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"They were not delighted to hear that." - I used to do that, be a smartass. Then I realized at worst they get more info, at best, you are training them and wast

"They were not delighted to hear that." - I used to do that, be a smartass. Then I realized at worst they get more info, at best, you are training them and wasting your time. Then there is that whole thing where they are getting your voice.

r00fus 7y ago
POTS just needs to die unless they allow for authenticated CID. One could wonder if this was some sort of conspiracy to break one of the most successful protocols in the world (or at least not update it so it dies by neglect) to increase profits by other means.
- zaroth 7y ago
  I’m convinced that POTS is already a dead man walking. The younger generation has no interest in talking on the phone in the first place, and with the amount of spam calls my phone number is absolutely the worst part of my phone. Texting and apps is a much more pleasant way to interact with someone, and bonus of no hold times and much can be automated. I think business texting is an upcoming startup unicorn which will be another “trivial idea packaged properly into a billion dollar product”.
  - Benjammer 7y ago
    >business texting You mean Slack?
    - Pxtl 7y ago
      Or BlackBerry?
    - tomrod 7y ago
      Mobile slack is a terrible UX for short term engagement.
    - zaroth 7y ago
      B2C - not team internal chats. It will have “jumped the shark” once there’s an SMS button on the business listing that Google Maps displays. Instead of the wonky/creepy Google demo which did speech to text and then analysis and then text to speech relayed over to the business, every business will just communicate directly with customers over text. It’s not that this isn’t already done (to some extent). And more so in some countries outside of the US. But I have no doubt it will become the primary/preferred way to connect with any business, to the point where you will text with an 800- number long before it would occur to you to dial an 800- number to get service. Like for example, the warranty claim I just made on my Dyson handheld vacuum for a battery replacement. Search for “Dyson warranty claim” and they tell you to dial their 800- number. Now their phone helpline is absolutely the best of the best, but even still most people would [will eventually] prefer to interact via text. Another example, making a reservation directly with a restaurant (which I prefer to do versus using OpenTable which will take a cut for doing nothing), is a perfect usecase for texting. Also ordering take-out if you already have a favorite order saved, obviously all the notification type things which make sense over SMS instead of email, making an appointment when a dedicated app is too much overhead, etc. etc.
      - BigJono 7y ago
        You're way off on this one. A lot of those use cases don't work because texting is an asynchronous communication channel unless it's got some sort of automated system behind it. The reason you can't order takeout or make a reservation through text is because you come to an impasse if the person on the other end gets distracted and doesn't respond. The value in something like UberEats or OpenTable isn't in message passing, it's in state management. With UberEats if a restaurant closes suddenly or doesn't take your order within a timeout period, both you and the restaurant are notified and the state of your communication is updated, so there is no confusion. If you text or slack or whatever your order to a restaurant, and the person on the phone doesn't respond, you're fucked. How do you know whether it's safe to place an order somewhere else or not? Sure, every restaurant could build their own automated system that texts you back and manages the communication, but that's never going to happen when there's already a managed, standardized service available.
- thedaemon 7y ago
  POTS is pretty much dead almost everywhere in the USA, most are VOiP these days. They are not replacing the copper wire.
  - r00fus 7y ago
    Isn't that a bit pedantic? Perhaps Im conflating PTSN and POTS. The fact that you have publicly addressable phone number is the important part.
    - thedaemon 7y ago
      What is pedantic? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plain_old_telephone_service https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plain_old_telephone_service

r00fus 7y ago

POTS just needs to die unless they allow for authenticated CID. One could wonder if this was some sort of conspiracy to break one of the most successful protocols in the world (or at least not update it so it dies by neglect) to increase profits by other means.

zaroth 7y ago
I’m convinced that POTS is already a dead man walking. The younger generation has no interest in talking on the phone in the first place, and with the amount of spam calls my phone number is absolutely the worst part of my phone. Texting and apps is a much more pleasant way to interact with someone, and bonus of no hold times and much can be automated. I think business texting is an upcoming startup unicorn which will be another “trivial idea packaged properly into a billion dollar product”.
- Benjammer 7y ago
  >business texting You mean Slack?
  - Pxtl 7y ago
    Or BlackBerry?
  - tomrod 7y ago
    Mobile slack is a terrible UX for short term engagement.
  - zaroth 7y ago
    B2C - not team internal chats. It will have “jumped the shark” once there’s an SMS button on the business listing that Google Maps displays. Instead of the wonky/creepy Google demo which did speech to text and then analysis and then text to speech relayed over to the business, every business will just communicate directly with customers over text. It’s not that this isn’t already done (to some extent). And more so in some countries outside of the US. But I have no doubt it will become the primary/preferred way to connect with any business, to the point where you will text with an 800- number long before it would occur to you to dial an 800- number to get service. Like for example, the warranty claim I just made on my Dyson handheld vacuum for a battery replacement. Search for “Dyson warranty claim” and they tell you to dial their 800- number. Now their phone helpline is absolutely the best of the best, but even still most people would [will eventually] prefer to interact via text. Another example, making a reservation directly with a restaurant (which I prefer to do versus using OpenTable which will take a cut for doing nothing), is a perfect usecase for texting. Also ordering take-out if you already have a favorite order saved, obviously all the notification type things which make sense over SMS instead of email, making an appointment when a dedicated app is too much overhead, etc. etc.
    - BigJono 7y ago
      You're way off on this one. A lot of those use cases don't work because texting is an asynchronous communication channel unless it's got some sort of automated system behind it. The reason you can't order takeout or make a reservation through text is because you come to an impasse if the person on the other end gets distracted and doesn't respond. The value in something like UberEats or OpenTable isn't in message passing, it's in state management. With UberEats if a restaurant closes suddenly or doesn't take your order within a timeout period, both you and the restaurant are notified and the state of your communication is updated, so there is no confusion. If you text or slack or whatever your order to a restaurant, and the person on the phone doesn't respond, you're fucked. How do you know whether it's safe to place an order somewhere else or not? Sure, every restaurant could build their own automated system that texts you back and manages the communication, but that's never going to happen when there's already a managed, standardized service available.
thedaemon 7y ago
POTS is pretty much dead almost everywhere in the USA, most are VOiP these days. They are not replacing the copper wire.
- r00fus 7y ago
  Isn't that a bit pedantic? Perhaps Im conflating PTSN and POTS. The fact that you have publicly addressable phone number is the important part.
  - thedaemon 7y ago
    What is pedantic? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plain_old_telephone_service https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plain_old_telephone_service