AI That Waits on Hold and Gets Through Phone Menus for You

Yes, an AI can wait on hold for you. As of October 2026, ChatGPT and Claude do not place phone calls on their own, but with the UIRIX connector your personal agent calls for you after your yes. It gets through the phone menu by pressing only the option that leads to the goal of your task, and it waits in the hold queue for up to 3 minutes by default, or up to 10 if you ask. When a person picks up, it starts with the first sentence of your task, and you read the result in the chat. If the queue runs longer than your limit, or the menu never leads to a person, it ends the call and tells you what happened. Time on hold is billed like talk time.

How it gets through the phone menu

When a line answers with a menu, your assistant listens to the whole menu before it presses anything. Then it presses only the option that leads to the goal of your task, such as appointments, the pharmacy or order status.

It keys in digits only when your task gave them, such as a member number or an order number, and it does not guess. Never put passwords, PINs or verification codes in a task.

When the menu does not lead where it should:

• If the same menu comes back, it tries again more slowly.
• If the same menu comes back a second time, it tries the operator option.
• If it still cannot get through, it ends the call and reports back what happened.

How it waits on hold

Once it is in the queue, your assistant waits for up to 3 minutes by default. To change the limit, say so in your request, anywhere from 1 to 10 minutes, for example "you can wait on hold up to 10 minutes".

Time on hold is billed like talk time, so a minute in the queue costs the same as a minute of conversation.

When a person picks up, it starts right away with the first sentence of your task, so they hear at once why it is calling. If the queue runs longer than your limit, the call ends and you get the report in your chat.

Requests to try

Type requests like these in Claude or ChatGPT. Give the number, the goal, any digits the menu may ask for, and a hold limit if 3 minutes is too short:

• "Call the pharmacy and ask if my refill is ready. It's under Dan Cohen. You can wait on hold up to 10 minutes."
• "Call my dentist's main number and book a cleaning next week, any morning."
• "Call the furniture store's customer service and ask for the new delivery date of order 58213." It keys in the order number only because your task gave it.
• "Call my insurance and ask if physical therapy is covered on my plan. My member number is 8812 4471. Wait up to 10 minutes." It keys in the member number if the menu asks for it.
• "Call the dealership's service line and ask if my car is ready. It's under Cohen."
• "Call the hotel's reservations line and ask whether my booking includes breakfast. The booking is under Miller."

Before it dials: the task card

Every call you ask for in Claude or ChatGPT starts from a task card. Before it dials, your assistant checks it. If something essential is missing, such as who to ask for or what to ask, it asks you first, and nothing is dialed or billed.

Then your chat app is instructed to repeat the number, the task and the timing and to get your yes, and the connector refuses a call that is not marked as approved. If voicemail answers, it leaves a short message only when your task allows it; otherwise it hangs up. Either way it reports back.

Honest limits

• Long queues: it waits up to your hold limit, at most 10 minutes. A longer queue ends the call with a report, and the call is not dialed again automatically.
• Passwords and verification: a menu that asks for a spoken password or a verification it was not given ends the call, and you get the report.
• Spoken menus: it gets through menus by pressing keys. Do not count on it with a menu that only takes spoken answers.
• Lines that never reach a person: if the menu or the queue never leads to a person, the call ends with a report.
• No hand-off to you: when a person picks up, your assistant handles the call itself. It puts through only a person you named, after that person agrees, never whoever answers the queue.
• No questions mid-call: it cannot stop the call to ask you, so put your limits and the details the line may ask for in the task.
• Where it works: menus and hold work on the calls you ask for in Claude or ChatGPT. Campaigns do not use them, and on the UIRIX Public API they are an opt-in on each call.

Hold for Me, Hold Assist, Gemini Call for Me or UIRIX?

As of October 2026, iPhone Hold Assist and Pixel Hold for Me wait on hold during calls you make yourself and alert you when someone comes back. They are built into the phone, so if you are happy to place the call and talk once someone answers, they are the simpler choice.

Gemini Call for Me, an early test on Pixel 11 phones in the US that needs a paid Google AI subscription, calls a business from your own number, gets through phone menus and waits on hold. It calls US numbers only, in English, and is rolling out gradually.

UIRIX makes the whole call for you from its own number when you ask in Claude or ChatGPT: it gets through the menu, waits up to your hold limit, does the task with the person who picks up and reports back. It is not limited to the US: its number can come from 27 countries, and it speaks 17 languages. Unlike the built-in phone features, it costs money.

Pixel Hold for Me, iPhone Hold Assist, Gemini Call for Me and UIRIX (as of October 2026)

iPhone and Pixel details come from Apple Support and Phone by Google Help, Gemini details from Google's help pages and blog, as of October 10, 2026; UIRIX details as of October 17, 2026. Features, phones and regions change, so check before you rely on them.

Set it up once, then hand off the wait

1. 1

   Create your personal agent

   In the UIRIX dashboard choose Create agent, then Personal AI Agent. It is ready in seconds, with no website.

2. 2

   Give it a phone number

   On the agent page choose Get Number. The Personal plan includes a number in the country you choose, and getting a number requires a saved payment card. Numbers come from 27 countries. In the US, Canada, Israel and Puerto Rico a number is ready at once; in 23 more, such as the UK, Germany, France, Australia, Japan, Brazil and Mexico, the telephony provider first reviews your details and documents, usually in 1 to 3 business days.

3. 3

   Connect Claude or ChatGPT

   Add the UIRIX connector at https://dashboard.uirix.com/api/ext/v1/mcp and sign in. In Claude, open Customize, then Connectors, and choose Add custom connector, or use the Add UIRIX to Claude button on this page. In ChatGPT on the web, open chatgpt.com/plugins, select the plus button and choose Add custom MCP server. On the UIRIX permission screen, switch on Outbound calls; it is off by default.

4. 4

   Ask for the call

   Type the number, the goal and, if 3 minutes is too short, how long it may wait, for example "you can wait up to 10 minutes". Your assistant checks the task, your chat app repeats the plan and asks for your yes, and you read the result in the same chat.

Waiting on hold with AI: common questions