While most Americans are waiting with bated breath to kick-off the American NFL season, there are many of us that are overjoyed that English Premier League football has started up again. From August to May, twenty clubs will play thirty-eight games each, vying for the FA Cup and the Champions League title. While most avid American football fans wish we could be at Stamford Bridge watching John Terry prevent an opposition attack, or at Anfield, watching Steven Gerrard score a well-placed goal, this is sadly an unattainable dream for most of us. However, despite the fact that we can’t sing You’ll Never Walk Alone shoulder to shoulder with other Liverpool fans, that doesn’t mean that most of us American fans aren’t keeping up with every score, every play, and every victory. Most games are played on Saturday and Sunday, with occasional weeknight games as well. With the time difference between London and the US, we are anywhere from 5 to 8 hours behind, meaning that games oft times happen very early in the morning or in the middle of our workdays. What is a football fan to do?
An IVR system would be a great solution. For those of us who are unable to watch the games live, an IVR system could be programmed to track the progress of every club from Arsenal to the Wolverhampton Wanderers. The basic infrastructure of the IVR system could be set up to gather statistics in real time. Subscribers could enter and save their preferences, in order to get information and updates on a preferred team, or information and statistics on the entire league. Whenever a match was played, users could call in and hear updates in real time, gather information about game statistics, and even get fast facts about their favorite players, coaches, and managers. After the week’s play, the system could update current subscribers about player and team standings, and brief them about the upcoming league schedule as well. While standing in Old Trafford and watching a perfect game of football would be much preferred to having to hear about the matches via the telephone, an Interactive Voice Response system would still keep avid football fans constantly in the loop and updated!
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