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RE: Serious follow-up to the automated telephone system thing
Subject:RE: Serious follow-up to the automated telephone system thing From:<Brian -dot- Henderson -at- mitchell1 -dot- com> To:<david -dot- downing -at- fiserv -dot- com>, <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Mon, 9 Mar 2009 09:58:36 -0700
Although I tend to live by the motto: "Never attribute to malice that
which can be adequately explained by stupidity" -- Malice DOES explain
many things. And in a case like automated phone systems, the malice may
be unconscious. I have read that the behavior of a corporation, if
attributed to an individual, could appear to be the actions of a
psychopath (or at least a sociopath).
-BH
-----Original Message----- From: Downing, David
There is, in fact, a reason why those automated telephone support
systems are so nerve-racking. I read about it a long time ago in an
article in TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION. It seems that those systems are
actually doing something that the police do to try and break criminals
in a hostage situation -- repeatedly force someone to make choices among
alternatives. The police do it with the intention of making the
kidnapper finally say, "I give up! I'm coming out!" So those automated
systems are breaking you down in a similar fashion.
David Downing
Senior Technical Writer
Credit Union Solutions
Fiserv
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