Dell Voice

on
So, here's a transcript from one of my encounters with Dell recently:
DellVoice: My name is Dave. Please allow me a moment to review your question.
DellVoice: How are you today?

CaitMcQ: fine, thanks, except that I can't see most of my screen. Big splotch where I stepped on it.

DellVoice: I am sorry about that.
DellVoice: I'll be glad to assist you.
DellVoice: Please give me a moment to pull up your account information.
DellVoice: I see that the warranty period of the system has expired since 10/15/2005.
DellVoice: You will have to contact the expired warranty support.

CaitMcQ: How do I contact expired warranty support?

DellVoice: You can contact them at 800-624-9897.
DellVoice: Once you contact them they will provide you all the information you need.

CaitMcQ: Thank you. Are you a real person or am I interacting with software?

DellVoice: I am a real person, why do you ask?

CaitMcQ: There's something formal about the language you're using. And I bet a lot of the questions that come in can be answered by a limited set of responses.

DellVoice: Not exactly, but yes I do agree sometimes that does happen.
DellVoice: Is there anything else that I can assist you?

CaitMcQ: Nope, I'll call that number. Thanks, Dave.

DellVoice: You are welcome, Caitlin.
DellVoice: Are you satisfied with the level of support provided by me today?

CaitMcQ: Yes, thank you.

DellVoice: Thank you.
DellVoice: Thank you for contacting Dell hardware warranty support online chat, have a great day!
DellVoice: Take care, bye.

So, what do you think? Human or AI? Or maybe some combination, like he presses a single key and out pops "My name is Dave."
.

Comments

cmcq said…
Hey, CK! Good to hear from you.

Well, if it was AI, then Hollywood was right: computers are very polite.
7/10/2006
Anonymous said…
Did Dell Voice's accent suggest that he/she "learned to speak" in the US, or in, say-now I just threw darts at a globe and hit these countries-India, the Philipines or Sri Lanka? Because if it was the US, then AL is a computer. If one of those other places, then a person.
7/12/2006
cmcq said…
Aha, seems I didn't make clear that this was entirely online, this exchange. We were typing to one another, like instant messaging. So, no accents.
7/15/2006
Anonymous said…
Hmm. Well I guess you can tell what communication mode I use to reach help lines.... With no accent, that's tough. I like the "push buttons for common phrases" idea. If it were completely mechanized, why would you have to wait to get to a "helper?" Please, for the sake of your curious and loyal bloggers, email back and ask questions until it becomes clear one way or the other. Maybe some evening when Joe's not there are you're really really really really bored....
7/15/2006
Anonymous said…
i'm going to be contrarian here and say that i think it was a real person. but that person may not have been a native speaker of english. and he may have been instructed to use some specific wording to make the help provided seem more uniform. i find that some people use formal language in online exchanges because the written medium makes them self-conscious about things like spelling and grammar.

that's my vote. but i admit, it's a close call.
8/02/2006

Post a Comment