Topica Loopframe_Guzzi Archive


Subject: RE: NLC - Find a human

Author: Lannis

Date: Aug 18, 2005, 7:43 PM

Post ID: 1719317490




Greg Bender wrote:
 
Here's a Web site that shows you how to bypass the voice menus of
several companies to "find a human"...

https://www.quickbase.com/db/bam6rdiey?a=q&qid=5

Regards,

Greg Bender

That's interesting, sort of like hunting for Easter eggs. Isn't it odd
that these companies, who are only differentiated from each other by
their customer service, would do things that frustrate their customers
so badly that they have to resort to skullduggery to try to talk to a
real person and avoid these universally stupid and useless automated
menus? These outfits must be run totally by beancounters and not be
anyone with any sense of human nature.

The worst one is the new "Verizon 411" directory-assistance service.
They used to have an operator come on line to ask what listing you want.

Now, they have a voice recognition system that attempts to listen to the
city and state that you speak into the phone, along with the listing,
and automatically give you the number.

See, I know how to talk to a computer. I used to work on voice
recognition and synthesizer systems. You speak slowly, in round tones,
with a clipped silence between words. But no matter HOW I speak,
whether fast or slow, with a normal accent or stilted computerese, I
have exactly a ZERO percent hit rate on the system EVER recognizing what
I say. Every time I give the city and state I want, this fake-concerned
recorded voice says "I - I'm sorry, I didn't understand that. What was
the city and state again?" And I have to give it again, knowing that it
won't recognize it, so that I can eventually get to a human operator.

It's a horrible system, and I've quit using it. The management at
Verizon is probably wondering why their system usage is going down, why
their revenues and market share are falling, and I'm sure they are
blaming it on Asian competition, the falling dollar vs. the Euro, or an
economic slowdown, when actually the answer is their own pig-ignorant
incompetance and mis-understanding of their own business, and a total
disregard of the needs of their customers.

There are SO many opportunities for improvement out there. All we have
to do is look around us....

Lannis

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