Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!bu.edu!m2c!risky.ecs.umass.edu!dime!sandy From: sandy@snoopy.cs.umass.edu (& Wise) Newsgroups: comp.human-factors Subject: Re: Stupid Phone! Message-ID: Date: 26 Jun 91 21:21:30 GMT References: Sender: news@dime.cs.umass.edu Reply-To: wise@cs.umass.edu Followup-To: comp.human-factors Organization: Organization? I thought entropy would take care of that... Lines: 31 In-reply-to: mathew@mantis.co.uk's message of 26 Jun 91 13:42:36 GMT enag@ifi.uio.no (Erik Naggum) writes: > Can you imagine a telephone which is so easy to use that you don't > need any time learning how to use it? [...] > Now think of all the incredible losers in the world who > could actually _need_ a menu-based phone. We (the University of Massachusetts/Amherst) spent a bundle of money for a state-of-the-art phone system. The bid winner was Ericsson. Our phones include such meaningful operations as # 2 # - call diversion * 2 * - cancel call diversion ( or is it the other way around...) If you press 6 when you get a busy signal, the system will call you back when the line becomes free... etc... Even the technologically sophisticated users can't use the *@&^!~ thing... It needs more than a menu, it needs a complete rewrite! Of course, "state of the art" is a little known synonym for "closed and proprietary" so we can't even use a Mac to dial (as was suggested), since it doesn't listen to tones! Why, when they were going to require us to use their brand of phones, they couldn't have put meaningful buttons on them I will never know. Especially since there *ARE* buttons and lights for special features (read: more monthly charges) like voice mail (which replaces the answering machines we can't use). /s -- Alexander Erskine Wise /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ Software Development Laboratory /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ WISE@CS.UMASS.EDU /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ \/\/\ This situation calls for large amounts of unadulterated CHOCOLATE! /\/\/\