Leaving VoiceCon each year means a few side trips for me. First I head to Tampa International Airport to catch a shuttle service to St. Petersburg. Earlier this year, I faced a long line of people waiting at an unmanned booth at the airport. Folks were on their cell phones calling the shuttle service number posted on the window. What's a phone guy to do?I looked around and noticed a cheesy $5 trimline (throw away) telephone set sitting on the counter outside the booth with a sign stating, "Pickup the handset for Reservations." So I did and got nothing but static and click, click, click. This particular handset has a hook switch that is a pressure sensitive switch inlaid beneath the receiver (ear piece). Knowing what I know--I picked up the handset again to hear more static and the clicking. Then, I depressed the hook switch and waited. I pulled the hook switch button instead of letting it release and this time I got a short burst of dial tone followed by digits, ringback and then a customer rep wanting to take my reservation.
After getting my reservation, I told the rep not to hang up because several other people were waiting to get through.
My advice for those that want to save on paying someone a wage to man a booth in an airport is to use technology but make sure it's the right technology for the environment. Public phones take a lot of abuse and this one was no exception. Outdoor stainless steel telephones that ring down to a call center are worthy investments. Then, make sure that the signage is clear, obvious and well seen. In this case it was a hand written note on a piece of cardboard. What this company did seem to do right was to prioritize the call from the ringdown phone--else why would all these other people be watching me as I get my reservation right away ahead of them while they remained in queue on their cell phones?
Telephony is a service, not just an application. Misapplying the wrong technology for the right reasons doesn't win and retain customers. In this particular case, I know that each call (i.e., shuttle fare) is worth $25 and up. A good outdoor all weather stainless steel phone is just under $400, and considering the staffer that was replaced, it seems to me the revenue opportunities outweigh the cost of using an appropriate phone.
