Online Support: Voice

[August1991]

A friend (female) recently had a problem with her Internet/TV/Cable/whatever connection. She phoned (texted - ignore that detail) me, and then when I was standing physically beside her, she used her phone to dial/touch the 1-800 number indicated on her contract/paper for technical issues.

She asked me to be there because she is unsure about technical questions/wires. I listened as she answered unheard questions about whether (presumably) the green light was flashing, or she had unplugged the black wire. (She off-voice asked me to do this.)

At the end when my friend hung-up, I asked her where her onlinevoice was. (WTF? Well, I always ask where the call-centre guy/woman/voice is: what's the weather like where you are? What time is it there?)

My friend said: "I don't know. But I spoke to a woman. Her name was Maria and she asked for my mobile number in case she had to phone back. She was very helpful and patient unlike the jerk last year."

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1. For online support, which voice is better: a woman, a man, accented, dependent on the clientele? (We all know about Indian call centres who train their staff to speak "American".)

But what about call centres whose computers direct women calls to a woman? Or men to a man? Or gay-voiced guys to women? Or whatever voice to whomever?

2. In an honest business, should the responding voice depend on known facebook facts of the originating call?

Edited July 24, 2016 by August1991

[dialamah]

1. For online support, which voice is better: a woman, a man, accented, dependent on the clientele? (We all know about Indian call centres who train their staff to speak "American".)

But what about call centres whose computers direct women calls to a woman? Or men to a man? Or gay-voiced guys to women? Or whatever voice to whomever?

2. In an honest business, should the responding voice depend on known facebook facts of the originating call?

1. Understandable, knowledgeable and neither robotic nor impatient. Gender doesn't matter, nor does accent as long as I can understand what they are saying.

I didn't know that call centers directed calls to same-gender techs. Is this a common practice, because I haven't noticed getting directed to females more often than not.

2. I don't understand why you used the phrase "honest business". It sounds as if you hold a belief that dishonest businesses rely more on and/or have more to gain from using information from FB. But it does seem to me to be a bit of a non-issue, unless you can expand on your question to explain your concerns?

[Bryan]

How would the call centre know who is actually using the phone when they call in? If the account is registered to a male and there is a female on the line, do they interrupt the session to transfer them to a different CSR?

Understandable, knowledgeable and neither robotic nor impatient. Gender doesn't matter, nor does accent as long as I can understand what they are saying.

This. All I care about is if they know what they are talking about, and that I can understand them.

[August1991]

I don't understand why you used the phrase "honest business"....

Honest?

Why did most GPS offer different voices but Apple chose a female voice for Siri? (Stanley Kubrick chose a female voice for the phone, but a male voice for Hal.)

Edited July 25, 2016 by August1991

[August1991]

All I care about is if they know what they are talking about, and that I can understand them.

You must be male, possibly autistic. And you probably wonder why women often complain about headaches. Edited July 25, 2016 by August1991

[-1=e^ipi]

Female voices appear less threatening. That's why it's more common for companies to use female voices such as Siri and Cortana.

[August1991]

Female voices appear less threatening. That's why it's more common for companies to use female voices such as Siri and Cortana.

But Hal was a male voice.

[-1=e^ipi]

And Hal turned out to be an evil robot that wanted to kill people.

[The_Squid]

Pssst.... Hal wasn't real....

[Guest]

Pssst.... Hal wasn't real....

Not yet...

[Big Guy]

Female voices sound like your mother - who doesn't trust or like their mother?

[Scott Mayers]

How would the call centre know who is actually using the phone when they call in? If the account is registered to a male and there is a female on the line, do they interrupt the session to transfer them to a different CSR?

This. All I care about is if they know what they are talking about, and that I can understand them.

They DO use favorable stereotypes when they escalate calls, but not always on a first call. The British accent is favored when they do this to me without me expecting anything. But these help lines are designed to simply allow you to speak more than to actually solve particular issues since they know that most people simply find sufficient comfort psychologically if they actually have the appearance of getting assistance. Their function is thus deceptive regardless....but not the fault of those answering the phones necessarily.

NOTE: Microsoft made more of their money on HOW they set up their supports than to their actual products. They make it difficult unless you want to pay extreme phone costs and often refer you to a 'community board'. I'm sick of having to wait through the announcements up front meant to delay and hopefully get you to hang up by announcing how 'easy' it is to go online to seek for help. Yet when you have problems regarding the very connections you must go through, it lacks sense other than to entice you to hang up.

[Bryan]

Female voices sound like your mother - who doesn't trust or like their mother?

For technical support? I love my mother, but I think of her and most of her generation as people who need me to help them with their technology, not people who can help me with mine!

[August1991]

Pssst.... Hal wasn't real....

Nor is Siri.