Why Do Companies Stick with Voice Menus? 260
eliot1785 asks: "We've all had to put up with this at one point or another — you call a company for customer service or tech support, and rather than getting traditional touch-pad menu options, you encounter an annoying system that wants you to 'just say' how it can help you. Invariably, the system fails to understand your input, or picks up background noise or coughs as intended inputs. After a few failures, you have to press '0' to speak with an operator. Why do companies think that customers like these voice menu systems? Is there any research to suggest that they do, or are companies simply embracing the systems because they are new technology? More importantly, when will they realize that the systems don't work and go back to the traditional touch-pad menu option systems?"
Real question? (Score:5, Interesting)
And in reality, customers flock to the low cost provider. Serves them right when they get what thy paid for.
Pulse Dialing (Score:5, Interesting)
Personally, I haven't had any real trouble using the voice interaction services that my cable company provides. I do try to call from a quiet spot though, and do tend to have to speak more clearly and loudly than I do to the service rep that I eventually get.
Good reasons (Score:5, Interesting)
They aren't specifically for driving people away. They exist to reduce teh need for them to speak to someone in the first place, and if that fails, to help ensure they speak to the right person right away.
Re:Usually works for me (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Because often then work... (Score:2, Interesting)
Swear a lot (Score:5, Interesting)
Good, Cheap, Service.. pick any two (Score:2, Interesting)
If someone can come up with an even more hostile, alienating device for call centers, I'm rooting for them!
You want me to say WHAT out loud? (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm not always in my nice private home when I want to deal with these things. So I'm supposed to say my "sixteen digit account number" out loud in the fucking airport, train station, office, or whatever? I don't think so. Of course the one's that ask you to punch it in alwas give to some idiot that asks for it again anyway. You can't win.
The only two words I say are "Agent" and "Operator." Grumble, grumble, grumble. Someone else already posted the gethuman database link It's a lifesaver.
Re:Usually works for me (Score:2, Interesting)
Unsubsidized travel doesn't make money.
Now, if Amtrak could have the state and federal government run all their stations and maintain their tracks at a fraction of the cost, (Like they do with airports) then I'm betting they could turn a nice profit.
This works (Score:5, Interesting)
After moving last month I navigated quite a number of these systems, ranging from Not Completely Infuriating to Horrible. (Yes, I enunciate clearly, you smart asses)
After the sixth time the electric company's system misunderstood me I said "Fuck you!" very clearly to which it responded with "I thought I heard you say you'd like to talk to an operator. Please wait while we connect you."
Subsequent use of that colorful phrase gave me an operator in about 3/4 of the voice menus I tried.
Re:Good, Cheap, Service.. pick any two (Score:3, Interesting)
Microsoft did it for me.
This was about the fifth or sixth time I'd called Microsoft support, when we were upgrading our first Windows NT domain from an NT 3.1 server to 3.51... I got a nice helpful-sounding bloke who proceded to take me through a set of directions that, within minutes after hanging up, left our whole network down because of a licensing problem. I called them back and was told that I'd used up my three free support calls and I needed to set up a support contract... could I give them my credit card or purchase order number?
I'm afraid I got a bit ironic, not to say sarcastic, with them before I hung up and ran off to get purchasing to start the paperwork for a support contract. I then used Usenet (this was before google) to get the answer, fixed the problem, and a week later someone from Microsoft called me, apologised, gave me the same instructions I got from Usenet, and said they'd reset my three free support calls.
I don't think we used any of them.
Now I realise that this was atypical, and I've met some really good people at Microsoft more than willing to go the extra mile for the customer...
But you have to admit that taking a network down and asking for money to fix it is a mite more hostile than voice menus.
I work in the industry... (Score:5, Interesting)
First, the reason why companies are attached to this is that a successful transaction is cheaper then a human transaction, period. In most cases 100x cheaper (even if it is sent to India). So even if only 10-20% of people use it, then it often pays for itself easily.
Of course the problem is that a lot of companies don't spend enough time (and therefore money) in making the systems work well. We often try to get containment (having someone do a full transaction in a voice system) to get above 60%. If we can do that, then we are doing well. That of course isn't the easiest thing to do. If you are good at it, there are a lot of tools to analyze what people are saying and how to respond, because invariably you will get it wrong at some point or another.
I get super frustrated myself when companies do stupid things. You have to be very careful with "speak anything" sort of interfaces. This is often called "open speech" and I still don't think the technology is quite there yet. It is much better to go with a "directed dialog" interface that give you 3-4 choices that are easy to understand.
Another thing that a lot of companies don't think about is integrating the self service system with a human being. Even if the technology is brilliant, there are going to be certain things that can't be done in the automated system. Most companies simply transfer the calls, and if you get lucky, your account number might travel with the call. Personally I like to focus on making a robust sort of integration, so that if you get you get 1/2 way through something and have to speak to a human, that human is given all the information about your transaction, so you don't have to start over and can pick up right where you left off.
Re:Good reasons (Score:2, Interesting)
It's usually not for the agents. In the call center I work in (not on the phones, thank god!) they use the account number to access your account to prioritize your call depending on how much money you bring in. In other words, the more money you spend, the faster you'll speak to someone.
Re:skip them all (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Because often then work... (Score:3, Interesting)
(Ironically enough, I'm a bit of a goat myself, and I design these bloody systems for a living - makes testing endlessly hilarious, I can tell you)