i can only say so much.
     
yanyan's stories. life as written by me.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Let Me Shed Some Light - Meralco Hotline 16211


Every time people experience a power interruption, they usually make a loud rant first followed by a quick call to the Meralco Hotline.

Now I don't know if this will be a pretty good thing, but did you know that since a few weeks ago (could be months, I only found out about it recently) your Meralco Hotline experience will never be the same. WHY? Because you'll be hearing my voice! Haha. Yup, it's me who will be greeting you whenever you cal 16211. :))

I actually did this voice talent project last year while I was still in my first job as the Corporate Communications Specialist of a local systems integrator here in the Philippines. One of our project managers approached me and asked me if I could do a voice talent project for Meralco and of course I said yes! Why not, this project involved talent fee anyway? Hehe. :P So there, it was a very grueling project with revisions and additions here and there. It wasn't a one-time thing because as the actual IVR (Interactive Voice Response) project progressed, they needed more voice recordings from me. This involved recording the entire alphabet, months of the year, cardinal numbers, ordinal numbers, days of the week and many other things. For those who think that being a voice talent is easy, it's not. It''s fun true. But easy? Heck no. :)

I usually checked the hotline every now and then that time, to see if my voice is up in the system already. But apparently the project took longer to finish. Time passed and I almost forgot about it.

Then came June 2010. I was no longer working for that company and am now a freelance writer and events host. I was happily surfing the net at home when the power went out. Bored, I browsed my mobile phone for people to text. I was amazed when I saw that my phone had stored numbers of local fast food joints and delivery services. I even saw that utility providers were there too (Maynilad Water, PLDT, etc.). Then I thought of looking for Meralco's number to report our power failure situation. I dialed 1-6-2-1-1 then ...

KAPOWWW!!! It hit me! Hey, that's my recording! That's my voice! That's me! Hahaha. It was like some act of God to let me know that most of the Philippine population can now hear me on their phones if they call Meralco. Pretty surreal if you ask me. :)

My first thoughts were, "Damn, I hope I don't sound too giddy or annoying", "Do I sound like a kid?" and "This is cool! "

So to all of you irate customers calling the Meralco hotline during power failures, I'm sorry. Please do not blame the very nice girl answering the phone. The brownout is not her fault. :))


PS: Imagine all the people hearing my voice during weather storms. Hahaha. Once again, the number to call is 16211. ;)