# Not listening to voice mail even when you don't recognize the number **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 12, 2015, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-listening-to-voice-mail-even-when-you-dont-recognize-the-number/730801 "2015-09-12T13:51:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2017, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-listening-to-voice-mail-even-when-you-dont-recognize-the-number/730801/61 "2017-08-26T14:13:11Z")
I’m with **ThelmaLou** and honestly do not understand the problems such as described by **igor frankensteen**. Serious question, since I mostly reside outside the US and don’t have VM (but spent the last 3 months in America, where VM was my friend): is VM that unwieldy/technologically inadequate in certain regions? For me, it works like this: my cell phone tells me, via a note on the screen, if I have new VM. I punch in the VM number from my contacts list and listen - it is possible to delete a message within seconds if I hear a junk message. The entire exercise takes about 20 seconds, unless I want to listen to the VM, in which case I’m obviously interested in it and it is worth my time. I wonder if there are ANY life circumstances that could convince some of the adamant I-would-not-ever-listen-to-a-VM-from-an-unrecognized-number types to changes their minds. Here is the situation I just experienced: the culture of the Big Island (Hawaii) is not at all oriented toward written communication via either e-mail or SMS. Personally, I dislike talking on the phone and prefer e-mail and text, but I don’t get to tell the locals how to do stuff. As someone who is just starting to build a life there, in a house that needs tons of work, I need to deal with a lot of people who start out not on my contact list: our property manager was on vacation so I got calls from people subbing for her. An electrician and a plumber, originally contacted by the property manager, called me to arrange times to come do electrical and plumbing work. A painter called to ask when he could come view the property and give us an estimate. The landscape architect serves as a contractor and has surveyors, tree-cutters, and civil engineers contact us. Of course, I immediately put all these folks into my contacts list. But the first time they call, they aren’t already entered. And since I didn’t contact them first, the property manager or the landscape guy did, I don’t know who they are. (Heck, even if I were to call Bob’s Plumbing first, I’d still be getting calls from the cell phone of one of Bob’s employees, using a number I hadn’t already called.) Is there anyone in this thread who would actually refuse to start listening (you can always delete immediately if it’s junk) to VM from unknown numbers under circumstances such as what I described? If so, how on earth would you ever get anything done? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2017, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-listening-to-voice-mail-even-when-you-dont-recognize-the-number/730801/62 "2017-08-26T14:23:53Z")
I don’t _listen_ to voicemails… because my phone transcribes them and sends me a text. I’m a visual person, easily distracted, and much prefer to read than listen. More context, and I can much more easily scan back or forward visually, than aurally, in the message if I need to. If the transcription is garbled, _then_ I’ll listen to the voicemail. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2017, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-listening-to-voice-mail-even-when-you-dont-recognize-the-number/730801/63 "2017-08-26T14:25:05Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > For me, it is the _exact_ opposite. Looking at me phone right now, I’ve gotten texts from 4 people so far today. My last incoming call was Thursday. I use an answering service for fielding work emergencies. I get a text from the service with the message details and a number to call. The caller is alerted by the service that I’ll be calling from a phone with caller ID blocked, and that it’s their responsibility to insure that their phone will accept my call. > > ETA: Apple is working toward having all voicemail transcribed into text messages, according to a tech podcast I listen to. My lovely iPhone 6 transcribes voicemails. It is wonderful. I can just read the voicemail. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2017, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-listening-to-voice-mail-even-when-you-dont-recognize-the-number/730801/64 "2017-08-26T15:42:12Z")
> [@rocking\_chair](#): > > My lovely iPhone 6 transcribes voicemails. It is wonderful. I can just read the voicemail. Yep, I now have a 6s and the voice to text voicemail transcription is great, even if Apple says it’s still in Beta. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2017, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-listening-to-voice-mail-even-when-you-dont-recognize-the-number/730801/65 "2017-08-26T16:00:09Z")
Two years old or not, I agree with the OP. I rarely answer my phone if I don’t recognize the number, so if you don’t leave a message you are SOL as far as contacting me goes. I’m not calling you back. As for text vs voicemail, I’m OK with either. Texting can be bit easier to deal with and is good when trying to relay specific information (let’s meet at Downtown Bar at 7:30 tonight). ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2017, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-listening-to-voice-mail-even-when-you-dont-recognize-the-number/730801/66 "2017-08-26T18:37:34Z")
> [@rocking\_chair](#): > > My lovely iPhone 6 transcribes voicemails. It is wonderful. I can just read the voicemail. Wow, lucky you! I’d love that feature. This thread isn’t specifically about \*listening \*to voicemails, but about whether you attempt to find out by some means what a voicemail is about when it immediately follows a number that is unfamiliar and is not in your contacts list. It’s along the same lines of another thread I had once upon a time asking whether you ever look in your spam folder. A surprising number of people never do and routinely delete all of the contents of their spam folders without looking. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2017, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-listening-to-voice-mail-even-when-you-dont-recognize-the-number/730801/67 "2017-08-26T18:52:21Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I think I’m one of the 3 people left in the world who doesn’t use a smart phone… I have a fellow teacher who doesn’t do smart phones OR his office phone OR emails! This guy is such a Luddite that his message on his work phone says “I’m not answering this phone, and I’m not checking the messages. I also won’t check emails, so if you want to get in touch with me, look for me in my classroom and talk to me in person.” He’s my hero… ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2017, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-listening-to-voice-mail-even-when-you-dont-recognize-the-number/730801/68 "2017-08-26T21:49:10Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > As for me, i far prefer texts for important stuff. If I’m in a meeting, I don’t answer a phone call, unless it’s Mrs Piper or the Cub’s school. Anybody else goes to voice-mail until I’m out of the meeting. > > But if someone texts, I can discreetly look at it without disturbing anyone else. If the text is important news, I’ll leave the meeting and start making calls. I’m guessing everyone is aware of this and OK with it? I wouldn’t bring a phone into a meeting unless there was an emergency brewing, and I would explain to everyone that I might need to step out. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2017, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-listening-to-voice-mail-even-when-you-dont-recognize-the-number/730801/69 "2017-08-26T23:09:44Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I have a fellow teacher who doesn’t do smart phones OR his office phone OR emails! > > This guy is such a Luddite that his message on his work phone says “I’m not answering this phone, and I’m not checking the messages. I also won’t check emails, so if you want to get in touch with me, look for me in my classroom and talk to me in person.” > He’s my hero… So… I guess he never has to worry about the Long Distance Phone Call from the Neighbor (that I got three times in one year), “EMS just took your mom to the hospital-- I’m not sure which one.” Good for him. He’s someone I’d want to be out of touch with, too. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2017, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-listening-to-voice-mail-even-when-you-dont-recognize-the-number/730801/70 "2017-08-26T23:44:02Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I’m guessing everyone is aware of this and OK with it? I wouldn’t bring a phone into a meeting unless there was an emergency brewing, and I would explain to everyone that I might need to step out. Emergencies can “brew” faster than instant coffee, and do it entirely behind your back. Maybe I’m just a nervous type, but I have aging parents and a three-and-a-half-year-old niece. > [@doreen](#): > > I think that depends to some extent on what kind of “important” you’re talking about. > I prefer texts for a lot of things, but not for the sort of things that are going to require a lot of back and forth or even just a lot of information. My husband is supposed to meet me somewhere and he’s going to be late- text. My sister wants to let me know that they’ve just called an ambulance for my mother- phone call. If I don’t answer, she might text me to call her immediately, but she wouldn’t text the information. Police or hospital are trying to contact me because my husband was in a accident- they aren’t going to text, and I really wouldn’t want them to. I do understand this, but for some things, the more important of an emergency of that type it is, the more I’d want a text. Medical emergencies, for example, I want names of conditions and I don’t want to mishear them. Emergencies where I have to go somewhere, I want a location in black-and-white, not a ramble about how it’s by where that old store was and not too far from the laundromat which burned when you were negative five years old and… > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > In my experience, it’s certainly not true that people phone important news rather than text. There’s a generational gap here. As far as I can tell from talking with under-thirties, a cell is a texting device that happens to have voice capability. Texting is their primary means of communication. I’m 33 and I certainly feel this way: A phone call just to talk is a serious imposition on my time, because when I’m talking, I can’t do most other things. Texting is messages I can read and reply to quickly with pauses in between, so I don’t have to devote as much attention to a boring conversation. It’s really about respect for the other person’s time. > [@](#): > > But if someone texts, I can discreetly look at it without disturbing anyone else. If the text is important news, I’ll leave the meeting and start making calls. This is also where I stand. > [@](#): > > And if I have some important news to share with people, texting to a group is way more efficient than phoning each one individually. Right, and it’s easier for people to read those group texts at their own speed, as opposed to a phone call, which is of necessity real time. It’s interesting how the future worked out: We got videophones and we don’t want them, but we glommed onto sending instant telegrams from day one and reorganized our social conventions around them. Well, _some of us_ reorganized our social conventions around them. ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2017, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-listening-to-voice-mail-even-when-you-dont-recognize-the-number/730801/71 "2017-08-26T23:48:42Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m 33 and I certainly feel this way: A phone call just to talk is a serious imposition on my time, because when I’m talking, I can’t do most other things. Texting is messages I can read and reply to quickly with pauses in between, so I don’t have to devote as much attention to a boring conversation. It’s really about respect for the other person’s time. While I don’t like talking on the phone at all, couldn’t respect just as accurately go the other way - respecting the other person enough enough to devote time and attention to a conversation with them? Obviously, this would not apply “can I get your peach cobbler recipe?” or “do you know a good AC repair guy” or “can you pick up milk on the way home” but to actual chatting-because-we-want-to-talk conversational type communication. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2017, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-listening-to-voice-mail-even-when-you-dont-recognize-the-number/730801/72 "2017-08-27T00:14:21Z")
> [@Tzigone](#): > > While I don’t like talking on the phone at all, couldn’t respect just as accurately go the other way - respecting the other person enough enough to devote time and attention to a conversation with them? Obviously, this would not apply “can I get your peach cobbler recipe?” or “do you know a good AC repair guy” or “can you pick up milk on the way home” but to actual chatting-because-we-want-to-talk conversational type communication. Oh, I certainly talk because the other person just wants to talk. My dad has a tendency towards that, and I’m happy to oblige. So did my grandparents when they were alive. But for most of the other people I interact with, texting _is_ the talking just to talk most of the time. It’s how we share little bits of information about our lives and generally maintain contact. It’s true with my brothers and it’s true with my mom, interestingly enough: My dad is an old-fashioned phone call type, but my mom jumped on texting with both feet and does it like the younger generation. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2017, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-listening-to-voice-mail-even-when-you-dont-recognize-the-number/730801/73 "2017-08-27T00:15:01Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > I do understand this, but for some things, the more important of an emergency of that type it is, the more I’d want a text. Medical emergencies, for example, I want names of conditions and I don’t want to mishear them. Emergencies where I have to go somewhere, I want a location in black-and-white, not a ramble about how it’s by where that old store was and not too far from the laundromat which burned when you were negative five years old and… Perhaps you’re luckier than I am. If I got a text saying that an ambulance was called for my mother, that’s exactly what it would say. If I wanted to know what happened, which hospital, who is going with her, did that person go in the ambulance or drive to the hospital on their own , I would have to text back asking those questions. By the time I text back with those questions and get answers, a phone call would have been quicker. Not to mention that if my sister calls me, either I answered and she she knows I have the information or I didn’t answer and she knows I don’t have it ( at which point she will call my husband , who has the other numbers I can be reached at) If she texts me, she knows she texted me, but doesn’t know if I read the message or even if I have my phone with me and it’s charged etc. And those people who ramble on about how it’s near where that store that closed 20 years ago used to be , don’t think texting will mean they give you an actual address. They probably don’t _know_ the actual address. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2017, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-listening-to-voice-mail-even-when-you-dont-recognize-the-number/730801/74 "2017-08-27T00:21:17Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > Perhaps you’re luckier than I am. If I got a text saying that an ambulance was called for my mother, that’s exactly what it would say. If I wanted to know what happened, which hospital, who is going with her, did that person go in the ambulance or drive to the hospital on their own , I would have to text back asking those questions. By the time I text back with those questions and get answers, a phone call would have been quicker. I guess I am luckier, in that I can rely on the people around me to put more information in a text than that. > [@](#): > > Not to mention that if my sister calls me, either I answered and she she knows I have the information or I didn’t answer and she knows I don’t have it ( at which point she will call my husband , who has the other numbers I can be reached at) If she texts me, she knows she texted me, but doesn’t know if I read the message or even if I have my phone with me and it’s charged etc. People can reasonably assume I have my phone and it’s charged, so that’s not a big deal, and since I don’t have a land line, if my phone is off or dead or missing, I’m not getting a phone call, either. > [@](#): > > And those people who ramble on about how it’s near where that store that closed 20 years ago used to be , don’t think texting will mean they give you an actual address. They probably don’t _know_ the actual address. Eh, fair enough, but at least in a text, I can read the ramble in a fraction of a second as opposed to having to listen to them hem and haw their way through it. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2017, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-listening-to-voice-mail-even-when-you-dont-recognize-the-number/730801/75 "2017-08-27T01:22:45Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I’m guessing everyone is aware of this and OK with it? I wouldn’t bring a phone into a meeting unless there was an emergency brewing, and I would explain to everyone that I might need to step out. As far as I can tell, everyone in my office brings their cell with them wherever they are. I’ve never thought to ask if others are okay with it; it’s just our office culture. And if I couldn’t look at the text, there’s no way I could stop and listen to a voice-message. That would be way more disruptive to the meeting. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2017, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-listening-to-voice-mail-even-when-you-dont-recognize-the-number/730801/76 "2017-08-27T01:28:58Z")
I’ve solved the voice mail issue. I have a home phone, but my parents have been told to never, ever call it because I don’t answer it. I only have it because I’m on conference calls for work, and reception is much better on a non-cell-phone for some reason. I won’t answer my cell phone if I don’t recognize the number, or at least an area code (for my family – 904 represent!). And I hate checking VMs, but my phone now transcribes them. tl;dr – people only call my cell phone, and it transcribes my VMs if I don’t pick up. > [@dracoi](#): > > I get a ton of “spam” calls. About two per _day_, in fact. > > At least half of these are based on debt collectors who can’t get through to my father or my brother and think “This last name only appears nine times in the entire United States, let’s just call all of them!” I just downloaded a robocall blocker for my cell. We’ll see how it works. My last name appears about twenty million times in the United states. I still get calls for people with the same surname who I’ve never met. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2017, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-listening-to-voice-mail-even-when-you-dont-recognize-the-number/730801/77 "2017-08-27T01:29:59Z")
Missed the edit window: And of course when I’m in court, you can’t reach me by text or call. I can’t interrupt my argument and say, “Just a minute, M’Lord, I’ve got to take this call.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2017, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-listening-to-voice-mail-even-when-you-dont-recognize-the-number/730801/78 "2017-08-27T01:34:35Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I’m guessing everyone is aware of this and OK with it? I wouldn’t bring a phone into a meeting unless there was an emergency brewing, and I would explain to everyone that I might need to step out. Must be a generational or industry thing. I can’t get people to put the damn things down, even during training. I don’t mind someone \*having \*a phone in a meeting, but it should be on silent mode, and I will use various “instructor” tricks to make anyone texting during an instructional meeting stop so they pay attention. They aren’t being paid to plan their evening’s entertainment or talk about the weekend. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2017, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-listening-to-voice-mail-even-when-you-dont-recognize-the-number/730801/79 "2017-08-27T02:19:30Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Missed the edit window: And of course when I’m in court, you can’t reach me by text or call. I can’t interrupt my argument and say, “Just a minute, M’Lord, I’ve got to take this call.” > > 😃 I don’t see why not. I’m a brain surgeon and I take every call. The patient just has to wait! Heck they’re usually unconscious (though not always) so they never know the difference. :rolleyes: Not true. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2017, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-listening-to-voice-mail-even-when-you-dont-recognize-the-number/730801/80 "2017-08-27T19:39:45Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > I delete voicemail without ever listening to it. That’s what SMS is for. From your response, it seems you don’t read SD posts, either, because you ignored the question completely., [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-listening-to-voice-mail-even-when-you-dont-recognize-the-number/730801.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-listening-to-voice-mail-even-when-you-dont-recognize-the-number/730801.md?page=5)