Effect of intonation form and pause durations of automatic telephone number announcements on subjective preference and memory performance.
System X telephone exchanges automatically assemble digit-string announcements with a particular pattern of pause durations and intonation forms. Two experiments were carried out to examine the effects of varying these two factors on subjective preference and memory performance with 10-digit telephone numbers. Results from 48 subjects, using a forced-choice preference measure, indicated an effect of intonation structure, but not of pause durations, on subjective preference. There was a statistically significant trend for subjects to prefer increasingly sophisticated intonation. Conversely, memory performance of 45 subjects was significantly affected by pause durations, but not by intonation. Memory was enhanced by increasingly the duration of pauses. On the basis of these results an improved form of telephone number delivery was recommended, and will be adopted in the future.
Waterworth
J A
JA
British Telecom Research Laboratories, Martlesham Heath, Ipswich.