Millennials hate voice mail and so do I

[MillCreek]

http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2014/10/23/358301467/please-do-not-leave-a-message-why-millennials-hate-voice-mail?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news

I dislike it for two reasons:

It is awkward for me to retrieve my voice mails, especially when away from my office phone, what with all the codes and keypresses
As a hard of hearing person, if you do not speak clearly and with sufficient volume, I cannot understand your message

I much prefer email: I can respond much quicker, from anywhere, using a variety of technologies, and it leaves a written record, which is valuable in my line of work.

[Perd Hapley]

I'm on the younger side of Gen X, and I hate voice mail really bad. At previous jobs, when my cell phone was an important part of the job, I found it very clumsy and frustrating. Don't quite remember why.

When I leave one, I give my name and number right up front, so the recipient can just write down the number, and not have to listen to the whole thing.

[41magsnub]

Right there with you.  If a coworker needs something from me and I am not at my desk, it would work a lot better to just send me an email.  It usually would work better if they just sent an email instead of calling at all and spent a minute to organize their thoughts before bothering me, but that is asking too much!

[230RN]

When I leave one, I give my name and number right up front, so the recipient can just write down the number, and not have to listen to the whole thing.

I do the same thing, and add, "I'll repeat that number at the end of this message."  And I do.  Most people (myself included) can't catch the whole number the first time and it alerts them to the fact that they don't have to replay the message to catch it all.

Mumblety-bums:  Yes.  A lot of people could benefit by learning microphone technique.  Does the Columbia School of Broadcasting have Gift Certificates for these folks?  (Also at drive-in fast food lanes, although to be sure, traffic and the fact that the speakers are out in the weather all the time may contribute to this.  And foreign accents don't help.)

I have one caller who consistently gets cut off on my answering machine, so I know it's not just my aging ears.  I don't think it's a question of voice volume, I think it's a matter of a lack of forceful fricatives.

And I prefer e-mail to phone messages.  There was a time when I was on the phone almost the whole day.  I still have callouses on my right ear from that. :)

Terry, 230RN

[Brad Johnson]

I regard poor commincations etiquette as the height of unprofessiinalism. My big pet peeve is people who turn return-call requests into text or email events, that's if they return it at all. Millineals and young academes are the absolute worst, hiding behind text and IM for even the most critical of messages. I don't give a flying rat-fart what rational is given. If I say "could you please call me..." then have the decency, courtesy, and professionalism to respond in kind.

They also presume you will call them back from caller ID so they don't leave a message. That, or they leave a message containing no call-back number, so absolutely dependent they have become on caller ID.

To the OP...

Millcreek, check to see if your voicemail system has a vmail-to-email function. Some systems will convert the voicemail to an mp3 file and forward it to a designated address. If your system is VOIP it may have an integrated messaging function that will let you access your voicemails via app or single-icon login on your phone.

Brad

[BlueStarLizzard]

I hate voicemail too.

Actually, I just don't like talking on the phone at all, and for the most part it isn't efficient or practical. I have trouble hearing stuff on a phone, not due to bad hearing, I think it's the distortion, and I'm not good at numbers and names, so messages that involve me getting a name and number are a bitch, especially if they mumble or have an accent or something. I've had times were I have to listing to a message three or four times to get it all written down right. It's a crappy way to impart basic information that doesn't actually require conversations.

like today. my boss called me and needed me to call her back. it wasn't because she actually needed to have a discussion with me.
She couldn't find the can opener at work. That's a five minute conversation after two minutes to get the message.
Alternatively, a text would have been a lot faster on both ends (if Louise could text, which she really can't, nor do I expect her to learn)

If whatever it is needs to actually be discussed and worked out between two people, then a phone call is the way to go, but for crap like "where's the can opener?" and "can you pick up <blank> at the grocery store?", a text based message (phone texting or other) is just easier.

[KD5NRH]

like today. my boss called me and needed me to call her back. it wasn't because she actually needed to have a discussion with me.
She couldn't find the can opener at work. That's a five minute conversation after two minutes to get the message.
Alternatively, a text would have been a lot faster on both ends (if Louise could text, which she really can't, nor do I expect her to learn)

If whatever it is needs to actually be discussed and worked out between two people, then a phone call is the way to go, but for crap like "where's the can opener?" and "can you pick up <blank> at the grocery store?", a text based message (phone texting or other) is just easier.

This, and it's just so much easier when I'm driving or otherwise occupied to glance at the text notification and know immediately whether I need to stop and deal with it, or wait until I'm done.

[Hawkmoon]

Voice mail had always worked fine for me -- up until about a year ago. And I think the problem is the millennials. The article comments that millennials have to be taught how to work in an office environment. I can't tell you how many must have cut class the day the subject was "How to leave a voicemail message 101."

Too often, they rush through what they're saying, meaning I have to replay it several times to write down a couple of words with each rerun until I get the full message. And then they end with their phone number -- which is either babbled out so fast that it's incomprehensible, or (the latest trick) they're in such a rish that they let the voice fall off at the end, leaving me to try to figure out a phone number in the format ###-###-#___. I don't know if it would be considered common sense or common courtesy to speak the most important part of the message -- how to call back -- slowly and distinctly, and to repeat the number. Personally, I consider it both common sense and common courtesy.

[BlueStarLizzard]

This, and it's just so much easier when I'm driving or otherwise occupied to glance at the text notification and know immediately whether I need to stop and deal with it, or wait until I'm done.

....

OK, well, I disagree about checking while driving. I was going to point out that the only time text isn't optimal is if someone is driving, but then, I figured that was a given.

[lupinus]

I hate voice mail.

Half the messages I tend to come in to are rambling, unintelligible, no call back number, an issue already resolved, or some other manner of nonsensical mumballygook. Such things get erased.

[BlueStarLizzard]

I hate voice mail.

Half the messages I tend to come in to are rambling, unintelligible, no call back number, an issue already resolved, or some other manner of nonsensical mumballygook. Such things get erased.

and even the ones that are clearly spoken are often distorted and messed up because of the phone and signal strength. This happens A LOT where I work because people are traveling and call us for whatever reason and their cell phones don't have good reception where they are.

[Boomhauer]

When I have to leave VM, and I hate to have to leave it, because I know what a pain in the ass it is to check it, it is simply "This is <My Name>. Please call me at <My Number> when you get a chance. <My Number Again>, and the message is left with a steady, slower cadence that is easily understood but not too slow. Brief, to the point, and number repeated twice. I may add "in regards to "X" " just as a quick indicator about what I'm calling about, depending on who I'm calling and for what reason. I don't ramble on about the issue I want to discuss because it'll be easier to explain when I talk to them.

[charby]

No voicemail, no call back, simple as that.

How I roll at work and I got one person who doesn't leave a voice mail or send email. I see there number on caller ID and never answer the phone. They are one of those uber paranoid people who don't want to leave a trail anywhere.

[brimic]

Voice to text ftw. I rarely listen to voicemail, I simply read it.

[Brad Johnson]

Voice to text ftw. I rarely listen to voicemail, I simply read it.

Our speech to text converter was, shall we say, quite creative on most occasions.

Brad

[brimic]

Our speech to text converter was, shall we say, quite creative on most occasions.

Brad

Yes,  tjat happens,  and text doesn't have the 'feel' of a teal voice. ..but it can give you much of the needed info fast.

[KD5NRH]

OK, well, I disagree about checking while driving. I was going to point out that the only time text isn't optimal is if someone is driving, but then, I figured that was a given.

I'm not reading the message; the iPhone's notification will pop up with who it's from and the first few words.  That's almost always enough to see if it's an FYI or an emergency.

[Calumus]

Voice to text ftw. I rarely listen to voicemail, I simply read it.

That's why I use Google voice's voicemail instead of verizon's. You get an email transcription, plus you can download the message pretty much instantly. Though I have to say, the accuracy has gotten worse as time's gone on instead of better. There's also essentially no limit to the number of messages you can save. Unlike VZW's limit of 20.

[RoadKingLarry]

The announcement on my company voice states my work hours 2200-0600, and I tell callers that if they ask for a call back I will return their call during my work hours. I had a local manager get pissy with me when I called her at 2300. Didn't seem to matter even when I pointed out to her that she knew my hours and had asked me to call her back.

Corporate Email can be hit or miss with my crew. Sometimes I see no punctuation or capitalization. Other times the number of misspelled words amazes me, particularly since we use Outlook. And that's just from the manager side.

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

Hate voicemail on the work phone. Requires me to punch in a code that's probably expired by the time I get a VM, so it must be changed and noted. On my cell, not a problem... if I can make out what the caller is talking about.

[Boomhauer]

The announcement on my company voice states my work hours 2200-0600, and I tell callers that if they ask for a call back I will return their call during my work hours. I had a local manager get pissy with me when I called her at 2300. Didn't seem to matter even when I pointed out to her that she knew my hours and had asked me to call her back.

I have had two very annoying stuporvisors that thought it was appropriate to bother me all the time while I was off duty about stupid *expletive deleted*it that could wait till I got back.

I started charging 15 minutes of time for every phone call, they quickly got the message...

[roo_ster]

I hateses the voice mail, especially for work.  Send me email, I can get that and respond.

When I leave a VM, it is business: name, my phone, my email, quick message, my phone again, and outta there.

[RevDisk]

I have never had a problem with voicemail.  I religious checked it twice a decade. No joke, once every five years. I stated so in my voicemail greeting.  "Do not leave a voicemail. I will check it in 1-5 years." A supervisor hinted that I should fix my full voicemail box, so I did and deleted my voicemail. Not the entries, the voicemail attached to my cell.

I know voicemail to text is an opinion, but it is less elegant than simply not having voicemail.

[vaskidmark]

As my hearing goes farther down hill and some of the folks I converse with get more mush-mouthed (get those dentures refitted, would you!) I'm finding text conversations to be more and more enjoyable.  Not as enjoyable as sending a post card, or splurging on a telegram (which they no longer deliver - they call and leave a voice mail!!) but still enjoyable.

stay safe.

[RoadKingLarry]

I have had two very annoying stuporvisors that thought it was appropriate to bother me all the time while I was off duty about stupid *expletive deleted* it that could wait till I got back.

I started charging 15 minutes of time for every phone call, they quickly got the message...

My company cell phone gets locked in my desk every morning when I leave for the day. My supervisor occasionally tries to tell me I should carry it all the time, I ask him how much extra the company is willing to pay me to do that. One of the few benefits of a union shop, if we get called after work hours it's a minimum 2 hours overtime. Really cuts down on bullshit calls.