WeQ4U is a free iPhone and Android app which does all the hard work of queuing up for business and government 08 numbers in the UK, so you can get on with other things. The app not only saves you time hanging around on long boring switchboard call queues, but it also saves money, because the app hangs up but stays in the queue until a customer service agent arrives on the other end.

The cost of many 08 numbers can be as high as 30p a minute, and with wait times of up to 60 minutes or more in some cases, this can mean a fair saving of cash over time.

What’s even better is you don’t necessarily need a smartphone to take advantage of the service, as those with standard phones just call 0333 5432111 and add the number they wish to contact. The whole thing works very simply. The user calls the app number and enters the organization number they want to contact. Once it’s connected, the user joins the queue and then enters 9* to hang up and let the app do the rest of the queuing. The app then reconnects once the agent answers.

You do, of course, have to pay a call charge for dialing the WeQ4U service, but because it’s a standard geographic UK number, it comes within conventional call plans, and because the system hangs up and calls back, you spend a lot less time and money than you would do calling directly. The company makes its money from selling solutions to call centers, and by presumably getting a cut of each call made.

Hooray for technology!