Whoever designed those outbound IVRs that put you on hold should be shot

It's happened to me twice - you get a phone call, see it's from a toll-free number, decide to answer it rather than ignore it like you often do (having worked in an outbound call centre throughout University, I can appreciate that they're just people doing their job, so when I do answer it, I am always nice, but sometimes I'd rather go in their system as a "No Response"). You say "Hello?", hear the familiar pause of an outbound dialer, then hear "Due to an unusually large call volume.." in an automated voice. I generally tend to hang up laughing at that point, but I assume they're telling me to please hold for an available agent.

This has to be one of those cases where the business needs outweigh any concept of usability or usefulness. When you're doing something perceived to be as intrusive as an unsolicited outbound call, you DO NOT put your caller on hold!! It's bad enough being put on hold when you're calling them, but it's understandable, since you have no idea of the call volumes at a given time of day. When you're the one controlling the volume, as is the case with outbound calling, balance your outbound calls with the availability of agents! If something is bugged, and you're placing those calls, then find there is no available agent, I'd rather be hung up on than be put on hold - but that might be the designer in me.