
I Hate Voicemail - pitdesi
http://thoughtcatalog.com/2011/i-hate-voicemail/
======
decode
I know some people like the author, people who never listen to their
voicemail. I call and leave them a message and they call me back without
listening to it. When they do this, they are communicating to me that their
time is more important than mine. I am often just conveying information and I
have to say it twice if they don't listen to the message. That's fine if it's
a salesman cold-calling you. If it's a friend or family member, that's
insulting.

There are a number of other reasons to use voicemail:

1) Everyone can speak faster than they can text. If you have a significant
amount of information to convey, texting sucks. Voicemail can be very
efficient.

2) Many people don't have unlimited texting plans and texting can get
expensive quickly.

3) Texting is dangerous and illegal while driving in many places, while
speaking and listening on the phone are often not illegal and definitely less
dangerous.

~~~
dlsspy
> 1) Everyone can speak faster than they can text. If you have a significant
> amount of information to convey, texting sucks. Voicemail can be very
> efficient.

Voicemail is potentially efficient for the sender at the cost of the
recipient's ability to understand what you're rambling.

My phone lets me SMS via voice. I can send a concise, planned message. The
recipient can receive something that uses his time most effectively.

> 2) Many people don't have unlimited texting plans and texting can get
> expensive quickly.

I turned mine off in favor of a data plan and use that for SMS.

> 3) Texting is dangerous and illegal while driving in many places, while
> speaking and listening on the phone are often not illegal and definitely
> less dangerous.

Speaking and listening to a phone while driving is dangerous and illegal
without digging out and hooking up a headset, while waiting until you stop is
not illegal and definitely less dangerous.

~~~
stevelosh
> Speaking and listening to a phone while driving is dangerous and illegal
> without digging out and hooking up a headset

It's still just as dangerous, even with the silly headsets. Multiple citations
in the first paragraph of the "Handsfree device" section here:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phones_and_driving_safet...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phones_and_driving_safety#Handsfree_device)

------
kovar
You lost me with the first line: "Leaving someone a voicemail message on
someone’s cell phone in 2011 is not only misguided, it’s selfish."

If you don't want to get voicemail, don't offer it as an option to your
callers.

I get really bent out of shape by people who expect that everyone trying to
reach them by <insert communication medium here> will follow their personal,
and unpublished, rules.

We all use <insert communication medium here> in different ways, and most of
the mediums are designed to be flexible, thus appealing to more users. Don't
attribute malice, or selfishness, to other users of the medium who are using
it in the way it was designed.

If you don't want people to leave a VM, say so. If you don't listen to your
VMs, say so. If you don't want people to leave a long VM, say so.

------
wewyor
Just as an alternative point of view: I probably won't call you back just
because of a missed call if you don't leave a voicemail as I'll think whatever
you were calling about wasn't important or if it was you will call back later.

I use Google Voice on my android phone and though it doesn't always update
right away it does mean I don't have to call a voicemail number and log in to
hear my messages I just press play.

------
jerrya
I don't listen to voicemail, but it is rude not to accept it just as it is
rude to leave long messages on voicemail.

The caller has already connected with you, for you to tell them to then hangup
and try again with a txt or email is pretty obnoxious and arrogant.

I don't listen to voicemail, because I have googlevoice.

------
darklajid
I agree fully. First of all 90% of my voicemail messages suck and follow this
universal script:

\- "Oh.. Erm.. It's XXX. I tried to reach you"

\- Babbling, most are not used to a one-sided talk and get lost

\- After listening the conversation could've been compressed to half a text
message.

Unfortunately the business phone I have is required to support a voicebox.
Worse: German carriers tend to abuse these things to milk their customers. The
cheaper the carrier, the more certain you can be to have a mandatory (no way
to turn it off. Calling your own box costs money..) mailbox that answers after
X rings, where X is usually small enough that I can reach my wife only on the
second try (before she pulls out the device the voicebox answers).

What a rant. I guess I have a deep sympathy for all people that hate this
voicebox thing..

------
Flemlord
I'm notorious for never returning voice mails for the exact reasons expressed
in this post. But two months ago I signed up for Google voice it largely fixed
the problem. The text recognition is bad, but I can usually figure out who
called me and that's all I need. The only outstanding issue is that my phone
(WP7) doesn't always update the Google Voice tile that lets me know I have new
messages. Not sure if that's an issue on other phones.

------
bconway
While I agree with the premise that voicemails that provide no additional
information are not useful, the author is an elitist jerk. That being said,
callers generally have no idea if you aren't answering because you're not near
your phone, or because your phone is off/without reception/on a plane, in
which case the call notification would never appear. Google Voice does a good
job of solving this by includes notifications for missed calls, but everyone
else has no way of knowing they missed a call.

------
pronoiac
I wonder if there's a way to deconfigure voicemail completely. Someone noticed
that on a friend's phone & sort of envied them having "one less inbox." [1]

[1] [http://a.wholelottanothing.org/2011/04/three-phone-tips-
for-...](http://a.wholelottanothing.org/2011/04/three-phone-tips-for-
antisocial-people-like-me-that-hate-phones.html)

------
lukejduncan
Personally, even if I get voicemails I tend not to listen to them - just
return the call. If my phone rings I find myself feeling a little stressed.
I'm usually in the middle of something that I don't want to be pulled away
from for more than a minute. Phone calls always imply they will last longer
than you want.

------
tomjen3
I don't hate voice mail - I hate people who use it without understanding how
to.

Half my messages are .... crackling .... dut dut dut

------
paul9290
I agree voicemail is pointless. Just send me a text message, email or Instant
message.

------
ChrisArchitect
while reading this I was afraid of what conclusion the author was going to
reach -- but a vm message that says 'txt or email me' is great -- amen!

~~~
pavel_lishin
That seems redundant.

If I get a voicemail that says, "text or email me" - isn't that basically
saying, "i was trying to get in touch with you, please reciprocate" - which is
already made implicit by the fact that you have a missed call because someone
was trying to get in touch with you?

At that point, don't even leave a voicemail. I never do - they'll see that
they missed a call and call me back, or I'll try again later - or I'll send
them a text or an email!

~~~
stevelosh
I'm pretty sure the OP is taking about having the RECEIVER'S message mention
texting/emailing, e.g.:

ring... ring... ring...

"Hi, this is Steve. I'm not here right now. If you could text or email me
instead of leaving a voicemail that would be much appreciated."

~~~
ChrisArchitect
yep really I find VM is just a 'medium' choice, and one that I don't prefer,
but maybe my callers would at the time. Sometimes it's just easier to ramble
on about something instead of typing. But VM is by no means instant, don't
expect a reply in any soonish timeframe. That's what IM/txt is for. Email and
VM might as well be the same...non-current issues.

------
the-kenny
In soviet russia, voicemail leaves messages for you.

