Hotline-killer Skipmenu emerged from stealth mode a few weeks ago, releasing on Android and iPhone. Over 800 Hong Kong hotlines are on the app, including those of the Inland Revenue Department (IRD), which expects a stark increase of phone enquiries during tax season.
When calling a faceless entity like the IRD, expect to waste 10 minutes on average listening to ‘press 1 for this’ or ‘press 2 for that’. Skipmenu helps the caller literally skip this menu. By seeing all options on the screen rather than hearing them, a caller connects within seconds.
Other hotlines on Skipmenu include HSBC, Bank of China, Standard Chartered, DBS, Manulife, AXA, AIA, Cathay Pacific, Dragonair, Octopus, MTR, PCCW, ThreeHK, China Mobile, SF Express, and Hong Kong Immigration Department.
“Calling companies is a real problem, but it’s not going away. When they added email support, we still had to call. Then they added live chat, we still had to call. Then they added social media, we still had to call. If you look at the stats, an overwhelming majority are calling more than anything else,” explained Chloe Chan, head of growth. “Some companies purposely trap callers in phone menu mazes. We make them accessible and accountable to their customers. And Skipmenu is so simple, even my grandma can use it.”
At less than 9 MB, Skipmenu is among the smallest apps today. “I hate apps that are big, bloated and useless. That’s why Skipmenu is small, simple and secure,” explained Gabriel Chan, the founder CEO. “It doesn’t run in the background and slow down your phone. It could save you over 2 hours a month in airtime. Even if you have a voice plan, no one likes wasting time listening to a robot.”
Skipmenu is based in Hong Kong with an engineering lab in Ottawa, Canada. The app is available for free on the App Store and on Google Play.
