Call centres and phone banking
Call centres and phone banking used to be about pressing numbers to go where you wanted to go, now, it seems that everyone is implementing a voice recognition system where you have to SAY things at the computer system at the other end. It’s seriously annoying. With keypad entries you used to be able to fast forward to the exact spot that you wanted! Now you have to sit there on the phone saying one or two word answers to silly questions and then you feel like a complete TWAT especially when you’re at work.
Not only that, you enter your number using the keypad on the phone and then by the time you get to a REAL person they seem to have no recollection of it. Gak! Not only that, I got bounced around to 3 different people before I found someone that could help me with my enquiry.
When I was in Canberra last week I discovered that Canberra Cabs (seriously the worst taxi company I’ve ever had to use) has a voice recognition system. I had to wait 30 mins for a taxi to take me to the airport (nearly missing my flight I might add, oh the power of bursting into tears at the bag drop counter - okay, so I really wanted to go home and there were no other flights until SATURDAY MORNING!). If you want to get through to the REAL PERSON at the end of the computer system instructions, you can just say “hurry the fuck up” and the computer system comes back and says “I’m sorry, I do not understand your request transferring you to a consultant now”.
Now, for new website things, splatter kat has a favicon, look up in the address bar! A red star! Yay!