I know many would say that voice recognition has come into its own. I know that use of a “speech-enabled system” saves companies money which OF COURSE means price cuts for us the consumers.
BUT I HATE IT!!!!
Here are my three simple reasons:
1) They say that you can speak at any time, but it’s rarely true. If I speak while the recording is speaking, it never works. I still have to wait till it’s done or there’s a break. So, it’s not saving very much of my time. It’s actually taking longer because each time I speak it repeats back what it thinks I said, then asks if it’s right and if I say no, it then says that it’s sorry in some fashion and asks me to say it again. Can’t I just press “1” please?!
2) If there is ANY background noise it thinks you’ve spoken and tries to interpret what you’ve said, then leading to what’s delineated under reason number one above. So, let’s say you have a daughter who likes to say, “SHOE!” while you are talking on the phone…multiple times…then you will have difficulty utilizing voice recognition. Or let’s say you like to make calls while walking outside, say walking said child to the park, and huge Mack trucks and buses drive by on a regular basis because you live in a major metropolis…then you too will have difficulty utilizing voice recognition.
3) Lastly, when it doesn’t work…and believe me, it doesn’t…all the time…then you cannot react. You must hold in your frustration and not release it in…say…any form of verbal aggression because if you do, you will only set off yet another recorded speech, then leading to yet another release of verbal aggression, thus starting a destructive cycle of time wasted.
Anyway, the first person who can find the Mep Report episode where Russ explains his technique for dealing with voice recognition will win a personalized voicemail greeting recorded by one of us, your choice.
