Robot receptionists fast but useless - Thankyou for calling Infosys

By Jayant Mishra @ Thursday, May 22, 2008 11:58 AM

Section - Outsourcing/Outsourcing

Infosys has really efficient operators who work faster than the best computer. The operator sitting at his desk is quick at everything. He even does things you may not have asked for.

I made an attempt to ask him to connect me to their HR department and before I finished saying the name of the person I wanted to speak to, he had already pushed the transfer button. His promptness made me feel as if he was programmed to read minds. Unfortunately, the call transfer never happened and I got disconnected after listening to a few recorded sentences that were tough to decipher. I made several attempts, all with the same result.

With patience wearing thin, I thought it would be better if let him know that the calls he is transferring are all going nowhere. Also, I thought asking him for a direct number of the person I wanted to speak with would be a good idea.

I called him again, wanting to tell him that call transfers to the HR-department were getting dumped every time. While speaking my lines, the moment I said HR, he transferred the call without listing to the whole conversation. Maybe he is programmed to respond to certain key words.

This surely demonstrates the efficiency of Infosys. The company may be planning organisational restructuring, but the effects are already evident. X