Let me preface my statements by saying that I am a software developer and consultant, and I worked with such companies as Amcat in developing these systems (call center systems, IVR, predictive dialing, etc.), so I can share some light on the topic:
No, that doesn't confuse anything but yourself. The software actually making the call would have to listen to your pressing certain numbers, and I can state that it unequivocally does not (that is not to say that some software is without such a feature). Yes, it is very true that they run the predictive dialer at a rate far exceeding their actual capacity, so if they get a valid phone number (answering machine, you answer, etc.) your number generally gets flagged; when it gets flagged it gets transferred to another department that calls you directly so as to eliminate the possibility of dropping the call on you. What's worse is that many companies will generally sell these "good" numbers.
Now, the problem was much more pervasive several years ago, but with so many regulations in place it's much more difficult, and dropping a call on someone could result in a lawsuit, etc.
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