Comment by datameta
1 year ago
Precisely, I give zero information. If I do pick up once in a blue moon, I pause for 3-5 seconds to give a chance for the human to start (if it isn't a bot).
1 year ago
Precisely, I give zero information. If I do pick up once in a blue moon, I pause for 3-5 seconds to give a chance for the human to start (if it isn't a bot).
I have a Pixel phone and a Google bot can answer the phone for me. It transcribes the conversations on my phone in real-time, and I can push a few buttons to tell to bot what to say--things like "tell me more", or "please tell me why you're calling".
If the entity calling gives an explanation I care about, then I can press a button and the bot says "thanks, connecting you now" and then I can say "hello" with my own voice and have a normal conversation. I think most people think it's just a fancy answering machine, they don't realize I'm controlling it.
Voice calls are on the decline anyway, but I think it's becoming possible to have a very sophisticated AI secretary answer calls for you, even beyond what I've explained Google is doing. Imagine being able to give your LLM phone secretary a prompt and it would answer calls for you. You could tell it something like "the snowblower I listed in the classifieds is already sold" and maybe it could automatically resolve some calls or text messages for you.
I have the same phone and feature. My experience is that everyone always hangs up immediately after facing the screener. I'd love to actually use this feature, I mean hell, I can fucking text responses to them and read what they say through it! But I never can in a realistic setting because people hear robot and hang up. I've been eagerly waiting Apple's release so that the feature becomes more well known. Google really dropped the ball on advertising and honestly I think should have just pushed it to all Android phones because you need to change how people interact. I've worried it would go away because Google deems it "useless" despite its uselessness being that the feature is just not known. There's just too few Pixel phones so people aren't experiencing the screener and so act like a normal human being and go "robot? Ugh, fuck that" and associate this with calling a 1 800 number.
Yeah, most people hang up immediately, mission accomplished probably. Sometimes the doctors office calls and awkwardly starts leaving a full fledged message rather than just saying their name (like the bot tells them to), then, when I press the answer button the bot interrupts them and we start a normal phone call.
In fairness, it may be awkward, but it doesn't waste the caller's time, none of the robot messages are long, and people are quickly able to say their name and why they're calling.
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> My experience is that everyone always hangs up immediately after facing the screener.
Working as intended!
This isn't a new process, answering machines and operators have been around for ages. If your information is important, leave a message. If you're unwilling to leave a message, text. If you're unwilling to leave a message or text, it wasn't important.
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My experience with Call Screen is actually very positive. It screens tons of spam calls and legitimate people who are actually calling for me do talk to my robot assistant, I get a quick transcription, and I pick up. It's why I can't quit Google's Pixels.
Maybe it's regional, I'm in the Bay Area, and people are used to it here by now.
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Well, if they hang up, then the call is not that important.
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> I think most people think it's just a fancy answering machine, they don't realize I'm controlling it.
FWIW, I'm betting it is just a fancy answering machine for most people. I use this feature (couldn't live without it), but I've never once been in-the-loop. My phone acts autonomously! I checked the logs for a few months, but I don't even bother anymore. It's never had a false positive.
Ditto, it really should be the standard. Well, as well as the government actually enforcing these laws strictly. I am pretty sure they could compel companies to maintain and filter out spam/robo calls. Especially if it costs them $$$$$
The phone system has gotten so bad these days that a lot of the time the pausing for 3-5 seconds isn’t voluntary - it just doesn’t connect the call properly. The most basic hundred year old regular phone call is too much to handle for modern systems I suppose
same, but now a lot of callers whom i would like to speak with -- e.g. my insurance company -- just hang up before greeting me (because they think my phone's broken?). but then if i screen everyone via voicemail instead, a different (but overlapping) portion of callers refuse to leave messages. it's like everyone's given up on using the POTS outside of their immediate social circle, and the few people/businesses who still do are either malicious, or are just going through the motions.
thanks spammers. and thanks FCC for sitting idly over the decades and letting the spammers ruin it. weird time to finally put your foot down, but sure, okay.
I just answer every phone call by saying, "My voice is my password, verify me."
Exactly what I do. And I don't pick up unless I recognize the number or I'm expecting a call for a specific reason.