Newsstand - Frequent fliers irked by voice-recognition systems

http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/delta/0505/31bizairvoice.html

If you run into someone yelling "Dulles, not Dallas!" into their cellphone, don't be alarmed. It's probably a frequent flier tangling with an airline's automated telephone voice-recognition system.

Borrowing a page from telephone companies — which long ago adopted the systems for directory assistance calls — most major airlines now use voice recognition to answer customers' questions or get information before handing them to a human agent.

I wonder if the airlines ever had people anwsering phones? If actual airline employees could use the phone this may solve the issue. :rolleyes:

I wonder if the airlines ever had people anwsering phones? If actual airline employees could use the phone this may solve the issue. :rolleyes:

You must be dreaming!!! Yes! I can remember the "Golden Years" when an individual, rather than a machine, dealt with you directly from the start of your phone conversation.

I find that saying, "I want to talk to a person" works pretty well with most of these systems.