Voicemail is for dinosaurs?

[LYSE]

I use Google voice it does speech to text and then I can read the voice mail or play it back from the app/text.

Sure your friends and family might text if you don't pick up but the drs office or pharmacy or whatever business isn't going to do that beyond the automated texts some places use.

 

[yoopermom]

Once again, it's the DIS to the rescue, now DS isn't in the doghouse with DH anymore thanks to you all. DH (50 something) gets SO frustrated with DS (20 something) because he will NOT answer a call, has no voicemail set up, and DH is a very slow texter. DH was taking it personally, until I read him this thread, and realized that if he doesn't text, he isn't going to hear back from DS. (I do have to give DS's live in girlfriend props for manners, though, because if DH calls HER, she actually answers, then hands the phone off to DS).

It's an ever changing world....

Terri

 

[Southernmiss]

Once again, it's the DIS to the rescue, now DS isn't in the doghouse with DH anymore thanks to you all. DH (50 something) gets SO frustrated with DS (20 something) because he will NOT answer a call, has no voicemail set up, and DH is a very slow texter. DH was taking it personally, until I read him this thread, and realized that if he doesn't text, he isn't going to hear back from DS. (I do have to give DS's live in girlfriend props for manners, though, because if DH calls HER, she actually answers, then hands the phone off to DS).

It's an ever changing world....

Terri

Boys. Mine hate the phone. They will text me. Though there are times dh has had to send a stern 'Text your mother, now!' on a few occasions

 

[NotUrsula]

I'm hard of hearing, so I really dislike voice messages; somehow they always end up rambling a lot and confusing me. Normally, my business voicemail message identifies me and asks you to send me an email. I will use voicemail (and a volume enhancer) if I am in the midst of a job hunt, but otherwise I really try to discourage people from using it.

If I have a complicated message to leave for someone, I send it via email, then send a text to tell them to check their email; a lot of folks don't check their personal email daily.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I have voicemail set up, but I screen calls so if it's a number I don't recognize and you didn't leave a voicemail I'm a lot less likely to investigate and call back.

It's interesting discussing age in relation to this as my mother-in-law in her 60s actually has her voicemail set up as "I do not check voicemail" lol.

 

[lifesavacation]

Once again, it's the DIS to the rescue, now DS isn't in the doghouse with DH anymore thanks to you all. DH (50 something) gets SO frustrated with DS (20 something) because he will NOT answer a call, has no voicemail set up, and DH is a very slow texter. DH was taking it personally, until I read him this thread, and realized that if he doesn't text, he isn't going to hear back from DS. (I do have to give DS's live in girlfriend props for manners, though, because if DH calls HER, she actually answers, then hands the phone off to DS).

It's an ever changing world....

Terri

My DH does not answer his phone. It drives me NUTS when his dad calls me to speak to him. Text him or leave a voicemail, but stop treating me like I'm his secretary.

 

[robinb]

Once again, it's the DIS to the rescue, now DS isn't in the doghouse with DH anymore thanks to you all. DH (50 something) gets SO frustrated with DS (20 something) because he will NOT answer a call, has no voicemail set up, and DH is a very slow texter. DH was taking it personally, until I read him this thread, and realized that if he doesn't text, he isn't going to hear back from DS. (I do have to give DS's live in girlfriend props for manners, though, because if DH calls HER, she actually answers, then hands the phone off to DS).

It's an ever changing world....

Terri

As the OP, the responses made me feel a LOT better about my DD refusing to set up VM!

 

[jiminyC_fan]

I never knew it was a thing not to set up voice mail and to blow off people. Kinda sad state of affair. Maybe I am just misunderstanding. I can only think about something bad happening and someone refusing to pick up, get a text or hear a voicemail. I guess emergencies aren't an issue for some.......until it happens to them.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I never knew it was a thing not to set up voice mail and to blow off people. Kinda sad state of affair. Maybe I am just misunderstanding. I can only think about something bad happening and someone refusing to pick up, get a text or hear a voicemail. I guess emergencies aren't an issue for some.......until it happens to them.

I think you're reading a lot more into people's comments (the whole sad state of affair bit).

In anycase between the robo calls, the spoofing calls, the spam calls, the calls from the alumni association I hardly ever get any actual phone calls from normal everyday people NOT wanting my $$$$ or personal information for the purpose of stealing it.

 

[Southernmiss]

I think you're reading a lot more into people's comments (the whole sad state of affair bit).

In anycase between the robo calls, the spoofing calls, the spam calls, the calls from the alumni association I hardly ever get any actual phone calls from normal everyday people NOT wanting my $$$$ or personal information for the purpose of stealing it.

Exactly this. I get at least 2 or 3 phone calls daily on my cell phone, and I have a Spam blocking app. Calls still get through. Because of spoofing, I have blocked a lot of calls in my area with my same prefix. Sorry for anyone who needs me with a similar number to mine. The app does say I screen calls, please text me. I've never had any blocked numbers text me to say 'Hey, it's Jane call me.'

I can't tell you the last time the call was a legit call from someone I knew or had real business with.

 

[LSUmiss]

Personally I think the “smart” phone is the tool of the devil. Yeah I have one but I don’t particularly care for it. Texting is the modern day equivalent of the telegraph to me, IMO. I get the whole convenience aspect, but it seems like an excuse not to actually talk to someone. As a rule I don’t text, by the time you text what you want and factor in the confusion/misinterpretation factor it’s faster to call. As far as voicemail is concerned I have one. If I don’t recognize the # I let it go to voicemail, this enables me to screen the junk out.

I disagree about texting. I “talk” to my DH & person who watches my DS multiple times a day while at work. It would be ridiculous to call every time.

 

[tvguy]

At work, I'm baffled why the managers don't enforce people setting up their voicemail simply because early this year they spent a lot of money .....out of their budget.....to UPGRADE our voice mail.
Of course, at my previous employer, 15 years ago, they discovered buying everyone a $10 answering machine was cheaper that getting voice mail!

 

[RangerPooh]

I don;t care for voicemail, and will generally read the VM text before listening to it. My friends/family rarely leave VM, everyone texts. I'd much rather text someone the info instead of calling and leaving a message. I've noticed that my VM doesn't always cooperate and play for me anyways, or show that I have a message so it's a waste to use. Unless it was when I was job searching, then it was useful. At work I often forget to check my VM for days as it's not something that I think about. Send me an email instead.

 

[mrodgers]

If you're not in my contacts or I don't recognize your number, I don't answer the phone. If I'm expecting a call and don't know the number, I'll answer the time I'm expecting the call. I don't have a clue how to even set up voicemail.

I had a prepaid phone for years. It cost me money for me to get my voice mail. We only used cell phones for the immediate family so never used voice mail. I went with a plan finally last year. Only person who calls me is my mother and it's a dreadful moment seeing her number come up as I know I've got 2 hours of getting nothing accomplished other than having to listen to all the ailments of a bunch of old people I don't know.

 

[clutter]

First sentence 2nd quote. 'Many more people...' I believe many can look at a cell phone for a quick moment.

If you can look at your phone, you can see that the call was from your school.


I do agree schools and parents need to agree on a good means of communication for the best interest of the child.


And there is new technology that could be easy to use, cost effective, and beneficial. Just saying "this is the way that has been used for XX years" is not a good answer.

In a school district of almost 200 schools serving almost 200,000 pupils serving who knows how many different languages, it's not a matter of parents and schools coming to an agreement. Its also not cost effective or easy to implement new systems. So unfortunately, the schools do have to say "this is they way that has been used for XX years, and until we implement a new system that we know will work for everyone of our 200,000 students, this is what we will continue to use. Parents need to know our methods and figure out how to make it work for them." With the number of students, giving each a specific parent-preferred-method of a communication is inefficient.

And if the caller id does not identify the phone call as "So and So School" I won't answer the call at all. It will go to voicemail where I may or may not choose to listen to it.

Seeing as your kids are in a school for multiple years, I would think that 1) you would have it in your contacts, or 2) you would recognize the number.

A text would be easy-and the Remind texts (just got one) identify the teacher and class. If I received a text of "This is Mrs. Smith at So and So School. We need you to call please, as soon as you can." I guarantee a parent would be on that pretty quickly.

I would be all over a missed call from the number (123) 456-xxxx because it was close to the number of my school.

Our district recently hired a well respected TV reporter as their PR director. She has implemented many improvements in communication district wide. Our district has an app, a Facebook and a Twitter. Push messages about school closures and important info for the district is sent out across all means to reach the maximum number of families. All of the schools have Facebook and a messaging service that is used by administrators for school wide announcements. It is important for districts and schools to modernize their communication methods.

Yep, all the schools in our district, as well as the district overall have all of the above. They are great to send out mass communications - snow days, etc.

Look, I text a lot, use my cell phone pretty exclusively. Not professionally - that's mostly email and phone/voicemail because that is the nature of my business and what I do so my company doesn't provide one - but its usually with me. And yes, it did start when my dd was in school because I gave them that number to call for emergencies.

Yes, I'm a dinosaur (I tried to use CASH to buy a cup of coffee today - you would have thought I was trying to rob the place!) but that makes me more flexible, not less. I have learned that I have to be the one to accommodate differing generations, cultures (I live in an area that is extremely multicultural) and economic statuses. Not everyone has an iPad. Not everyone used their cell phone to the best capacity. With 200,000 student, I really don't want my tax dollars to focus on making sure each parent is communicated with based on THEIR preference. Many of my neighbors work in our neighborhood elementary school, and they have enough to worry about without that.

I have friends and relatives that use all sorts of communication methods. If I don't like their preferred method, I either choose to use it, or choose to not communicate with them. Likewise, they would have the same choice for me, if I had only one way I would accept outside communication. If someone is important to me, I let their communication preference take preference over mine. My child at school is important, so I figure out how to make what they have available work. If I hated VM (and I really don't use) I'd set it up on whatever number I give my school for emergency contact. In a situation where I knew that I couldn't answer a call but could get a text, it's pretty easy to ask the next person on your contact list to take the call and text me. Or if #2 was a parent, then maybe they should be moved to #1 and take the responsibility of texting you.

 

[SteveH]

This is a big pet peeve of mine. What drives me crazy is that we bill people for services and often they don't pay their bill. We email another invoice, then send a personal email then we try to call. I'd say 75% of the voicemails are either full or not setup. Then they get pissed when we cease service and ask why we never contacted them? Give me a freaking break. We can't email, call, text Facebook, Twitter, etc. Answer your damn phone like an adult. But they pay fast when they find the service discontinued, of course then they try to give a zillion bad excuses why they haven't paid on time for 3 months. /rant_off

 

[Southernmiss]

Look, I text a lot, use my cell phone pretty exclusively. Not professionally - that's mostly email and phone/voicemail because that is the nature of my business and what I do so my company doesn't provide one - but its usually with me. And yes, it did start when my dd was in school because I gave them that number to call for emergencies.

Yes, I'm a dinosaur (I tried to use CASH to buy a cup of coffee today - you would have thought I was trying to rob the place!) but that makes me more flexible, not less. I have learned that I have to be the one to accommodate differing generations, cultures (I live in an area that is extremely multicultural) and economic statuses. Not everyone has an iPad. Not everyone used their cell phone to the best capacity. With 200,000 student, I really don't want my tax dollars to focus on making sure each parent is communicated with based on THEIR preference. Many of my neighbors work in our neighborhood elementary school, and they have enough to worry about without that.

I have friends and relatives that use all sorts of communication methods. If I don't like their preferred method, I either choose to use it, or choose to not communicate with them. Likewise, they would have the same choice for me, if I had only one way I would accept outside communication. If someone is important to me, I let their communication preference take preference over mine. My child at school is important, so I figure out how to make what they have available work. If I hated VM (and I really don't use) I'd set it up on whatever number I give my school for emergency contact. In a situation where I knew that I couldn't answer a call but could get a text, it's pretty easy to ask the next person on your contact list to take the call and text me. Or if #2 was a parent, then maybe they should be moved to #1 and take the responsibility of texting you.

And all I was saying is that there is technology that will contact parents based on the parent's method of communication for free or very low cost regardless of the size of the district without extra work for the secretary/staff. It can even save time and money for folks searching for the next # on the call list and for the district. If the technology is available, it should be used.

Our district is about 16,000 students. High school my kids attended was 1600. So I get that staff and offices can be busy and $ can be tight.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Answer your damn phone like an adult. But they pay fast when they find the service discontinued, of course then they try to give a zillion bad excuses why they haven't paid on time for 3 months. /rant_off

I feel like that would be the case regardless. How many people really want to get phone calls from bill collectors? lol.

 

[arminnie]

I only have a cell phone. I do not not answer any calls from numbers that are not in my contacts. If an unknown number leaves a message that is longer than 1-2 seconds I will check to see if it is someone I need to call back. Otherwise I ignore. I rarely listen to VMs from people that I know - I just call them back.

My 92 year old BFF doesn't have VM set up on her phone. She just sees if someone she knows has called and will call them back.

 

[SteveH]

Both my boys know that while I'm happy to text, there are time a phone call makes a difference. They know when I reply "call me" that means the text conversation is over. I've tried to teach them both that having 99,999 unread emails is not a badge of honor.

I feel like that would be the case regardless. How many people really want to get phone calls from bill collectors? lol.

True but the other choice is that when we pull the service they go into a tailspin. The response that gets me is "you need to text" me... my reply is "you need to pay your bill on time!"