Let Google Pause It for You

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Google’s new “Talk to a Live Representative” feature is aptly named, if a bit wordy. It’s truly designed to help you talk to a live representative by working on your behalf with automated call screens – no more wading through endless menus or yelling “REPRESENT” until you hear a real person on the other end.

Here’s how it works: When you search for a participating company on Google, you’ll see a new “Talk to a Live Representative” card explaining how Google will call the company for you, and wait until a live representative appears to help you. You can click the “Request a call” button and then fill out a short questionnaire about the reason for your call.

As an example, let’s say you need to call United Airlines. The search page shows that the wait time at this time is usually 50-60 times. You can then choose one of the following reasons for your call:

  • Update an existing reservation

  • Luggage problem

  • Canceled flight

  • Another problem

  • Missed my flight

  • Flight delay

Then you enter your phone number and click Request a Call . You can go about your business, and when a live representative appears ready to help with your problem, Google will call you back.

Which companies participate in the Talk to a Live Representative program?

According to Google, here are the companies for which you can expect to see a “Talk to a Live Representative” option in your search:

  • Airlines : Alaska Airlines, Delta Airlines, JetBlue, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines, United Airlines.

  • Telecommunications : Assurance Wireless, Boost Mobile, Charter Communications, Cricket Wireless, Samsung.

  • Retail : Best Buy, Costco, Gamestop, The Home Depot, Walmart.

  • Services : ADT, DHL, Fedex, Grubhub, Instacart, Securus Technologies, Stubhub, UPS, Waste Management, Zelle

  • Insurance : Esurance, State Farm

How to set up a conversation with a live representative

This feature does not work by default as it is currently being tested by Search Labs. However, it is available to anyone using Chrome or the Google app on iOS or Android .

To get started, open the Google or Chrome app, then select the Search Labs icon (the beaker). At this point, speaking to a live representative should be at the top of the list. Click “Enable” and you’re done. If you want to see how this feature works without having to find the company yourself, click Try Example .

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