First, you enter the 800 or 866 number you are calling, plus your phone number. Then you will receive a call to your phone number from the 800 number that you have entered. When you do this, you will hear Lucy's greeting and then just wait for "her" to tell you that someone has picked up on the other end.


For example, earlier this week, I needed to call one of the credit card companies where I have an account. Credit card companies are notorious for having some of the worst customer service telephone systems. So I gave "Lucy" a try.

When my call to the credit card company was finally answered by a live person, the representative on the other end was asking "Are you calling XXX Bank?" I wasn't entirely sure what the representative heard when she picked up my call — maybe Lucy was talking to her, too?? But she could hear me just fine, so I talked with her directly.

When I told the representative what I needed to be done, she put me back on hold. So I put her on Lucyphone again, then hung up my phone. When she returned to the line, I got a call from Lucy. I picked up the call and again I was talking to the rep. Very nice! 

There are many good services like Lucy that are trying to fill the holes that contact center telephone systems haven't been able fill on their own. Nowadays (at least in the US) the collaboration of computer and telephony services like this is something we have come to look for and expect.