Automated Systems

There are few things in this world that annoy me as much as automated phone systems.  Every major company has one, unfortunately, and they are the most frustrating part of being a subscriber to any service or utility.  Am I anti-automation? No!  I think automated systems work well to filter customers to the right department.  That is of course, if they work.  Now when is the last time you called a company and had an easy navigation through the automated system while attempting to speak with a live person.  Everyone has tried saying "representative" or "customer service" into their phones trying to convince the automated system to transfer the call to a person.  Or pressing "0" so many times on your phone it gets stuck just to get the system to default to an actual English, or a version of it, speaking person.  The issue with automated systems comes when it asks you, as the consumer, what option you would like.  When you say billing, it may respond with "Oh, I see you would like to change your programming."  All I am saying is when i speak into the phone and the automated system does not understand my words it is extremely frustrating.  My children may have just run by me playing a game or someone may have sneezed in the next room, and the automated systems may use those additional noises to change my response.  Then, if I am waiting for the automated system to give me my options, and my wife asks me a simple question like, "Hey, honey who are you calling," I either have to ignore her and get the stink eye or give her the respect of a short answer and get lost in the automated system.  I think we all agree that automated systems do serve a great purpose for companies' ability to assist consumers, but much improvement to them needs to be made before I can befriend them.