I was just trying to contact my health insurance carrier, and found myself confronted by a voice operated response system (VORS). You know the sort of thing. Instead of easily and conveniently entering numbers on the keypad, you have to yell them into the mouthpiece, VERY carefully and VERY distinctly. Same for having to say yes and no, instead of pressing 1 or 2.
I hate them.
I would much rather “Press 1 for Yes, or 2 for No” than have to bellow
YESSSS!! or NNOOO!! into the mouthpiece. Make sure you hiss the S at the end of yes, otherwise the system won’t understand you.
Then the numbers. You have to say your zip code, and for me they confused “five” and “four”. I said “five” and the system thought “four”.
I really need to work on my numerical enunciation, because evidently my fives sound like fours. This may lie at the root of the problems I had in math all through school.
Or maybe to pronounce the numbers in the old fashioned telephone operators’ style of elocution: “Niyun-zeerow-zeerow-two-FIYIV”.
I don’t like to have my half of a phone conversation audible to everyone in my part of the office.
Are VORSs becoming more common, or is there too much resistance from consumers? Or do most people actually prefer them?
I just had a similar experience. I called the customer service number for one of my credit cards and it turned out that they had recently changed to VORS. But theirs was even worse; since I didn’t have a customer service ID code, I had to say something like “I want to sign up for an ID code” before I could go any further. Since I was callng to cancel my account, this seemed a particular waste of time. I finally managed to get to talk to a real person by not answering any more questions. (And then, of course, I had to go through the hell of being transferred to an “account specialist” who needed to be told three times that I didn’t care to explain why I wanted to cancel their marvelous card. But that’s another rant.)
This is what I do when calling Information and getting the canned “City and State Please”.
Actually, you have to say something to nudge the system, so I either say a phrase in Sarcophagoptic Dionysian or note that I do not talk to machines.
Eventually I wind up with a sullen, underpaid operator in Florida (or these days, probably Sri Lanka) who will punch in something, resulting in the playing of a recorded number that has at least a 62% chance of being what I wanted.
What really makes me unhappy is when they have the voice-activated system for a service for which you need to have a password or a social security number! Excuse me? I’m supposed to just blurt out my password and/or my social security number in what could be a busy cafe, for all they know? Right after I’ve blurted out my name? Do they mind if I sue them for contributing to identity theft as well?
I hate these systems too! The only one I’ve dealt with, though, is the Rogers-AT&T phone card one. This one requires that I tell the system my phone number, account password, and phone card number (or, if I want to add minutes without a phone card, my credit card number). Insanely stupid if you have to do this in anything less than a 100% private space!
This system is, however, pretty decent in that it does tend to understand words pronounced the first time around, AND it tells you that you have the choice of saying the numbers or just entering them into the keypad. No doubt about it, I use the keypad!
Well, actually I use neither now…I haven’t had my phone activated in months!
When I call directory assistance I usually mumble “fantasy world” or something. Now I just say “blah blah blah” because last time they asked if I wanted Fantasy world on Smith street or Franklin lane!
