Voicemail is for dinosaurs?

[Southernmiss]

I'm kind of amazed/appalled that people expect schools to spend the time and money to revamp their entire communication system when people still have the ability to get phone calls and emails. Text is just one way of communicating - the other ways haven't disappeared. And why on earth does a frustration that parents want texts and that's not something we can do from our system turn into "a kid is in the back of the ambulance and no one would send a text from their own phone." Really?

Along with refusing to listen to voice mails I'm always surprised by the number of people who won't read emails.

A poster below you nailed the answer.

There are times when people working can not take an actual phone call in the middle of the work day on their phone, but can look at a quick text to see if it requires immediate action.

Happens to me often.

And it's not revamping an entire system, it's adapting to modern technology like the advent of fax machines, computers, mobile phones, etc.

These systems have a nominal fee to get better results.

I'm one of the 'older' parents at my daughter's school. The younger ones have already adapted to newer means of communication.
If schools want parents involved, they have to reach their parents the way parents prefer.

 

[Southernmiss]

This Dinosaur, here, is asking (and nooooooo snickering behind my back guys!!) is voicemail the same as what is on my answering machine via landline??

Yes, very similar. But on mobile phones.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

A poster below you nailed the answer.

There are times when people working can not take an actual phone call in the middle of the work day on their phone, but can look at a quick text to see if it requires immediate action.

Happens to me often.

And it's not revamping an entire system, it's adapting to modern technology like the advent of fax machines, computers, mobile phones, etc.

These systems have a nominal fee to get better results.

I'm one of the 'older' parents at my daughter's school. The younger ones have already adapted to newer means of communication.
If schools want parents involved, they have to reach their parents the way parents prefer.

What irritates me is the fact the calls from school are accompanied by an e-mail. But, it’s an AUDIO e-mail, no written text.

It’s a little irritating also that EVERY message comes the same way regardless of urgency.

 

[wdwfan51]

I have voicemail set up but the only people who leave messages are Doctor’s offices. Most just leave a text saying call when you get a chance. My only thought on the subject is it sounds like you are providing the cellphone service for your 19 year old and she won’t set up the voicemail after you have asked her to. Maybe she should be paying her phone bill then. It really is no bother to set it up, most people won’t bother to leave her voicemails; so why not do what you ask.

 

[barkley]

i like voicemail. i don't text. my cell phone is only a means of communication when i'm away from my home so 99% of the time it's turned off and someone calling it will get my voicemail saying that if they need to reach me call my home number (i don't say what my home number is-if they don't already have it then it's not anyone with anything important to reach me about). i still have a landline in my home (yeah-REAL DINOSAUR HERE) b/c we get spotty cell service esp. when the weather is bad. the bulk of my friends and neighbors communicate via their cells and texts yet it's our home that gets the knocks on the door when the power goes out in bad weather and someone needs to contact the utility company (cuz they don't take text reports of outages even if cells are working).

it's fine if other people prefer texting but if they work for a bushiness where the customer calling in is transferred to them via a phone system manually by a live person or through an automated system then if they are not immediately answering that call and the system has voicemail then that voicemail needs to be up to date in it's greeting, routinely monitored and calls dealt with. when i encounter a voice mail greeting that states 'today is x, i won't be back into the office until y please leave a message and i will return your call ....' and y was 2 weeks ago it tells me that the business is not reliable, responsible or one that i need to contract with.

I'm one of the 'older' parents at my daughter's school. The younger ones have already adapted to newer means of communication.
If schools want parents involved, they have to reach their parents the way parents prefer.

for me it's not what the parents prefer it's what works the most effectively for the school to disseminate vital information.

What irritates me is the fact the calls from school are accompanied by an e-mail. But, it’s an AUDIO e-mail, no written text.

It’s a little irritating also that EVERY message comes the same way regardless of urgency.

our district communicates routine information via email. some individual teachers may text but if it's an official school communication it will come to whatever email(s) the parent's have provided the school with. EMERGENT information is done via the honeywell instant alert system which sends the identical message via voice, text and email to again-everything the parents have provided the school with. when our kids were still attending we knew immediately if a late evening or early morning call was a snow delay or closure b/c every phone in the house would ring at the same time, dh's text alert would start sounding and all our emails showed a new message. i will say that the district was VERY prudent in using the system b/c they wanted parents to know that if something came through on it to pay immediate attention.

 

[MillauFr]

This is a HUGE problem at my work. Everyone has their own desk phone with voicemail.

I don't even know why they bother having desk phones at our office. I unhooked mine and put it in my file cabinet. I just forwarded the phone number to my cell phone. You can't text the desk phones either.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

I don't even have my work voicemail set up. Anyone that wants to get ahold of me, knows to email, skype, or IM. I rarely even answer my phone since we can do skype calls right from our laptops - we don't even do conference call-ins anymore...it's all on Skype or Zoom.

If some oldie-but-goodie leaves me a voicemail on my work #, it pops up as an email and I can listen to it on my laptop. Then I email them back. I want *EVERYTHING* said and done, documented. Can't prove anything from a telephone conversation!

I listen to my personal VM about once a month.

 

[gotomu212]

I'm kind of amazed/appalled that people expect schools to spend the time and money to revamp their entire communication system when people still have the ability to get phone calls and emails. Text is just one way of communicating - the other ways haven't disappeared. And why on earth does a frustration that parents want texts and that's not something we can do from our system turn into "a kid is in the back of the ambulance and no one would send a text from their own phone." Really?

Along with refusing to listen to voice mails I'm always surprised by the number of people who won't read emails.

If sending a text rather than calling completely revamps your communication system you must be using a system that’s 20+ years old. It’s as simple as an app on an ipad. If a school isn’t up on that really basic technology I’m a little concerned how they are preparing our kids for the workplace of 2020.

Oh and the example of the ambulance someone used..directly from the post that started this conversation on schools reaching parents example of kids with broken arms and not reaching a parents vm (which weirdly wouldn’t fix the problem either).

 

[amcnj]

I have several relatives without cell phones or computers, so the phone is still their primary way to reach out, and they do leave voicemails if no one answers.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

I work in a doctors office and I have actually found it is the senior citizens who tend not to have voicemail set up (or if they do they don’t know how to access it). If they still have a landline they can check the answering machine but voicemail seems to confuse them too much.

The younger generation has the voicemail set up and they know how to access it but it never fails they call back 30 seconds after I have finished leaving them a message saying they missed a call from me. I then have to repeat the whole message again because they didn’t wait a few seconds and listen to their voicemail before calling back. Or their voicemail is full because they don’t bother deleting their messages after they have been taken care of.

Needless to say I end up playing phone tag with a lot of people until I give up and send them a letter in the mail.

 

[dotfurio]

I don't use my voicemail at home or at work. Best way to reach me is text or email.

 

[tvguy]

Although I understand your viewpoint since your tv station has he most bizarre communication practices I have ever heard and seem so completely different from my friends who work in our local news.

Not sure it is business practices, as much as it is the practices of individuals working there. The corporate just spent a lot of money updating the phone system and the voicemail system. Certainly some of the local managers could consider enforcing the use of what is being provided.

 

[disykat]

There are times when people working can not take an actual phone call in the middle of the work day on their phone, but can look at a quick text to see if it requires immediate action.

.

And many more people do not access their cell phones during working hours. As a teacher, I did not. My husband is an engineer in a secure environment and can't even have his cell phone in his office. Both of us were to be contacted from a main office if a call came in that there was an emergency with our kids. It was much more foolproof than if we happened to be able to look at our phones. We didn't get messages left on our cell phones until after work, so it wasn't our first contact number. Anyone who uses their cell as their first contact would most certainly check to see why the school called, wouldn't they?

Obviously, the more methods of contact the better, but I think you have to look at costs/effectiveness, etc. as to whether the system changes are warranted yet.

When a school secretary is calling a parent for an emergency, I'm pretty sure most parents would WANT to talk to an actual person and not just receive a text. I can see the bad press now if a school just texted a parent their child was injured!

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

I hate VM ... I don't want to spend the time it takes to get into it, navigate the menu, play the message, repeat the message to get the number written down. Just send me a text or an email.

 

[gotomu212]

Not sure it is business practices, as much as it is the practices of individuals working there. The corporate just spent a lot of money updating the phone system and the voicemail system. Certainly some of the local managers could consider enforcing the use of what is being provided.

It’s just that everyone I know that works in news here is issued company cell phones. They are working remotely (and after hours) and they use their cells for everything- including writing and reading scripts and filing stories, calling back to the studio teams. They all tweet out their story teasers and use a secure app for tips. Having a phone system where callers use extensions seems so antiquated for users who are popping in and out of different studios and workrooms and working remotely. It especially seems weird that you don’t have a receptionist but then you’re having to answer the calls and patch them through (isn’t that the same thing as a receptionist?)
Your description always remind me of the studio I worked in during a college internship-and that was a smallish college town almost 20 years ago.

 

[Southernmiss]

And many more people do not access their cell phones during working hours. As a teacher, I did not. My husband is an engineer in a secure environment and can't even have his cell phone in his office. Both of us were to be contacted from a main office if a call came in that there was an emergency with our kids. It was much more foolproof than if we happened to be able to look at our phones. We didn't get messages left on our cell phones until after work, so it wasn't our first contact number. Anyone who uses their cell as their first contact would most certainly check to see why the school called, wouldn't they?

Obviously, the more methods of contact the better, but I think you have to look at costs/effectiveness, etc. as to whether the system changes are warranted yet.

When a school secretary is calling a parent for an emergency, I'm pretty sure most parents would WANT to talk to an actual person and not just receive a text. I can see the bad press now if a school just texted a parent their child was injured!

I disagree that most can easily be reached on an office phone during school hours. That worked for your family, but is different for mine.

Again, these apps are often free or very inexpensive to the school. And the family chooses best method of contact for THEM...text, phone call or email. The system automatically uses that method, without the secretary deciding what method to use. How can that be a bad thing for the school?

I'm the only one in my office. If I can't get to the office phone, I miss the call. If I know I'll be away from my desk for a period of time, I bring my cell.

Dh is often out of the office for work. His cell is his best contact #.

If the school can't get me via phone a text (if I'm in a meeting) would alert me to the urgency of the call. I could excuse myself and make that call back. Same for dh.

 

[tvguy]

It’s just that everyone I know that works in news here is issued company cell phones. They are working remotely (and after hours) and they use their cells for everything- including writing and reading scripts and filing stories, calling back to the studio teams. They all tweet out their story teasers and use a secure app for tips. Having a phone system where callers use extensions seems so antiquated for users who are popping in and out of different studios and workrooms and working remotely. It especially seems weird that you don’t have a receptionist but then you’re having to answer the calls and patch them through (isn’t that the same thing as a receptionist?)
Your description always remind me of the studio I worked in during a college internship-and that was a smallish college town almost 20 years ago.

LOL. Reporters and photographers and managers are the only ones with company cell phones. I had to put a phone list together a few months back We have 80 employees, 36 do not have a company cell phone. 10 of the 36 are digital reporters who rarely leave the building, they do most of their news gathering over the internet, e-mail or the phone. Most of our reporters and photographers these days come back to the station to edit. Those that do work remotely use their cell phone as the hot spot to feed their story in, and because of that we do not call them 30 minutes before a newscast because most forget to turn off call waiting, and that disrupts their feed and have to start over.
The station has a receptionist, and SHE is the one screaming loudest about people not setting up their voicemail. We do not have a secretary of receptionist in the news department. All she can do is transfer the call to the Assignment Desk.

I will say this is NOT unique to my company, my wife works at another station and they have the same issue. But what burns me up is how many Public and Private Public Information Officers that have not set up their voice mail on their landline or cell phone. They just expect you to keep calling until you catch them when they can or will answer your call.

 

[ronandannette]

I'm kind of amazed/appalled that people expect schools to spend the time and money to revamp their entire communication system when people still have the ability to get phone calls and emails. Text is just one way of communicating - the other ways haven't disappeared. And why on earth does a frustration that parents want texts and that's not something we can do from our system turn into "a kid is in the back of the ambulance and no one would send a text from their own phone." Really?

Along with refusing to listen to voice mails I'm always surprised by the number of people who won't read emails.

The teacher/school admin person I was referring to mentioned the situation as being unable to reach parents with an injured child and said there had been 3 broken arms since school started this term. (S)he also said the only way to text the parents, who weren't answering their phones would be to use his/her own personal cell phone and (s)he refused to do so. Just generalizing off these comments, not specifically aimed at that poster, but I stand by my opinion that if the situation was dire enough, somebody in a school should text the parents if that's what it takes.

 

[descovy]

I find myself leaving a voice mail when I have to make a call while driving. Rather than text, I can leave a voicemail. Hands free and all that...

 

[disykat]

I disagree that most can easily be reached on an office phone during school hours. That worked for your family, but is different for mine.

Interesting because I never said that. ???

I did disagree that most people can get texts at work (that is what you had said) and then explained the way I got messages. Obviously each family is different - which was my point in telling you that neither my husband or I could get texts at work.