Flying_Duck

In the monthly emailed SM statement, the following blip appeared:

This winter, Delta will introduce a new voice to its Reservations lines. The new Voice Recognition System will navigate passengers through an improved main menu offering flight information, reservations options, and SkyMiles account management.

This brings horrific memories back from trying to make the voice recognition flight information work for me!

While I recognize that as an immigrant from the old country with Danish being my first language, my English is rudimentary and still in evolution ... and that I have an accent, I am usually able to get by. However, the 3-4 times I have tried to make the voice recognition flight information work, it has been utter torture, having to repeat myself at almost every step, only to get to one where it just isn't recognized cuts me off after using minutes to get to that later step.

If "This Winter" calling reservation or SMS and having to go through a voice recognition hurdle, I fear not only for my ability to connect to anybody in Delta, but also for the millions of my fellow immigrants with accents equal to or thicker than mine!!

miro

Same story here, only language slightly different (Polish). Same trouble with accent and voice recognition systems.

I sincerely hope that they keep regular "press 5 for international" as an addition to the new and flashy "voice recognition". And I hope they will stay away from "enhancing" my experience when calling SMS...

JoeFlyer

Computer: Welcome To Delta Airlines! What Would You Like To Do?

Me: Book A Flight To San Francisco

Computer: Okay, You Would Like To Book A Flight To San Antonio. Is That Correct?

Me: No

Computer: Would You Still Like To Book A Flight?

Me: Yes

Computer: Where Would You Like To Book A Flight To?

Me: San Francisco

Computer: You Would Like To Book A Flight To Santa Domingo. Is That Correct?

Me: No

Computer: Would You Still Like To Book A Flight?

Me: Yes

Computer: Where Would You Like To Book A Flight To?

Me: Airtran

Computer: You Would Like To Book A Flight To Airtran. Please Hang Up And Call 800-air-tran Where You Will Get A Real, Live, Friendly Person. Thank You For Calling Delta Air Lines. We Love To Fly And It Shows.

Cris L

Thank you very much for that lovely piece of humour - it brought a good chuckle to a wet and windy Saturday evening.

Flying_Duck

^ Exactly (You must have listened in on my attempt to navigate the voice recognition flight information as it per Batem is like my experience except it was trying to get the city I wanted flight information on!)

olde hornet

JoeFlyer ROTFL

Cholula

JoeFlyer...excellent parody!!

Delta3MM

I got a survey from Delta a few weeks ago trying out different "voices" for this service. Long survey, but I knew this was comming from that.

I have a toll free number with a "digital assistant". She can't understand anything in a noisy environment, as is often the case while traveling. Fortunately, there are only a few of the hundreds of commands I typically use. I've had the same kind of problems using delta's automated lost baggage line.

I'll never forget one automated attendant exprience though - even if it was with voice mail. I was sitting in SJC - waiting on a flight. I called my Vmail, and got to the main menu.

In SJC, when they want to make a public anouncment, the press some numbers on the phone and it connects to the loudspeaker. Well, there is a slight flaw with their system, because as soon as the last digit is recognized, it goes directly to the speaker, the result is the last digit goes across the intercom. Well, my voice mail heard the key and promptly deleted my voice mail - thank you very much - with no way for me to recover it!

It was kind of funny at the time.

Billy

obscure2k

I just think of all of those times I call Directory Assistance and am asked to say the name by the recording. 9 times out of 10, I have to speak to an operator as the "voice recognition" did not work.

MartinG

I am with you guys, I have a British accent (i am told it is accentless as far as British goes) and I cannot ever get the AA system to recognize my Aadvantage number let alone anything elsr.

JoeFlyer

You've got to start pronoucing the letter Z as "Zee" rather than the British "Zed" -- gee, you would think that you guys invented English in England or something.

Daze

I was at SLC last Friday and I was trying to call res and went through this same kind of frustration with voice recognition in the noisy terminal. I wonder if anyone else feels like I do that Delta has gone too far with the computerized voices. I find it very annoying to be reminded by a canned voice eight times before I board to double check to see if I have "BABE IN ARMS" on my BP if I am traveling with a small child. I felt like I was in some grade B futuristic movie from the 1960's. It definitely set me on edge--which is the opposite of what I would think an airline would want in the departure area. And these auto announcements step on the gate agents when they have some real info to offer, like the status of a delayed flight.
Combine this with DL's sardine can seating (CRJ and Mainline) and I think I would rather fly any other airline..........Daze

mikey1003

FD, If this doesn't work....you will be speaking to Raj in New Delhi.... I don't know whats worse.

BamaVol

2 brief anecdotes:

Until 6 years ago, I worked for a touchscreen manufacturer. We always assumed that our product would be replaced, in part, with voice recognition. As a result, the marketing folks spent time analyzing future competition. As of 6 years ago, there was nothing out there that worked reliably. Currently, my former co-workers still see nothing gaining on them in the rear view mirror. This could be an example of DL over-stretching for technology to drive cost out of the business.

Until 1991, I worked for DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation was then the 2nd largest computer manufacturer in the world for you youngsters). One day, an engineer gave me a toll free number to call. A digital voice answered and asked me to repeat a few phrases. The digital voice was under development and would be a composite of the many DEC employee voices it recorded. Turns out I was one of the few non-engineers that were given the number. As a result, the voice had a distinctly Indian accent. So, Mikey1003, who's to say we won't be speaking to digi-Raj, an even less desirable alternative.

Sorry to make a long story, long.

MachOne

I've encountered the voice response system several times. Mostly it worked fine and I got the information It was seeking. The only time it didn;t work was (as was posted earlier) in a terminal when my cell phone picked up a loud overhead PA announcement.