May 29 2017, 10:11

Also, around 95% of official telephone numbers of various organizations begin with IVR (interactive voice response). For governmental ones, it’s all of them. Interestingly, this is done for the convenience of the organizations themselves, regardless of what the voice on the voicemail says. IVR does not simplify but rather complicates the lives of customers, no matter how “smart” it is. It’s just cheaper for organizations to use it. But there’s no talk of a “new level of automated service” – it’s simply inconvenient. Sometimes, it’s impossible to reach a live operator.

Example from yesterday. I decided to call my insurance to find out if clinic X is their partner (in-network). If yes, we pay 40 bucks. If no, it might cost us a thousand. There’s a difference. So, I call. The IVR asked me for my policy number, date of birth, and something like an SSN, and at the end, it told me, “it’s Sunday, call back on Tuesday”.

It should be noted that here IVR can recognize voices. Almost everywhere, this is implemented. For example, if you respond “find a provider” to “what do you want”, the system correctly classifies the call. Perhaps if I had said that there’s a pedestrian lying here all bloody, for instance, the IVR might not have switched to the “we’re closed” recording. But that’s just speculation.

It would be better to have a voicemail managed by Indians, who could provide written responses to SMS or call back in the case of an urgent request. It would be much cheaper, and the service would be top-notch. Such a system could be introduced for practically any service provider.

May 29 2017, 10:00

In America, natives are very sensitive to accents. They might simply not recognize a word if its stress is slightly altered. Those who travel or have dealt with foreigners have gotten somewhat accustomed. And with them, it’s not so bad. But sometimes you just don’t understand how they can’t recognize something like stArbucks or AmwAy by those familiar with stArbucks (everyone) or Amway (many)? Yet, they don’t. Then you correct the stress, and – “Ah! Starbucks!”. These aren’t the best examples, but still.

May 27 2017, 11:40

Little Moishe comes into the store.

— I need three liters of honey, — he hands a jar to the shop assistant.

She fills up the jar.

— My dad will come and pay tomorrow.

— No way, — the shop assistant takes the jar back from him and pours the honey back.

Moishe steps outside and looks into the jar:

— Dad was right, this is enough for two sandwiches.