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Voicemail Is So Over

System too slow in faster-paced world

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 9, 2009 1:14 PM CDT
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(Newser) – After some 25 years of popularity, voicemail has become merely an annoyance for many, the Boston Globe reports. "What I really hate are the soliloquies," says a time-crunched user. But the long-winded are only part of the problem, experts say; the real culprit is the rise of texting. “We’ve been very conditioned these last few years with instant forms of communication,” says a tech company exec.

More than 30% of voice messages aren’t played back for at least 3 days, more than 20% of people with messages to check rarely do so, and people under 65 respond faster to text messages than to voicemail. Many are turning to voicemail transcription services, which convert voice messages to “usable and storable and searchable” data, says a manager for Google Voice. Says another transcription expert: “Voicemail is a dead service as it stands today.”

Some companies are offering voice mail transcription services.
Some companies are offering voice mail transcription services.   (Shutterstock)
Will voice mail soon be a thing of the past?
Will voice mail soon be a thing of the past?   (Shutterstock)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 6 comments
Snarfeh
Jul 11, 2009 6:40 AM CDT
Once upon a time, you could lessen the voice mail's voice chatter instructing the caller on how to leave a voice mail. Nowaydays, you can minimize it, but you can't always eliminate it...wireless companies want you on the phone longer, so they disabled some of those options.
Yourself
Jul 10, 2009 4:54 AM CDT
that's up to the user to set it up to remove those options. almost all cell carriers have ways to disable that, you just have to go through the settings in your voicemail. I just hate how people still use it, it's not like i don't know how to use voicemail. lol the line i hate is "when you're finished you can just hang up" REALLY?!?!? wow, i never knew that!
JonmarkP
Jul 10, 2009 4:20 AM CDT
"If you'd like to press one, press one. If you'd like to press two, press two. If you'd like to kiss my ass, stay on the line for the next available operator." BUSINESS needs to lose voice mail, is who needs to lose it. The person who figures out how to connect people to business via text mail is going to be a scrillionaire.

 
cell phones • text message • texting • voicemail • telephone • trend • message

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