here are my observations, and am not sure I'm right, but these are just my 2 cents:
1. Every time somebody is calling the USCIS toll free number, and it changes the status, it shows as if they touched it, hence is getting into the statistics they would like to present. Although the bottom line didn't change for us, from their end, it is giving them credit point for "touching" a case.
2. I didn't see any evidence from what I read here that these kind of inquiries really get the applications approved faster. So again, the bottom line from our end is the same (i.e. no approval), however they are claiming these calls as if they touched the files.
best,