Living Retired — ‘Phone Technology Gone Too Far’
Living Retired — ‘Phone Technology Gone Too Far’
By Gary Chalk
Think hard. Really hard. Can you remember a time when you made a telephone call that went into voicemail and the voicemail message made you laugh out loud? Can you recall this happening? Ever? It happened to me a couple of weeks ago. And I still chuckle. This is what occurred…
I called a friend who calls himself ‘Handsome Doug’ (that’s another story, fiction!). Doug’s voicemail came on, “We are experiencing a higher volume of calls so please leave a message and Sandee or I will get back to you.” This was his home phone! After the beep I was laughing so hard that I wasn’t sure if Handsome Doug would be able to understand me.
At least Handsome Doug’s answering machine doesn’t use the technology that prompt’s callers to say a word or a phrase that connects you to the correct department quickly. Here is an example…
You awake in the middle of the night and discover someone has broken into your house! Immediately, you call 9-1-1.
“You have reached 9-1-1. Please say a word or phrase. For example, if this is an emergency please say ‘EMERGENCY.’ Or … Read the rest here
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