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Re:Why is this job not handled by a machine yet? by nkrisc on Thursday February 09, 2017 @08:11AM (#13606629)
Whenever I encounter those I just say, 'operator' over and over (though I suspect saying anything it doesn't recognize works work too) until I get a person.
Re:Why is this job not handled by a machine yet? by cableshaft on Thursday February 09, 2017 @09:48AM (#13607262)
I've had to work on making these voice recognition systems before. We originally allowed for people to just say operator pretty much anywhere in the app, and the client got upset that so many people asked for an operator and got sent to their agents that they had us restructure it so the person had to try pretty darn hard and be overly persistent before it decided to transfer to a person.

I felt a little bad doing it, especially after listening to the actual calls where people would just sound so annoyed and frustrated as they continuously asked for an operator, but the client insisted that less people actually reached their call centers.

Re:Why is this job not handled by a machine yet? by gregmac on Thursday February 09, 2017 @11:32AM (#13608118)
I'm fairly sure it was Bell Canada that would reply with "Alright, it sounds like you're having problems, let me transfer you to an operator.." when you swore. (Not sure if it still exists, it's been years since I've been a Bell customer).

It was actually brilliant because it was responding to real frustration in a useful way, and it was disarming because it was a humorous thing for an automated system to do.

Re:Why is this job not handled by a machine yet? by AIMunchkin on Thursday February 09, 2017 @10:52AM (#13607741)
These days, I've noticed hip phone menu systems hang up on you when you try to destroy America chanting this obvious codeword to commence the attack.