How do you press 2 on a rotary phone?

[jmowreader]

Today I had to call IT Tech Support in Atlanta to get my deck design program unfucked. I get the number and call them.

"Welcome to the Atlanta Store Support Center Technical Support Hotline. This call may be recorded for training purposes. If you are calling from a touch-tone telephone, press 1. If you are calling from a rotary phone, press 2."

It all went straight downhill from there.

[joeybee12]

1. Hey, I'm still trying to figure out where 11 is!

[MrSlayer]

2. Well you climb out from under your rock.

And get into the 21st century. Or you can put your cell phone up to the mouthpiece and push it's "2" button.

[MrMonk]

3. Read the section between the quotation marks.

If you still don't get it, then read that section again.

[MrSlayer]

4. HAHA!

That's pretty friggin funny.

[jmowreader]

5. You want to know the funniest part?

The Home Depot runs what is probably the largest VoIP system in the world. (It's larger than Wal-Mart's.) If your phone number starts with 1-700 or #999, you've only got a VoIP phone.

IT tech support has two numbers. One is a 1-700 number, the other is a #999 number.

How the hell can you call into a VoIP network with a rotary phone?

[madinmaryland]

6. You have a rotary phone?

:wtf:

It actually works, on todays phone systems?

[jmowreader]

7. It won't work on our phone system, I know that...

We have an Avaya digital PBX. This thing's pretty slick...it's got "virtual lines."

Each department has its own line for incoming calls--lumber is 851, millwork 852 and so on.

Let's say Matcom decides to call the store for some lumber prices. They'll route him to 851 to talk to a lumber person. If, while I'm going through Matcom's list, Dolo Amber calls to get some information on roofing, they can route her to 851 and another associate can pick up that same line while I'm still talking to Matcom.

We can also do conference calls blending incoming POTS callers with VoIP callers, like the one I did last week where a customer in Massachusetts (who camped on via a store in MA to save long-distance charges) and a contractor in NC spoke with my store, a store on the east coast that shipped us some FSC teak, one in Washington state that shipped us some FSC redwood and one in Michigan that had some 8/4 oak.

What we cannot do, no matter how hard we try, is use a rotary-dial phone on our system.

[madinmaryland]

9. I think the problem is

that the PBX (which is typical of all PBX's) is that it is looking for a DTMF signal from the phone, which a rotary phone does not generate. I am not sure if any of the PBX vendors make conversion device for their systems to allow access for rotary phones. Most PBX's and ACD's will just tell you to stay on the line and wait for an operator, who can then redirect the call as needed.

Kindy klugey though.

[jmowreader]

10. I think the REAL problem is...

that when Avaya built tech support's phone tree system, Avaya just threw that in by default--not realizing that it was going into a VoIP network, where there is no capability for rotary dialing.

Oh yeah...I called a real nice young lady at tech support yesterday about it. Here's how the call went...

"There's a problem with your voicemail system."
'And what would that be?'
"You'll have to check it yourself. Hang up with me, dial your own phone number and listen to the first menu option. Then call me back. My number is (gave her my store's VoIP extension), extension 341."

//wait of about one minute...//

'OH MY GOD that's funny! Yeah, we'll fix that. Thanks.'

[Hugin]

8. I'd suggest...

Waving your middle digit in the air over the phone.

Seriously, most of those voice menus also accept a spoken
number... So try saying, "Two".

Yeah, they're idiots.