User:Wyn/Special Issue 25/Protocol For Call Center?

1. Description

1.1 Prototype

This radio show tried to explore the power dynamics in call center systems through a series of role-play conversations. It inspired by Sound Jamming (VCV Rack!!), we had a role play in last show, and has different standpoints while our group member read the interview, leading us to rethink the relationship between language, identity, and system. The confusion and questions we encounter reflect the gaps between protocols and real human needs. The conversations, advertisements, and system responses emerge as layers of bureaucratic communication. During our group meeting, we were inspired by shared experiences with customer service. Since the theme of protocols was central to our discussion, we created a fictional call center to examine how language operates within systematic constraints. We wanted to explore how agents serve as mediators rather than power holders, caught between system limitations and customer needs.

1.2 Design

How can we reveal the power dynamics in automated systems? How do protocols shape human communication? How do we structure the tension between human needs and systematic responses? It reminds us of the concept of interpretative labor - agents must constantly interpret between rigid protocols and fluid human situations. The system transfers both problem-solving and emotional labor onto agents, who must absorb customer frustrations while lacking the agency to resolve systemic issues. We collected stories from Reddit and classic film scripts about call center experiences, creating four role-play scenarios that demonstrate this double bind, focusing primarily on the user's dilemma within the system.

Sound Techniques:

A. Role-play Dialogue

Character development

Emotional progression

System interruptions

B. Sound Elements

TTS

Lyric Jungle

Hold music

Phone call effect

C. Narrative Structure

Multiple scenarios

Advertising breaks

System messages

D. Tension Building

Growing frustration Protocol limitations Human-AI interaction

1.2.2 Material

We selected and adapted stories that highlight the relationship between humans and automated systems. The dialogue serves as a backbone to explore how people are conditioned by machine expressions. The system sounds create an institutional atmosphere, expressing the cold, automated environment of call centers. Music and advertisements add ironic commentary on the commercialization of human interaction.

1.2.3 Sound Source(parts)

Role-play Scripts Four scenarios based on real experiences, showing how customers and agents navigate system constraints.

Phone System Elements Automated messages, hold music, and system prompts that interrupt and shape human conversation.

Fake Advertisements Inserted phone advertisements that highlight the human-AI relationship.

Feedback

The role-play format effectively demonstrated the frustration of both customers and agents within systematic constraints.

Reflection

While we had a role play in the live radio, we felt intense and nervous. We all put ourselves into the scenario of customer service. Through the lens of emotional labor and interpretative labor, we see how agents must bridge the gap between rigid systems and human emotions, while bearing the emotional cost embedded in product pricing. The increasing use of automated customer service by major companies further dehumanizes communication, amplifying negative emotions through repetitive, mechanical interactions. The system's unwillingness to account for emotional value reveals the limitations of protocol-based communication. This radio explores how humans are conditioned by machine expression, and how protocols fail to address human needs.