Think I'm over-reacting? When I started writing a news item about FTD, I almost called them a "floral solutions provider." They sell flowers. I suppose you could argue that a lack of flowers is a problem that begs a solution, but I think I'll stick to calling them a flower company. What if a car company called itself a personal transportation solutions provider?

When companies in our industry make products that address new issues, they want to sound like they know that these issues are very complicated and that they understand this stuff. And they do, of course, but sometimes in their effort to hype the product, sound knowledgeable, and use insider language, they make complicated issues more complicated than they have to be.

Sometimes they get it right. For example, Ingate makes firewalls. In a product description section of their website called: "Why You Need an Ingate Firewall," it says, "The problem? Existing network firewalls do not recognize SIP media. The solution? Ours does." I like how straightforward that is.

Some may argue that the audience is educated, and that the jargon is familiar. But even seasoned veterans can benefit from language clear enough for the managers of new businesses to understand. One of our jobs here at Call Center is to act as an intermediary between the people who make stuff and the people who use it. Whenever I get vendor information, I try to clean it up, take out the hyperbole, and make it a little more comprehensible before I turn it into news items for the Call Center website.

So what do you think? Is there an industry cliche or catch-phrase that has always annoyed you? Are you completely comfortable with the call center world's brand of tech-speak? Got a story about your own learning curve? Let me know. My name is Harry Sheff and I'm the new editorial assistant here at Call Center.