Now if only they can force businesses to only offer telephone instructions in English...
Lately, I have noticed that to select Spanish, you must dial '1'. It's as if English has already been demoted to #2 or #3 in some markets.
Spanish is still numero 2 on the automated menu in MetroWestern MA -- at least for Charter cable. That could change overnight, of course.
You shouldn't 'force businesses' to do this. They have a customer base they must deal with and it is not their fault that many of their customers speak Spanish.
In regards to 'Dial 1 to Select Spanish' Para El Español, Prensa Uno, there is actually a good business reason for this. Many large businesses have multi-lingual call centers and having this option first routes these calls quickly. If they had this as option 5 or 6, many of these people will hang up. It is a small change, but when your business uses 'hang ups' in their IVR as a measurement, then they will look at every small thing they can to keep people on the line to get service.
No, TD, this forces Spanish language callers to do something (press 1) before they can get into the phone tree, while English language callers can begin hearing their options without pressing anything.
I prefer this to the other way that forced ME to press 1 before I could hear my options in English.
"Lately, I have noticed that to select Spanish, you must dial '1'. It's as if English has already been demoted to #2 or #3 in some markets."
This is true. I have noticed the same!