Monday, June 19, 2006
When IVRs respond to background noise
A user wrote me with this story:
"I called [Bank of America's] toll free number for information about one of my accounts and was doing fine with the voice responses. I have two Siberian Huskies and one of them howled at just the wrong (right) time. The voice response came back and said 'Did you say loan?'"
This story cracked me up and really hit home. I've got a pretty active household... small children and a yellow lab who thinks he's running for watchdog of the year. Do these companies actually expect that when we make a phone call, we'll be perfectly quiet and call from a silent location? It drives me crazy that their voice response systems "recognize" background noise. At least give me the option to key in information. They aren't doing me any favors in "hearing" me if they can never understand me.
I also live in a very small town that apparently doesn't make the radar of most large companies. When they ask me for my address/city and I tell them, the system says "Did you say XYZ?" And I have to say "NO" and repeat the process over and over. Since they generally ask for a zip code, why do I have to speak my city anyway?
Now, I have enough trouble with these systems, but imagine for a moment being a person with an accent, or someone who stutters, or someone with a different speech impediment. I hope that these companies begin to recognize that they are alienating large groups by assuming that their technogy adds value, when in fact, as compared to ten years ago, it detracts value.
If they alienate those with accents, stutterers, those with speech impediments, mothers of small children, owners of siberian huskies and other animals that make noise, and anyone else who doesn't call from the "Cone of Silence," who will their customer base be? posted by Lorna Rankin at 9:58 PM
"I called [Bank of America's] toll free number for information about one of my accounts and was doing fine with the voice responses. I have two Siberian Huskies and one of them howled at just the wrong (right) time. The voice response came back and said 'Did you say loan?'"
This story cracked me up and really hit home. I've got a pretty active household... small children and a yellow lab who thinks he's running for watchdog of the year. Do these companies actually expect that when we make a phone call, we'll be perfectly quiet and call from a silent location? It drives me crazy that their voice response systems "recognize" background noise. At least give me the option to key in information. They aren't doing me any favors in "hearing" me if they can never understand me.
I also live in a very small town that apparently doesn't make the radar of most large companies. When they ask me for my address/city and I tell them, the system says "Did you say XYZ?" And I have to say "NO" and repeat the process over and over. Since they generally ask for a zip code, why do I have to speak my city anyway?
Now, I have enough trouble with these systems, but imagine for a moment being a person with an accent, or someone who stutters, or someone with a different speech impediment. I hope that these companies begin to recognize that they are alienating large groups by assuming that their technogy adds value, when in fact, as compared to ten years ago, it detracts value.
If they alienate those with accents, stutterers, those with speech impediments, mothers of small children, owners of siberian huskies and other animals that make noise, and anyone else who doesn't call from the "Cone of Silence," who will their customer base be? posted by Lorna Rankin at 9:58 PM
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Why don't we list our phone number on our site?
Short answer: Because we don't have one.
This is a question that I've been asked in several forums and I thought I'd share the reason here to help clarify.
First of all please consider that we aren't a company and don't have any "customers" exactly. However, we try very hard to treat our users the way that we would like to be treated as consumers. Therefore, I, as project manager, personally respond to emails within 24 hours and usually MUCH sooner. Many of our users will attest to my speedy replies which often surprise them.
Also, we are a volunteer organization which is funded solely by Paul and a few ads to defray the cost of running the site (http://gethuman.com/ads.html). Everyone involved in the site works remotely and we don't have an office or a specific location.
While I'm not willing to post my home phone number on the site, I have always been willing to speak with anyone who emails me. I have provided a phone number at which I can be reached. And actually, once folks know that I will reply to email immediately and that I'm willing to provide a phone number, they're apparently satisfied that they can reach us if they want. No one has ever taken advantage of my offer to speak on the phone.
I think most people ask this quesiton because it seems ironic that we list ways to get to humans at other organizaitons, but don't have a telephone number listed ourselves. Once they get this explanation, it seems reasonable. Hope this helps anyone wondering where the number is :-) posted by Lorna Rankin at 8:27 PM
This is a question that I've been asked in several forums and I thought I'd share the reason here to help clarify.
First of all please consider that we aren't a company and don't have any "customers" exactly. However, we try very hard to treat our users the way that we would like to be treated as consumers. Therefore, I, as project manager, personally respond to emails within 24 hours and usually MUCH sooner. Many of our users will attest to my speedy replies which often surprise them.
Also, we are a volunteer organization which is funded solely by Paul and a few ads to defray the cost of running the site (http://gethuman.com/ads.html). Everyone involved in the site works remotely and we don't have an office or a specific location.
While I'm not willing to post my home phone number on the site, I have always been willing to speak with anyone who emails me. I have provided a phone number at which I can be reached. And actually, once folks know that I will reply to email immediately and that I'm willing to provide a phone number, they're apparently satisfied that they can reach us if they want. No one has ever taken advantage of my offer to speak on the phone.
I think most people ask this quesiton because it seems ironic that we list ways to get to humans at other organizaitons, but don't have a telephone number listed ourselves. Once they get this explanation, it seems reasonable. Hope this helps anyone wondering where the number is :-) posted by Lorna Rankin at 8:27 PM
