On Monday, June 30, 2014 1:05:00 PM UTC-4, Stephen Sprunk wrote:   
      
   > A certain PC software vendor is pushing that model, and my CPOE went along   
   with it for a while, but users pushed back far harder than expected; we went   
   back to promoting Ethernet-connected phones (we do still have one   
   USB-connected model that we don't    
   advertise) and sales are booming again--much to the dismay of said PC software   
   vendor. Attendants are an exception to pretty much every rule in the phone   
   industry, but they are a special case that represents (based on my analysis of   
   our sales volume)    
   less than 1% of the total market. You have master that to win the other 99%,   
   though; one unhappy attendant can tank an entire PBX sale.    
      
   Interesting.  The attendant function has been so automated that I wouldn't   
   think it would be an issue today.   
      
   I remember years ago, circa 1985, that they came out with a combined telephone   
   and mainframe (green-on-glass) terminal, intended for a call center (inward or   
   outward) worker.  You could type in a phone number on the keyboard and it   
   would dial it for you.    
    I think it was intended to take a caller-ID number and use it to pull up a   
   record for the caller to save time.   
      
   When I call large businesses today, I must enter or give them my account   
   information*. Indeed, sometimes I have to enter twice--once to the computer   
   that answers the call, and again to the human who comes in later.  You'd think   
   the computer would pass it    
   onto the human.   
      
   *Doesn't 800 service always transmit the ANI as opposed to the n   
   t-always-accurate caller-id?   
      
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