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This misses the point entirely. The problem is that we’re put through IVR (1) and put on hold (2) because: 1. The call recipient doesn’t know why we’re calling
by elliottinvent 6y ago
This misses the point entirely. The problem is that we’re put through IVR (1) and put on hold (2) because:
1. The call recipient doesn’t know why we’re calling
2. There’s not enough agents to deal with particular issues.
Deploying AI in the face of these problems is ridiculous, we just introduce more reasons for error.
We face these problems because telephone numbers only connect us to call centre boxes which rely on touch tones to navigate a system - it’s from the 50s.
A better solution is to interrogate a phone number for information before a call is made - this could be IVR menu options so we can navigate the call centre before we make the call; or add ourselves to a call back queue through online resources rather than through an antiquated telephone system.
A small team and I are working on a way to store and retrieve machine readable data for domain names - https://www.num.uk https://www.num.uk
We want to do the same for telephone numbers by issuing the holder of telephone numbers with domains like 441234567890.num.net where they can store structured data.
- xmprt 6y agoI'm a proponent of always plugging but how are you solving the issue of putting the burden to migrate on yourself as opposed to requiring changes from the customers or the call centers?
- elliottinvent 6y agoThanks for the reply. We can pre-populate the DNS of 441234567890.num.net with useful info until the rightful owner claims it. Which as I see it, is better than what we’ve got now - which is that phone numbers are not resolvable on the internet except through closed APIs and even then in limited examples. The long term plan is to use a TLD for this eg .telephone (or whatever) but the bigger picture is that if you own a phone number that’s a unique identifier - it needs to be represented on the internet so we can interrogate it and then find WhatsApp / Skype / Zoom alternatives.
- toast0 6y agoWhat's the differencd between what you're proposing and ENUM (e164.arpa) other than being public (maybe?)
- elliottinvent 6y agoIt was doomed because it was delegated to each country and there was registries and registrars appointed in each country and almost all failed to get the point across. I think ENUM had huge potential but the execution was horrible. It was also victim to proprietary system trend - Skype, FaceTime, WhatsApp audio What we’re proposing (which is public in DNS) doesn’t replace ENUM - we still need a way to covert phone numbers into SIP to connect VOIP calls using an open standard. What we’re proposing helps connect the proprietary systems to those phone numbers. As well as caller ID and other really useful stuff - like alternative ways to connect on social media etc.