Reminds me of a client who wanted a collaboration platform that would
make the following a perfectly normal use case for the platform:
User A speaking language X sends an SMS to a certain number, from
where it is passed on to the collaboration platform. The platform
then engages a translator to convert the message from language X to
language Y, which recipient B prefers. Because User A happens to be a
high value customer paying for quality, the platform chooses human
over machine translation and assigns the job to a translator with the
appropriate grade. When the translation is done, he's paid from User
A's account and the translated message is passed to a PDF convertor,
which formats it nicely into a booklet with a recipient postal
address, translated message and blank space for a response. The
system then prints this PDF object, for physical delivery by another
human agent (the postman).
When User B receives the printed message, he or she can choose to
respond in the blank area, or if required, use their own stationery,
and send it back using the included business reply envelope. An
operator then feeds the paper into a scanner, from wherein it re-
enters the platform. Because User B happens to be a high value
customer too, the text is first passed through an ICR filter, then
delivered to two human transcribers (likely sitting in a call centre
in India) for cross-verification and correction. When they're done,
it is sent to the translators again, and finally passed through an
SMS filter which sends it as an SMS to User A.
The idea, of course, is that the platform must be sufficiently
adaptable to help techno-weenies with cash be convinced to use it
without having to change their lifestyle.
...
I got fired a few months later, on charge of insubordination.
J.
On 05-Oct-07, at 11:19 AM, Gautam John wrote:
Something that we all experience
http://www.joethepeacock.com/2007/10/unordered-list-of-thoughts-i-
had-during.php...
_______________
An unordered list of thoughts I had during a conference call with a
potential client today
