Just a few minutes ago someone called the desk at the library I work in. The conversation goes…
ME-_____ Library
Them-Is Tom(one of the trio of bosses, not his real name) There?
Me-Yes I can transfer you to his phone, one moment.
I make the transfer and hear the boss’ phone start ringing, then kept ringing. I didn’t realize he had stepped out of his office. The phone stopped ringing and I assumed that the caller would leave a voicemail.
A few minutes later my phone at the desk rings
Me-_____ Library
Them-Tom’s phone rang but all I got was his voicemail.
Me-I’m sorry about that I didn’t realize he had stepped out.
Them-Well, how am I supposed to get a hold of him?
I ended up taking writing the message down as to avoid further contact with the caller.
It’s voicemail, you know like an answering machine. If someone is away from their phone, and you get voicemail, Leave A Fucking Message!!!
This is not the first call of this nature I have recieved either. I seem to work in the library with the lowest patron IQ in the world.
I normally refrain from doing this, but since you work in a library…I before E, except after C.
And I agree with your rant - I love caller ID and voicemail. I live for the day when receptionist jobs are completely obsolete, and I don’t have to worry about getting phone answering duties foisted on me when I’m trying to get an admin job.
At my last job, (inside sales), we were told to have an outgoing voicemail message that went something like this “I’m sorry, I’m either on the phone or away from my desk. Please leave a message. If you wish to have me paged, dial zero and the operator with page me.”
I went on a tirade to my boss. It was a deskjob, talking to a small set of customers, over and over. If I wasn’t answering my phone, I was on the phone or away from my desk.
If I was on my phone, I really didn’t want to be paged. It would interupt the call I was already on. (I hate being put on hold while someone answers another call. Why is that call more important then mine?)
If I was away from my desk, I was probably 1) in the bathroom, 2) Scrounging in the warehouse, trying to get someone’s hot shipment to go out NOW 3) talking to the engineer, trying to get a new part designed. In none of these cases, was I going to go rushing back to my phone or 4) at lunch.
So I sorry, but I can’t answer the phone, please leave me a message. DUH!!!
Some people trust written messages more than voice mail. Occasionally, there’s a reason. Where I work, the only signal that I have voice mail is a beep beep when I try to make a call. And there’s a lag between the message being left and the message registering. So even if I religiously check after each phone call and each trip from my desk, I can still miss calls for half a day or more.
I’d really like a button that lights up. As it is, when I’m leaving a message on our system, I’ll often leave a voice mail saying that I’ll email, too, then send an email saying I’ve left voice mail. Some people get one quicker and others get the other quicker. Two bases covered.
As far as I’m concerned, calling back isn’t a dumb move. Not everyone is prompt about returning voice mail. If I know that I’m leaving a message for someone who’s pretty good about returning calls, that’s all well and good. But if I’m calling someone unknown, I don’t know if they’re someone who will return my call in an hour or two days from now. Maybe your boss was just in the restroom or getting a cup of coffee and is back at his/her desk. Maybe the message had some time urgency.
I don’t mind leaving voice mail if I don’t need a response urgently, but if it was something for which the person needed an answer soon, I can certainly understand calling again.