Absurd VUI

So I'm dropping my son to school this morning and I see a "SAFETRK" sticker at the back of a pick-up truck. This is the golden sticker with a toll free number you can call to give your feedback about how safe the driver of the vehicle bearing the sticker is being. So, while stopped at the red light, I pick up my cell phone and call 1-800-SAFETRK to see what it gives me.

Well, first, I'm not liking having to hunt around for the letters. I just hate that. Then I get greeted by a pleasant enough male voice, but it keeps talking and talking -- all useful info, but a minute goes by and I am still listening. Then the kicker: If I am calling from a cell phone and it's not convenient for me to punch in answers, I should hang up and call again, so that I can safely interact with the system....

Talk about absurdity: most of the people calling will be calling from a car and they will be using their cell phones. The input the system asks for are digits: a problem that has long ago been solved by Automatic Speech Recognition....

I'll invesitage some more about the offering and will keep you posted....