Working the Spoken Word : Voicebot Vocabulary

The importance of your call

Stephen Potter — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 04:17:00 GMT

Continuing an irreverent dictionary of voicebot vocabulary:

yourcallisimportanttous, cl.

Obsequious attempt to make the caller feel better about a dud place in the cattle queue. Actually means the opposite. Often followed by pleasestayontheline and yourcallwillbehandledshortly, and repeated ad nauseum.

orig. (doublespeak) "Your call is important to us!"

Numberspeak

Stephen Potter — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 04:38:00 GMT

One in an ongoing series on the all-too-common vocabulary found in Voicebot systems today.

pressorsay n, cl.
A request for the caller to choose an option by entering a number on the keypad or by speech. Effective in dehumanizing and demeaning the caller by requiring him/her to speak in number code (1, 2, 1...) in response to human language prompts. Typical of early speech systems* and still surprisingly prevalent today. Responsible in large part for the slow acceptance of telephony voice user interfaces and serious contender for the award for "Most Brain-Dead Dialog Component" of all time.

Examples:

System: For billing, pressorsay "1". For service requests, pressorsay "2".
User: 1.
System: To check your bill, pressorsay "1". To pay your bill, pressorsay "2".
User: 2
(etc., ad nauseum...)

System: For new service, pressorsay "1". For customer support, pressorsay "2".
User: Customer support, please.
System: For new service, pressorsay "1". For customer support, pressorsay "2".
User: Customer support?
System: For new service, pressorsay "1". For customer support, pressorsay "2".
User: Sigh... (presses 2).
...

orig. human language "press or say".

* Presumably this was the method of least effort to add speech to an existing touchtone dialog, or did some bright spark somewhere think this was a good way to economize on prompts?

Comfort noises

Stephen Potter — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 04:02:00 GMT

More System.Vocab. Here's the VUI equivalent of the GUI hourglass:

bip-bop-bip-bop-bip-bop... int.
A repeated sequence of usually 2 supposedly-pleasant-sounding tones in a rapid rhythmical pattern. A ticking system clock, how nice! Typically inserted during interactions for the purposes of (i) making the caller believe that extensive processing happening on the system side* and (ii) preventing further input from the caller for the duration of the sound. The harmonic range of the tones is generally between a second and a fifth. Variations include units of more than 2 tones (e.g. blippity-bop-blippity-bop) and/or sharper waveform onsets to indicate greater urgency (e.g. tak-tak-tak-tak). Over-use can induce emotions of annoyance or rage in callers.

Examples:

System: Let me look that up for you.
System: bip-bop-bip-bop-bip-bop-bip-bop-bip-bop-bip-bop-bip-bop
System: Found it.

orig: tick-tock (imit.)

* Such processing does not always take place. Some studies suggest that users have a preference for systems that appear to take time to do retrieval tasks, and mistrust systems that respond too quickly. In some cases therefore, the noise may be used to reassure the user that some heavy lifting is being executed on their behalf, when in fact nothing is happening at all.

"I think you said..." (therefore I am)

Stephen Potter — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 04:04:00 GMT

Another not-quite-human phrase out of voicebot System.Vocabulary. This one's aggressively anthropomorphic (though I've never heard it in human-to-human communication).

Ithinkyousaid, cl.
Placed before a repetition of the caller's input. Signals a tentative (or medium-level confidence) understanding of the input, and is typically followed by a request for confirmation. If used more than once for the same request, the initial syllable may be lengthened to indicate greater uncertainty (note: this can be perceived as a disdainful hesitation at the caller's apparent inability to answer the question).

Examples:

System: Would you like account status, bill payments or credit line increases?
Caller: I'm not sure, I want to know your interest rates.
System: Ithinkyousaid "account status", correct?
Caller: So you think?
System: Therefore I am.
Caller: You win.

orig. human language "I think you said..."

Got it!

Stephen Potter — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 22:21:00 GMT

Have you noticed the sameness in the vocabulary of telephone voicebots these days? Why does everyone use that cheery got it!, damn it?

Having hit probably my hundredth got it! last night - a successful recognition of a menu option (there were only 3 choices...) - I realized it had become a single unit of voicebot vocabulary, and was no longer a composite English phrase.

gadit, int.
An expression of high confidence that the caller's input has been understood. Typically pronounced with great satisfaction and a hint of self-congratulation. Acknowledges successful receipt of input and closes the collaborative mini-task comprised by the request and provision of a piece of information. The bright tone hints at anticipation of further satisfying collaborations in the dialog. Examples:

System: Would you like reservations, guest services or other options?
Caller: Other options.
System: Gadit!

System: How may I help you?
Caller: I've got last month's bill here and I'm shocked by the extra charges on it. I need to get those revoked, and I was also promised a discount that hasn't been applied.
System: Billing, gadit!

orig. human language "got it"

Or maybe I'd had one Scotch too many (Glenmorangie, 12 yr).

No, gadit seems to be one of a stock set of neo-English phrases have been adopted en masse and without question. More of these are coming to mind now. Like a set of classes in a some uber System.Vocabulary namespace. They fall half-way between human informality and formulaic machine-speak and end up sounding like neither man nor machine.

I can feel a series coming on...