Ode to The Dialer.

With the advent of the touch tone phone came a series of sophisticated automated prompts for banks, mail order companies, all the way up to the call centers we are so familiar with. These prompts presented people with a multitude of choices. Exampled being Press 1 for email support, Press 2 for Cable television support, Press 3 to release a rabid starving badger into your house.

Our lovely callers have forever had a certain problem with distinguishing between automated prompts and actual human voices. Anyone who has worked in a call center knows of these, we call them "Dialers". Dialers are usually good for a laugh and often times will correct themselves and apologize. To better define it here is an example of what a "dialer" does.

me: "Thank you for calling here may I have your phone number please"
cx: *uses touch tone phone and types in their phone number*
me: "thanks... but you can just tell me your number"
cx: "OH! Shit I'm sorry"

Seldom we'd get people of such a fine calibre that even after telling them we were a person, they would continue to dial. Me, I've only ever had 2 dialers. Colleagues of mine like Ferromancer have had several because of the control they had of their voice. But I'll let him tell his story. Here is one of note.

me : Thank you for calling HSI support, my name is Jacapo. May I please have the phone number on the account with the area code first?
cx: *dials number into phone*
me: Sorry, I'm really a human. If you could, please just tell me your number.
cx: *dials number into the phone again*
me: No, I actually need you to use words and tell me your phone number please.
cx : *dials number into the phone yet again*
me: Please. Stop doing that, use your voice, and use words, please speeeaakkk ( I exaggerated the word speak for emphasis) the phone number to me.
cx: *dials the number yet once more*
me: I don't know how I can make this any clearer. Please just speak the number to me. I am a person, not a computer, I don't understand dial tones.
cx: Damn, this things broken *hangs up the phone*

Now. The natural assumption is that the person couldn't hear me, right? Well I thought that at first, but while I was sitting there thinking over this phone call, I realize that can't be the case. The customer waited until I was done speaking each time before dialing in the number. and because I spoke at different length, It couldn't be that the person was just repeating the steps at a specific interval all on their own. Now is it possible that they couldn't hear me and that it was coincidence? Sure. It's also possible that I'll sprout a third arm from my chest because of radiation poisoning. WAYYYY too coincidental. The timing was way too on the money for the person to NOT have heard me. So, yeah. Further proof that people hear you, but just aren't listening.