we asked Barbie to give a few numbers a try. First up, Delta Airlines. The trick - say the word "agent."

Next - American Express. The secret - try zero then pound three times over. And last but not least - Sprint PCS. All you have to do is hit zero twice then say "agent."

Barbie: "Calling Sprint with code 'agent' - "Wow, Tracy that was quick."

That's three for three, and that's all the proof Barbie needs.

Barbie: "It is very helpful. I wish someone would have invented this awhile ago. We've been suffering for years now."

Contact: lgarrigan@wsvn.com