Clash of the consumer champs
In the same week, two outspoken champions of the consumer present opposing views:
- Paul says Connect to a human whenever possible (via Lorna).
- Peter says Talk to a person? Ugh.
What do you think?
"If a human operator is available when a consumer calls, the human should answer the phone" is the first of ten proposed 'standards' from the Get Human project to improve the lot of consumers calling automatic systems. These are currently in very early draft form (Microsoft is involved in the standards project) and your feedback is sought - feel free to post here, or on the project discussion board.
(Me, I sympathize with both. The difference is about the task: Lorna needs inventory information that is not available via a non-human interface, while Peter has a simple scheduling task that's easily automated. Further, in her closing paragraph, Lorna says that she would be comfortable with an initial automated 'How May I Help You'-style interface that routes her to the right person. That's a good use of the technology, as is the automation that Peter seeks.)
