It’s definitely a power play much of the time. “I can be this breathtakingly rude, because I am a Very Important Person. What are you going to do about it?”
My technique when I’m on the other end is to ask the speaker-person to repeat every. single. sentence. Throughout the whole conversation. Eventually they give up and switch to handset, or else just hang up. I can be such a shit.
Mr. Blue Sky, I’ve told you at least ten billion times not to exaggerate like that!
As to the OP, my phone at work has handset, headset, and speakerphone. I prefer headset, because I hate when someone uses speakerphone to talk to me.
The only time I use speakerphone is when a cow-orker calls me on the intercom to announce an incoming call for me. Then it’s usually just a quick “Thanks!” while I’m putting on my headset.
I do the exact same thing. We just got a new phone system at work and one guy just loves to play with the new speaker option. Everytime he calls I just say I can’t hear him until he picks up. Also, the speaker tends to cut in and out if it’s not getting enough signal, so I will occasionally say, “What’s …at …I …hear …ucki …ard,” just to convince him to pick up the handset 'cause the “damn speaker’s busted.”
I just don’t like using them because I don’t know who else is listening. If I’m talking to someone on the phone, I just want to talk to that person. If I wanted everybody to hear me, I’d use the fancy new Page thinger, and don’t even get me started on that. :rolleyes:
speakerphone good. I have MS and can’t hold the handset up. my apologies if this annoys anyone.
lynxie, yours is a side I had not considered. And I can see where a speaker phone can be a valuable tool.
Of course, it doesn’t explain why the man sitting in the next cubicle has to share his conversations with the entire office.
So, the technology is not inherently evil, but there are some thoughtless/evil/stoopid users out there. And, apparently, some speaker phones are better than others. I’ve encountered the bad phones/bad users more often than not. In fact, if I’ve encountered a good user, I wasn’t even aware, which is as it should be, right?
I use a headset almost exclusively myself. I used to have a job with lots of phoning all day long, so that got me into the habit. Now I’m only on the phone maybe 15 minutes per day. But still, I almost always use my headset. Great invention. Just don’t buy a cheap one.
But I love speakerphones. The boss’s office is right across the hall & I get to know everything I want about the whole business because he uses his SP almost constantly. Knowledge is power. He thinks I’m clairvoyant. Fortunately I have an office with a door, so I can kill the racket if I need to.
I also love harrassing people on the other end of the line who have lousy speakerphones or play the power trip. masonite & lightingtool have the right idea.
My other technique is just to sit there in silence when it’s my turn to reply. When they finally pick up the handset and say “Well? I asked you, what do you think?” I say “about what? I thought you’d cut off 5 minutes ago, all I heard was a little buzzing over silence.” The idea that they’ve just wasted 5 “precious” minutes usually sends their blood pressure through the roof. I don’t have heart attacks but they say I’m a carrier.
I love speakerphones. Gotta have fun somehow at work.
When I call someone and they pick up the speakerphone I will ask (no more than 3 times!) “please pick up the phone” and if they don’t I will hang up on them, speakerphones are rude (that whole “self important” thing) and I don’t know who is listening so I am not going to participate in this discussion.
Unclviny
I have a panel from a Dilbert cartoon on my cube wall:
“I can’t remember if I use the speakerphone because I’m inconsiderate or because I’m too stupid to know how annoying it is.”
I can’t stand people at work who use speakerphones.
Sometimes I get the speakerphone effect, which may be more accurately described as the lazy effect: two people down the hall on either side of my cube who are too lazy to get off their ass and talk face-to-face, so they use the phone. I can hear both sides of the conversation clearly.
Heh, that reminds me of the area I work in. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does I invariably stop for a moment to wonder why the person who initiated the call couldn’t take (at most) 10 steps to go to the other person! :rolleyes:
Speaker phones should be prohibited in any area that doesn’t have a door on it. And the door must be closed. When I hear someone on s.p. near me in the cube farm, I quietly and politely ask them if they really need that on speaker? Unless, of course, there are several people around the same phone. If that were to happen often, I’d probably ask the phone’s owner some time if he wouldn’t mind going into a conference room or office for that kind of call.
S.p. at home can be convenient; I don’t have one, but my sister does. It’s kind of nice to be able to converse with both her and my brother-in-law at the same time. Couple of times when we were having a holiday dinner at her place it was good for all of us to be able to talk with the part of the family that was out of state.
I occasionally use it at work, but in an open environment (tall cubes, but still…) it’s disruptive to those around me. But everyone does it around here…
At home, I’ve used it a few times, like when I’m talking to the vet and we have to discuss the cost of treating one of our cats, rather than my husband getting up and going to the kitchen phone, I’ll just throw him on speaker.
Generally, I’m a big fan of the conference call feature.