A new feature from Google, ‘Talk to a Live Representative,’ could soon help you avoid being stuck on hold, forced to navigate automated call menus. This experimental feature is available from Google Search Labs now. It can call a business on your behalf, and then navigate through the company’s hold system for you. When a human is on the line, it will notify you.
This functions just like ‘Hold for me,’ a feature introduced to Pixel owners in 2020 and currently exclusive to Google Pixel 3 phones and newer. ‘Talk to a Live Representative’ was spotted by X user Sterling, who also pointed out the similarities to “Hold for me”. However, unlike ‘Hold for me,’ this new feature will also call a business on your behalf, so you don’t need to activate it once you’re on the call.
#Google Labs added a “Talk to a live representative” experiment that sounds like the excellent “Hold for me” feature of the #GooglePixel.CC @9to5Google @NexusBen #GoogleLabs pic.twitter.com/GeW8wbAJRNFebruary 15, 2024
The post shows three screenshots, one from Google Search Labs explaining the feature. The second shows a search page with the “Talk to a Live Representative” option above the “Request a Call” option. Lastly, the third image shows several drop-down menus of companies that are supported at this time.
“Talk to a Live Representative” is currently only available in the US. You can also use it with the Google app for both Android and iOS, as well as Chrome for the desktop.
To use this feature, you simply search for the customer support number of a company. If it is supported, Google will display a “Request a call” button. The example shown in the original post included various US airlines, phone companies, and retailers on the list of supported businesses.
After Google makes the call, you will receive SMS updates on its progress and your phone will ring once a human representative is available.
It’s unclear when this might become available to all users or if it will ever become a permanent fixture on Google’s search results. If it rolls out to all users then ‘Talk to a Live Representative’ could become an invaluable tool to help navigate the increasingly robotic customer service phone lines that have become more common.
