Why do so many people here not grasp the concept of voice-mail? (school, move)

[applej3]

Originally Posted by LBTRS

When was the last time you had a "conversation" with an answering machine and voicemail?

I meant conversations with live people. Is that hard to understand? Do you ever do it?

And yes I have left messages on voice mail and answering machines.

[applej3]

Originally Posted by Elna Rae

That may be true for some but I find the phone intrusive and inconvenient. My life during the day exists in 5 minute segments and texting allows me to receive and send communication at my discretion rather than bending to someone else's schedule. I don't have time to talk on the phone for several minutes. It's not hiding; it's simply more convenient, efficient, and allows far more "conversations" in the course of the day. Plus has the added benefit of a trustworthy record of the discussion.

And phone calls are BORING; no emojis or hilarious gifs to use! Never talking on the phone again would be nirvana.

Now face to face? That's a different ballgame because you gain the added advantage of body language and there are times where it's absolutely necessary.

If you find the phone intrusive you should not have one. Face to face human interaction is most likely an annoyance to you, too.

Sad.

[applej3]

Originally Posted by AnUnidentifiedMale

Assertions based on personal anecdotal evidence are essentially worthless.

Uh.....huh? ...ooookay. Wow, that's deep.

[49erfan916]

I actually posted this on the work and employment thread. I had several employers call me and not leave a message. One employer called me two other separate times before I managed to answer the third time. Then she had the audacity to say, "You know, if you're looking for a job, it would be wise to pick up your phone." Then I replied, "Usually when a potential employer calls my phone and if I am not available, they would leave a voice message stating who they are and a good phone number to call them back on." What's ironic that i still landed the job.....


But I have noticed a trend where some employers are not leaving voice messages.

[Elna Rae]

Originally Posted by applej3

If you find the phone intrusive you should not have one. Face to face human interaction is most likely an annoyance to you, too.

Sad.

On the contrary; I relish face to face because there's personal and meaningful engagement. A phone call on the other hand is incredibly impersonal. How do you suppose people felt about the telephone when it first entered the culture? I'm guessing many felt it was WAY too impersonal. How is texting (Words actually spelled out, good grammar/punctuation, etc; NOT incoherent, abbreviated child speak.) any different than letter writing which was the main method of long distance communication before phones were invented?
Your problem is that you have very little imagination and attempt to guilt others who don't share your opinion.

My business has land lines and my employees do a great job managing them but as for my cell phone? 90% of the time I use it for email/texting/browser and fortunately you don't get to decide whether I have one or not.

[applej3]

Originally Posted by Elna Rae

On the contrary; I relish face to face because there's personal and meaningful engagement. A phone call on the other hand is incredibly impersonal. How do you suppose people felt about the telephone when it first entered the culture? I'm guessing many felt it was WAY too impersonal. How is texting (Words actually spelled out, good grammar/punctuation, etc; NOT incoherent, abbreviated child speak.) any different than letter writing which was the main method of long distance communication before phones were invented?
Your problem is that you have very little imagination and attempt to guilt others who don't share your opinion.

My business has land lines and my employees do a great job managing them but as for my cell phone? 90% of the time I use it for email/texting/browser and fortunately you don't get to decide whether I have one or not.

That's terrific. Thanks for sharing.

[JGMotorsport64]

Originally Posted by Voebe

This drives me crazy - and it's something I don't see to this extent in other cities.

-There are so many people who don't even record an outgoing message on their lines!
Are they just lazy? Are they too stupid to follow the simple prompts? Are they too paranoid to give people a hint? I was recently calling a wrong number for days; the person had nothing on his line to identify it, and didn't bother to call back to tell me I had the wrong person.

-There are so many people who don't leave fully useful messages.
Not a full name. Not a company name. Not a hint of when to return the call. Not a hint of information within the message. I mean, if I've left a message asking what's the latest I can call and how soon could I get an appointment, why can't he guy leave a full answer?
Really, instead of a guy just leaving a message, "This is John, returning your call" why can't he instead say "This is John Smith from ABC Repair; I'll be in your area Monday morning, if that works for you, and you can reach me any time until 6:00 tonight"?

-There are people who call, don't leave a message, and consider that the call has been returned.
I asked this most recent guy, who protested that he had, in fact, called me: How was I supposed to know. He had no answer for that.

-And there are, unbelievably, so many people with full voice-mail, where you can't even leave a message.
And this is on lines used for business. I just called a lady who's helped me with cleaning projects in the past, and although she has two phones, I couldn't leave a message on either one!

Because they aren’t old.

What even is a voicemail?

[ElleTea]

I never leave voicemail unless it is a work call. I actually rarely call anyone else. I called a friend once that I usually text and she answered the phone in a panic "Are you ok?" Because I was actually calling instead of texting she thought it was an emergency!

If I did call someone for a personal call, I would not leave a voicemail. They will see a missed call from me and call back, probably without even bothering to check their voicemail.

[BIG CATS]

Originally Posted by DetroitN8V

Text messages have rendered voicemail irrelevant and inconvenient.

He mentioned how people fail to leave company names, which tells me they're not friends or on a text-only basis. Anyone who has voice mail set up for business purposes SHOULD leave an abundance of information. Its the professional thing to do!

[jnojr]

Originally Posted by applej3

Sometimes people hide behind text messages as a way to avoid a conversation.

What's wrong with that? Why do I need to have a "conversation" with everyone who manages to put ten digits into their phone in the order to reach me? Where's the value proposition for me?

No voicemail, no problem... I just move on with my life. Want something from me? You're going to have to leave a VM. If you keep calling trying to get me "live", all you'll accomplish is having your number blocked. My phone is for my convenience, not yours.