What he said, and what he meant

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From "This is Money"

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2924009/DOGBERRY-Launching-omnichannel-approach-reduce-train-delays-create-prioritised-roadmap-activity.html

Constable Dogberry in Shakespeare^s Much Ado About Nothing mangles every word he utters - and so do many business leaders.

We put the worst offenders in the dock for crimes against the English language.

THE ACCUSED: Tim O^Toole, chief executive, First Group.

WHAT HE SAID: The firm has launched an ^omnichannel approach^ to reduce train delays that will ^create a prioritised roadmap of activity^.

WHAT HE MEANT: In a desperate attempt to stem the flow of bad publicity around its Paddington commuter line ^ dubbed ^worst late Western^ by sardine-esque travellers ^ the company has launched a website to help customers find out why their train is delayed. He calls this a ^roadmap of activity^. Surely ^timetable of ineptitude^ might be more fitting.

ANY PREVIOUS: O^Toole should have a Dogberry season ticket. His previous utterances include ^cascading buses^ (whatever they are) and insisting the business should ^recover performance^.

For their verdict, see the article

For the address of that web site referred to - well, the article does not give it. Does anyone know?

[Chris from Nailsea]

From The Drum:

First Great Western plots omnichannel transformation to tackle train delays

First Great Western has launched an online hub to help passengers overcome disruptions to their train journeys and ease frustrations that could harm the brand.

It is billed as the first site of its kind to aggregate several travel feeds in an industry where operators have traditionally settled for a landing page that links to the National Rail site. Data from channels such as Transport for London (TfL^» (Transport for London - about)) and JourneyCheck are fed to users through a revamped interface on the operator^s site.

This move from the ^lift and shift^ approach to data, claimed First Great Western^s digital marketing manager Jason Ali, gives passengers ^unprecedented^ access to real-time live departure boards, re-routing, train schedules across the Western network and running data. Twitter is also integrated into the hub to push live updates as well as a personalised response to disruptions.

Some 18 months in the making, the ORM-created platform tries to tackle the lack of transparency around disruptions to train journeys. The frustration from passengers was damaging the brand experience, claimed Ali, at a time when the business wants to lift sentiment through its ^Be A Great Westerner marketing campaign.

^We have the largest and most complex UK^▸ (United Kingdom) rail network but weren^t handling the transparency of information well especially through disruption,^ said Ali. He hopes the hub^s sentiment score hits 80 per cent by the end of April, paving the way for updates on planned engineering work information.

^At a very high level this strategy is about creating a prioritised roadmap of activity because by combining the data we^re now getting we^re able to understand what^s really important for customers. Everything we do is tied into one strategy. Creating an omnichannel approach,^ added Ali.

First Great Western^s take on omnichannel marketing revolves around being primed to action customer requests on any channel in almost real-time. The approach is key to efforts to manage customer expectations in an industry blighted by all manner of disruptions, both planned and unforeseen.

Most recently, the Great First Western brand was thrust into the media spotlight after the travel plans for thousands of people were thrown into chaos in December after the operator cancelled all its services running to and from London Paddington due to overrunning engineering works.

No link there, either. 

[grahame]

Reading in more carefully, I suspect that these press articles come from the promotion of

https://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/travel-updates

which combines Twitter, TfL^» (Transport for London - about) and other statuses onto one page. And, yes, for the regular/ knowing traveller, such a combination display is a good idea.  I ask myself "is that IT?" considering all the press coverage, but then if they've reached people and told them that the information's there, good on them.

[trainer]

It's all very well having 'omnichannels' to give 'unprecedented' access to live info about amended train running, but one of the issues that emerged for me from the recent C5 series on FGW^▸ (First Great Western) is that the controllers don't always seem to know what it happening in real life in a coherent way which would enable them give the staff accurate/timely info, let alone the punters.  This is not necessarily their fault, because in extreme situations, coherence flies out of the window.  NR^» (Network Rail - home page) signallers sometimes have to decide which platform use as things go awry, so there is another potential gap in knowledge. Multi-channels of incorrect information could be what we end up with (genuinely transparent because that's what is believed) where before the anodyne 'delayed' message shown next to a train is accurate but frustrating.

Full marks for obfuscating language though.  I wonder if the belief that showering travellers with all the information there is (the exact opposite of what happens now) will make people feel better than at present is true?

[grahame]

I wonder if the belief that showering travellers with all the information there is (the exact opposite of what happens now) will make people feel better than at present is true?

Speaking personally, I rejoice in the information feeds and feel like I'm being treated as a responsible adult by being told a lot of information, complete with developing uncertainties.   Following is the honesty I like to see

A signalling problem near Didcot Parkway is causing delays of up to 20 minutes between Swindon / Oxford and Reading. There is no firm estimate yet of how long disruption will last but it is likely to continue until at least 11:00.

[Red Squirrel]

Can't help observing that 'omnichannel' is more or less a homophone of 'omnishambles': perhaps that's appropriate...