Voice 'recognition' software

I had a few funny looks from my workmates this morning.

I was desperately trying to pay my water bills over the phone before starting work and was shouting 'yes' into the phone in different tones and volumes.

I did start off quietly because I didn't want to disturb people who were already hard at work, but quickly gave up on that idea and just decided to go for it.

This was after I had keyed in all the necessary information into the 'automated bill paying line' and was asked to confirm if the details were right by saying 'yes' down the phone.

After getting increasingly frustrated because the software couldn't recognise a simple 'yes' word, I was transferred to a real live human being, and had to go through the whole process again.

Talk about frustrating - why not just put people through to a person in the first place?