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Voicemail Is So Over
System too slow in faster-paced world
By Matt Cantor
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Posted Jul 9, 09 1:14 PM CDT
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(Newser)
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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.”