• Anger management Anger management By St. Louis Post-Dispatch – October 19, 2004 The cable guy makes you wait all day and then, after burning up one of your precious personal days, never shows. Your Internet provider can’t explain why
• Anger management
Anger management
By St. Louis Post-Dispatch – October 19, 2004
The cable guy makes you wait all day and then, after burning up one of your precious personal days, never shows. Your Internet provider can’t explain why your DSL won’t self-install and your PC has gone berserk and, worse, can’t say when or whether the problem will be fixed. Do you grit your teeth and keep your cool or give them a piece of what’s left of your mind?
You may want to hold your tongue. Those “*&$#! idiots” at the other end of the line not only can monitor your conversation “for quality assurance purposes,” but may also be using “emotion detection” technology. Developed by the aptly named Nice Systems Inc., the system is designed to detect when your voice hits a certain decibel level and your language becomes harsh or foul. Moreover, your recorded comments can be separated from the rest, bundled with other angry calls, then sent to company managers.
Sound sinister? In fact, it may all be happening in the name of customer service. Companies want to figure out what made you angry in the first place and find ways to resolve confrontations quickly. FedEx is among the companies said to be testing this technology.
Here’s the part that confuses us: The press release touting this “emotion detection” system says uncouth behavior picked up by the system prompts “speedier intervention by a manager – and swifter resolution of your issue. Why? Companies spend a fortune to acquire customers, and they’ll do everything they can to hold onto them.”
Our advice: Why not a speedy intervention and swift resolution of the actual problem before the caller gets hot under the collar? We can think of only one better way to build customer loyalty: Do things right the first time.
