Prattle

IVR (Interactive Voice Response) should aptly be renamed It's Very Ridiculous. Simply because it IS darn ridiculous.

In theory, it is supposed to streamline the customer call center operations. Lighten up the load of the operator and reduce the manpower needs of the frontline office. But more often than not, it increases the waiting time of each caller before they can actually be attended to by a real human.

Imagine you as the caller having to listen to all those options just to discover at the end of it all that the product that you are looking for is not listed. Or couldn't remember if you have missed out on their product because your eyes are already glazed and brains are numbed with the strings of options that you have heard. That's five minutes down the drain.

When you hear a plausible sounding option, you are afraid to press that number because there may be a more accurate option ahead. And by the time you reached the end, you've forgotten that plausible sounding option already and have to repeat the whole process. That's ten minutes down the drain.

Some organisations do not even include a number for operator assistance. If that's not the prime definition of evil, I don't know what is.

The person who invented IVR should be tied up and forced to dial into big corporations who implemented this #@*$%$# system and listen to all those options all day long.

Nothing can replace the human touch and the human brain. Nothing.

For all you know, all those optional numbers actually lead to one person.

I only have one word for IVR.

Gah.

IVR - It makes the callers uglier than they really are... Bleh

Ah, trivia time. In school, we used to call them teka-teki in Malay. I wrote these years ago in some writing exercise.

What ARE these things? Time to put your thinking cap on, folks. Kick off them shoes, relax with a cuppa hot coffee or chocolate (you lucky people, you. Hot water is still off-limits to me!) and leave your guesses in the comments section. Good luck!

1. I come in all types of colours and styles but mostly in one shape. You glance at me and know where the person you are talking to comes from.


2. You reach out for me when you're happy or blue or when you have a flu. When you are sweaty or teary, I'm are useful to you too!


3. I have many siblings - some look like me, others simply don't. The good thing is without me a lot of things won't work. The bad thing is I am very replaceable and not missed when I'm gone.


4. I'm often abused and still kept on being used. When I do my job, I get kicked if my owner's a slob. If only I can keep my big mouth shut!


5. I have the most relaxing job in the world and get the best views in my profession. Sometimes I find myself in lush tropical jungles. Other times I'm hanging around in a neat compound surrounded by picket fences.

Click below for the answers!

Coffee tagged me. Again. But this is a rather appropriate meme to end the year. Wanna take this opportunity to say...

HAPPY NEW YEAR, FOLKS!!!

Drive safely and have a great time counting down to a brand new year.

Ok, here goes the tag:

3 4 Most Unforgettable Moments in 2005

( 1 ) Getting published!
( 2 ) Meeting cool new friends, and getting unexpectedly so much closer to those who were just on a hi and bye basis before
( 3 ) Being Mrs. Elvis
( 4 ) Planet Shakers KK '05 - couldn't resist adding this!


3 Favourite Movies Watched in 2005

( 1 ) Must Love Dogs
( 2 ) Spanglish
( 3 ) Flight Plan


3 Favourite Animated Movies Watched in 2005

( 1 ) Corpse Bride
( 2 ) Spirited Away
( 3 ) Robots


Saddest / Worrying Moments in 2005

( 1 ) When aunt passed away
( 2 ) When Mike left the co
( 3 ) When my brother left the co
( 4 ) When my car got into an accident


3 Cutest Things I Saw in 2005

( 1 ) stuffonmycat.com
( 2 ) The Noddy Seahorse
( 3 ) Baby Alex


Most Embarrassing Moment in 2005

Being tricked by the Shark to reveal some of the matters of the heart. Felt like throttling him to death but as usual, sanity prevailed. Grrrrr...

As usual, I won't be tagging anyone else

In short, 2005 has been a rather eventful and dramatic year for me. Too much drama sometimes, I feel. There were times when all I wanted to do was to just bury myself under my blanket until the 'tremors' dissipate. But at those times, I was grateful for the solid friendships of that were strengthened in spite of, or maybe because of those tremors.

And of course, without my Anchor and Solid Rock, this year would have been more confusing and tumultuous than it already was. You have no idea how just knowing and seeing the many ways in which God cares and provides for me has helped me stay buoyant and positive about life. My security comes simply from knowing that He is in control and He is there to hold me should I stumble. No good thing shall He withhold from me and He protects me from the bad.

Alrighty then. Gotta go out to do some stuff. You guys have a great weekend ahead!