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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Do you answer your phone or is it all email, text msgs and voice mail?
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no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
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Posted
In a large organization I consult with they are looking at the volume of calls which get shunted off to voice mail, even if the person is sitting at their desk, fully able to answer the phone. What gives?
Is it a generational thing to prefer not to talk to people and prefer text msgs, email, and voice mail? Though I understand voice mail is also hated, and emails are below the love-hate line too.
[ 14. June 2017, 21:32: Message edited by: no prophet's flag is set so... ]
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Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.
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Posts: 11498 | From: Treaty 6 territory in the nonexistant Province of Buffalo, Canada ↄ⃝' | Registered: Mar 2010
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Leorning Cniht
Shipmate
# 17564
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by no prophet's flag is set so...:
In a large organization I consult with they are looking at the volume of calls which get shunted off to voice mail, even if the person is sitting at their desk, fully able to answer the phone. What gives?
Two many people phone for things where a email or other textual communication is more appropriate.
When you phone me, you interrupt what I am doing. You assert that your question is time-critical, and so takes precedence over whatever I happen to be in the middle of. Usually, it isn't. Most questions should be directed to email, and I'll answer them when I come to a convenient stopping point.
I don't have voicemail. I have explicitly not configured it on my phone. Put it in writing.
[ 14. June 2017, 21:41: Message edited by: Leorning Cniht ]
Posts: 5026 | From: USA | Registered: Feb 2013
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HCH
Shipmate
# 14313
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Posted
I think this reflects a preference for asynchronous rather than synchronous communication. Speaking to someone face to face or by telephone can be viewed as confrontational and is often an interruption. Other forms of communication allow the recipient to respond when it is convenient.
This is not the only value involved. Would you be satisfied to call the police by text message, for them to answer later? Are you interested in someone's emotional state as indicated by a voice? Do you sometimes actually need human contact?
There are other choices to fit into this discussion: letters (handwritten or printed), live chats on line, telegrams. We have a variety of forms of communication, and sometimes the choice is part of the message.
If you have a telephone but never use it, you will probably get rid of it, in time.
Posts: 1540 | From: Illinois, USA | Registered: Nov 2008
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
I'd totally prefer to do everything via text or email, but realize that a lot of other people prefer voice. In some cases it's just faster. My problem is just shyness, plus an unhealthy dose of "did I sound like an idiot just now?"
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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Og, King of Bashan
Ship's giant Amorite
# 9562
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Leorning Cniht:
When you phone me, you interrupt what I am doing. You assert that your question is time-critical, and so takes precedence over whatever I happen to be in the middle of. Usually, it isn't. Most questions should be directed to email, and I'll answer them when I come to a convenient stopping point.
This. I am rarely at a good stopping point when the phone rings, which means you have to sit there while I try to gather my thoughts, and then when I am done, I have to figure out a way to get back to what I was doing. If you send me an email or text, I can get to it once I get to a stopping point.
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"I like to eat crawfish and drink beer. That's despair?" ― Walker Percy
Posts: 3259 | From: Denver, Colorado, USA | Registered: May 2005
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Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
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Posted
I'll answer if I recognize via Caller ID who it is **and** I feel like talking at the moment; otherwise I let it go into voice mail.
If I don't recognize the caller, or if it's anonymous or a blocked number, I **never** answer. If they do leave voice mail, I evaluate whether or not a call-back is warranted.
As mentioned by someone upthread, I've always considered the phone to be a rude interruption to my ability to manage my own schedule.
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"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
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lilBuddha
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# 14333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by HCH:
I think this reflects a preference for asynchronous rather than synchronous communication.
I prefer asymmetrical communication. I send with whichever method best suits my need. And respond with whatever suits the situation, regardless of what the sender used.
And I will switch mid-exchange if that best deals with the need. Or use multiple in tandem.
It is why God invented he smartphone and why Steve Jobs stole it from him.
ETA: Those who find voicemail irritating need to get over themselves.* It is a valuable tool.
*Including myself in this.
[ 15. June 2017, 03:42: Message edited by: lilBuddha ]
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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anoesis
Shipmate
# 14189
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Og, King of Bashan:
... If you send me an email or text, I can get to it once I get to a stopping point.
Which, if you are a senior academic, is another way of saying, "Lowly support staff member, please communicate with me in a medium which I can continue to ignore forever and ever..." (just my own experience, of course).
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The history of humanity give one little hope that strength left to its own devices won't be abused. Indeed, it gives one little ground to think that strength would continue to exist if it were not abused. -- Dafyd --
Posts: 993 | From: New Zealand | Registered: Oct 2008
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Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081
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Posted
It is impossible to contact staff of more than one organisation I deal with by phone (beyond the reception desk, who will not forward calls) unless you know their direct line (which they do not put on their e-mails).
While this doubtless prevents interruptions for them, it can also be a neat way of the organisation as a whole ducking its responsibilities almost indefinitely.
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Let's remember that we are to build the Kingdom of God, not drive people away - pastor Frank Pomeroy
Posts: 17944 | From: 528491 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Snags
Utterly socially unrealistic
# 15351
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Posted
The far bigger irritant for me is one client where almost every member of staff lets their phone go to voicemail, has a long OGM, and then calls you back whilst you're leaving your message.
If you can call me back before I've left the message then you could have answered the damn phone in the first place. Particularly as the nature of my job means if I'm calling it's to help you, usually at your request.
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Vain witterings :-: Vain pretentions :-: The Dog's Blog(locks)
Posts: 1399 | From: just north of That London | Registered: Dec 2009
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simontoad
Ship's Amphibian
# 18096
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Posted
I'm at an interesting pass, in that some time ago I unjustifiably yelled at someone and made a statement just short of a criminal threat to damage property.
That meant behavioral modification and counselling for this little black duck. I took the view that my little telephone games with those who called seeking to defraud me or sell me something had to stop, and the telephone had to stop being an unreal game for me.
I still mostly answer calls at home, but not at the times when these people tend to call, and I hang up straight away when they catch me.
So the telephone is an ambivalent instrument for me. It's not the phone's fault. I just have to re-adjust my relationship with it.
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Human
Posts: 1571 | From: Romsey, Vic, AU | Registered: May 2014
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la vie en rouge
Parisienne
# 10688
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Posted
I am in an organisation with a completely different culture. No one has voicemail configured. If you don’t answer it rings through to someone else but the phone must always be picked up. People have learned to live with it.
I am going to say the opposite of most people so far – what irritates me is not the phone ringing in the middle of something. It’s pointless emails. For a short question that can be answered in ten seconds I much prefer that you pick up the phone than clutter up my inbox by sending an email. Same for questions that are going to require a bit of back and forth discussion (usually these are to do with calendars/appointments – I’d much rather spend a couple of minutes on the phone going “10:30 on Tuesday” “Nope – 9:00 on Wednesday?” “Sorry, no – Friday afternoon?”) – it’s much more efficient to pick up the phone than to send five emails.
On a good day/week I can keep my inbox down to about 300 items – and I file daily in order not to be completely overwhelmed. No more, please.
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Rent my holiday home in the South of France
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MaryLouise
Shipmate
# 18697
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Posted
It depends on the kind of work I'm doing. If I'm procrastinating calls are welcome, if I'm drafting text or doing close editing work, I usually make sure the phone is switched off. If I know the caller well as a friend, I like hearing from him or her even when it's an interruption.
I do prefer emails if the topic someone is calling about is complicated or requires a decision. I like to have a record of our exchange if it is controversial in any way or involves rates of payment or contract amendments.
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“As regards plots I find real life no help at all. Real life seems to have no plots.”
-- Ivy Compton-Burnett
Posts: 646 | From: Cape Town | Registered: Nov 2016
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Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
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Posted
My supervisor always lets her phone go to voicemail, then prioritises her replies. Very efficient - but annoying!
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Garden. Room. Walk
Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008
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Martin60
Shipmate
# 368
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Posted
With an incoming phone call, if I don't know the number, if there's no voicemail, I text back 'Hello?', even with landlines, some get through. No response except a return call with no voicemail, it gets blocked.
[ 15. June 2017, 09:14: Message edited by: Martin60 ]
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Love wins
Posts: 17586 | From: Never Dobunni after all. Corieltauvi after all. Just moved to the capital. | Registered: Jun 2001
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Mark Wuntoo
Shipmate
# 5673
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by no prophet's flag is set so...:
...
Is it a generational thing to prefer not to talk to people and prefer text msgs, email, and voice mail?
It's because I'm deaf in my old age (and have never liked the 'phone, actually). I prefer face-to-face where I can see the person's face (and not just their lips).
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Blessed are the cracked for they let in the light.
Posts: 1950 | From: Somewhere else. | Registered: Mar 2004
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chris stiles
Shipmate
# 12641
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by no prophet's flag is set so...:
In a large organization I consult with they are looking at the volume of calls which get shunted off to voice mail, even if the person is sitting at their desk, fully able to answer the phone. What gives?
Presumably this isn't related to them being particularly busy with something else? In the previous organisation in which I worked it was generally recognised that an out of band interruption is going to cause people to lose up to 20-30 minutes of work.
As a result, while everyone had voice/video comms and were IMable, there were multiple asynchronous communications paths - the most important of which was a group chat system - if you had to ask someone a question which was non urgent you'd fire it in there, and they'd either reply when they got the time, or someone else might well reply on their behalf.
Over time the cultural expectation had been set that you'd contact someone using the least impact method possible - though there were also plenty of pow-wows at peoples desks (and every team had a daily synchronization meeting lasting about 20 minutes or so).
[ 15. June 2017, 09:53: Message edited by: chris stiles ]
Posts: 4035 | From: Berkshire | Registered: May 2007
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Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by MaryLouise:
I do prefer emails if the topic someone is calling about is complicated or requires a decision.
I'm the exact opposite, if it's a complex matter I need to talk it through 🙂
I largely dislike texting - both my husband and I send very short texts. My SIL sends screeds!
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Garden. Room. Walk
Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008
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MaryLouise
Shipmate
# 18697
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Posted
Oh put like that, Boogie -- yes I also like to talk things through and brainstorm but preferably face-to-face. But when I need to consider options and processes, I find it helps to have something down on paper.
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“As regards plots I find real life no help at all. Real life seems to have no plots.”
-- Ivy Compton-Burnett
Posts: 646 | From: Cape Town | Registered: Nov 2016
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Baptist Trainfan
Shipmate
# 15128
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Posted
Yes, I'll go along with that, MaryLouise.
And hallo - I don't think we've mt before.
[ 15. June 2017, 10:51: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]
Posts: 9750 | From: The other side of the Severn | Registered: Sep 2009
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Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
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Posted
I have hearing problems and I let all calls go to my answering machine unless I am expecting a call.When I phone someone, I know who I'm talking to and what the topic of conversation is; if someone phones me and I can't understand them, I lack these vital pieces of information. If the call goes to my answering machine, I can listen to the message over and over, and maybe I can understand it.
My phone rings six times before the answering machine cuts in, and most callers hang up before that. I avoid a lot of junk calls that way.
Moo
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Kerygmania host
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See you later, alligator.
Posts: 20365 | From: Alleghany Mountains of Virginia | Registered: May 2001
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no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by chris stiles:
Presumably this isn't related to them being particularly busy with something else? In the previous organisation in which I worked it was generally recognised that an out of band interruption is going to cause people to lose up to 20-30 minutes of work. the time, or someone else might well reply on their behalf.
The discussion suggests that the staff are not wanting to feel upset and wanting to avoid confrontation. The management think customers and clients then do get upset and are more likely to confront and register complaints.
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Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.
\_(ツ)_/
Posts: 11498 | From: Treaty 6 territory in the nonexistant Province of Buffalo, Canada ↄ⃝' | Registered: Mar 2010
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Caissa
Shipmate
# 16710
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Posted
In most cases, I prefer email over phone unless it involves something I do not want to put in writing. Email provides me with a good record of interactions with others for future reference.
Posts: 972 | From: Saint John, N.B. | Registered: Oct 2011
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Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Caissa:
In most cases, I prefer email over phone unless it involves something I do not want to put in writing. Email provides me with a good record of interactions with others for future reference.
Indeed, for any formal documents and correspondence. But, informally, with family and friends - I much prefer speaking.
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Garden. Room. Walk
Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008
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Og, King of Bashan
Ship's giant Amorite
# 9562
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by no prophet's flag is set so...:
quote:
Originally posted by chris stiles:
Presumably this isn't related to them being particularly busy with something else? In the previous organisation in which I worked it was generally recognised that an out of band interruption is going to cause people to lose up to 20-30 minutes of work. the time, or someone else might well reply on their behalf.
The discussion suggests that the staff are not wanting to feel upset and wanting to avoid confrontation. The management think customers and clients then do get upset and are more likely to confront and register complaints.
This is one of my biggest weaknesses- wanting to avoid confrontation and possibly disappointing a client. And I will admit that I have not taken a call when I saw that the call was coming from someone who I didn't have a good answer for.
This obviously needs to be fixed, although I think that a "drop everything and answer the phone, no matter what!" policy probably isn't the solution.
When I have skipped taking those calls, it at least lit a fire under my butt to find answers and call the client back sooner rather than later.
So maybe a "you don't have to take the call if it will distract you or if you know you don't have an answer yet, but make sure you get back within 24 hours" policy is what they need?
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"I like to eat crawfish and drink beer. That's despair?" ― Walker Percy
Posts: 3259 | From: Denver, Colorado, USA | Registered: May 2005
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Gramps49
Shipmate
# 16378
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Posted
I have been getting a lot of spam calls on my cell. If I do not recognize a number I will let it go to voicemail. Often a spam caller will not leave a message. If that is the case, I will then just block that number. Of course, sometimes spammers will just resort to a different number. I still block the new number. To my knowledge, I have yet to block a friend.
Posts: 2193 | From: Pullman WA | Registered: Apr 2011
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Leorning Cniht
Shipmate
# 17564
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
ETA: Those who find voicemail irritating need to get over themselves.* It is a valuable tool.
*Including myself in this.
There are all kinds of situations where I can look at an email or text message, but can't listen to a voicemail.
Plus, speech is slower than reading. The benefit of speech is that it is interactive, so we can check that we're talking about the same thing and understand what the other is saying in real time.
Voicemail loses all the interactive benefits of speech, and gains none of the benefits of asynchronous textual communication.
It's the worst of all worlds.
So I'm curious - why do you find it useful? What advantages does it have for you?
Posts: 5026 | From: USA | Registered: Feb 2013
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Leorning Cniht
Shipmate
# 17564
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
I'm the exact opposite, if it's a complex matter I need to talk it through 🙂
I agree that talking it through is helpful if the matter is complex (for at least some kinds of complex). Face-to-face meetings are much better than phone for this, although sometimes phone is what you've got.
If you need my time to discuss some complex matter, I want you to send me an email saying something like "I need 15-30 minutes to discuss X. I'm free all afternoon - please call me at a convenient point."
That way, you are considerate of my priorities and aren't interrupting me, and also you give me a chance to gather my thoughts on topic X. And it might be that my response is that I'm happy to talk to you, but that the X expert is Martina, and you really need to talk to her.
Posts: 5026 | From: USA | Registered: Feb 2013
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Baptist Trainfan
Shipmate
# 15128
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Posted
Even better if, before the chat, you email me some initial thoughts.
Posts: 9750 | From: The other side of the Severn | Registered: Sep 2009
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Leorning Cniht:
There are all kinds of situations where I can look at an email or text message, but can't listen to a voicemail.
Myself as well. All communication should be approached in a situation by situation basis and the most effective/least annoying used.
However, it is our species primary method of communicating. I find that most people can better put short thoughts in a voice message. I generally get more information and a better sense of the sender.
In texts, people tend to be too brief. Many people cannot properly form an email to communicate efficiently.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
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Posted
Because I answer my work phone (unless it is obviously an advertising call) I tend to get called by other members of staff seeking my colleagues. If I'm in a meeting I tend to text a "I'll call you back" message and usually remember. Some of those calls could have been a quick text which I could have picked up and dealt with a few minutes later.
We ask for emails for requests or something that may require layer confirmation, partly to remind us to do it.
I also try to confirm conversations in writing / email to have a trail to refer back to.
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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat
Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006
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Mark Wuntoo
Shipmate
# 5673
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Posted
emailed four of our family with message 'tea at our place on Sunday'. That's what we do each week (depending on who is the host).
They all know what it means and it saves a lot of time.
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Blessed are the cracked for they let in the light.
Posts: 1950 | From: Somewhere else. | Registered: Mar 2004
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Aravis
Shipmate
# 13824
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Posted
My personal mobile is always on and usually with me, and I usually answer unless I'm on another phone or driving.
My work mobile is on if I'm in work. I don't have a regular desk or a regular time to be in specific offices, so rarely use a work landline. I've resigned myself to the fact that many patients and their families now have my work mobile number and a few use it months after I've finished involvement. It does get difficult if I can't remember who they are though...
Emailing colleagues is much more useful if you need to refer to a record of someone's response to a query.
Posts: 689 | From: S Wales | Registered: Jun 2008
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Pomona
Shipmate
# 17175
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Posted
I have misophonia and the distortion of voicemail can be physically very uncomfortable to listen to, even painful. Scam cold callers calling from another country ditto. I do call/recieve calls fairly often thanks to needing to talk to doctors on the phone a lot, also my local FE college. Also I find answering is more helpful for weeding out cold callers - I can then block them.
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Consider the work of God: Who is able to straighten what he has bent? [Ecclesiastes 7:13]
Posts: 5319 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2012
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Ian Climacus
Liturgical Slattern
# 944
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Posted
I detest voicemail. Detest it. That needy red light flashing, demanding it is attended to. And people who leave 3-4 minute messages that I need to listen to multiple times to jot down facts and figures they rattle off at a rapid rate - send an email and ask me to call!
I go through my missed calls list at work and dial people back even if they haven't left a message; though I will listen to any missives that have left. My voicemails are all, "Hi, it's Ian, calling about <blah>. I'll call you back later." or "Hi, it's Ian, calling about <blah>. I'll send you an email as we need a common point of reference to start."
I like emails at work in response to known quantities - this is good; change the axis on graph 14, etc. As has been said above, if it is any more complex we need to speak. I get anxiety when the phone rings, yet I manage to manage it; I'd rather 1 phone call then 20 emails and we end up even more confused.
My current delight is people responding to a 3 paragraph email asking when the next report will be ready - the date of which I specified in paragraph 3 which is 1 or 2 lines long and only contains the information "The next report showing <blah> will be emailed on <blah>". Perhaps 140 characters should be my email length limit.
Though if anyone rings my home mobile and I do not know the number it goes to voicemail...and anyone who does not leave a message does not call back.
I rarely ring friends anymore...text, or email, does it.
[ 19. June 2017, 23:55: Message edited by: Ian Climacus ]
Posts: 7800 | From: On the border | Registered: Jul 2001
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Ian Climacus
Liturgical Slattern
# 944
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Posted
I re-read this twice and still stuffed up...
quote:
Originally posted by Ian Climacus:
Though if anyone rings my home mobile and I do not know the number it goes to voicemail...and anyone who does not leave a message does not call back.
and anyone who does not leave a message does not get a call back.
Posts: 7800 | From: On the border | Registered: Jul 2001
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ACK
Shipmate
# 16756
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Posted
I won't answer the phone at home, it avoids those conversations which start with 'Are you the homeowner?' or 'I'm not trying to sell you anything' type of thing.
People who I want to talk to, know I hover by the phone when it rings, and will pick up if they start to leave a message to the ansa phone. (Messages tend to be along the lines of 'Hi, it's me, are you there?')
At work I rarely get unsolicited phone calls - instead lots of scheduled meetings via conference phone.
Instant Messaging can irritate me, especially when it is with a question I have answered for the recipient before, like wanting to know a URL or the location of a document.
It can be good though if I have emailed someone in the US in my morning and they IM me when they get in to discuss it.
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'It's the only thing that worries me about going to Heaven. Would I ever get used to the height.' Norman Clegg
Posts: 56 | From: UK | Registered: Nov 2011
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