NOW YOU CAN BE A ROBOT, JUST LIKE PHIL!

As most of you know, I took part in an experiment last week at Bowne. Microsoft was indeed involved, but alas, no, I did not get turned into a robot. Believe me, no one is more disappointed than I am. I still suffer from the torment of human emotion. How long must I suffer? Who can say, who can say...

Anyway, the real objective of the experiment was to record my voice. I was given situations such as, "You are having trouble with a new printer you installed. If you had access to the voice-response program of a customer service department, how would you ask for assistance?" I gave a response into the microphone attached to a nifty headset, and my response was recorded. 'B,' the Microsoft liason, suggested that Microsoft is trying to cull together common keywords in peoples' responses. By figuring out the most common keywords people use in customer service situations, they can create an automated response program, thus eliminating thousands of jobs!

Join the digital revolution! If you are willing to donate 2 hours of time to responding to situations such as the one given above, let me know! Microsoft will give you free software for your time. You can do 2 hours at once, or on separate days. The address is:

132 West 31st Street, 12th Floor
New York, NY 10001 USA

I have the schedule right in front of me. Good timeslots are still available!