5 November 2012
Birmingham City Council has been inundated with complaints after its voice recognition system could not understand Brummie accents.
Local councillor Mike Leddy said he spent 30 minutes struggling to get through using the auto phone before giving up and speaking to a human receptionist.
Labour group chief whip Leddy, was trying to ring l the council’s rent arrears team when he encountered the problem.
He told the Birmingham Mail: “I am a proud Brummie and most people can understand me when I am talking to them.
“But I was trying for half-an-hour to deal with an issue for a resident. I gave up and ended up calling the strategic director to sort it out.”
Other councillors said, they too, were having problems with the system.
