"Reaction [beta]"
Voicemail is dead 7 Jul 2008
TechCrunch's Michael Arrington has pronouced voicemail dead, reasoning that
- It takes much longer to listen to a message than to read one (e.g. in email, IM, SMS format), which makes attending to voicemail annoying.
- Voicemail sits outside of our typical workflow, which means that most of us attend to it after dealing with email, IM, SMS messages (if we bother to at all).
- Many people don't bother to pick up their voicemail.
- Voicemail systems are generally hard to use/set up.
What do you think? (The consensus here at Etre is that voicemail sucks).
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5 comments so far
Sam 7 Jul 2008 12:37 PM
I agree. Voicemail is the pits. What's worse is voicemail on your home phone (assuming you still have one). I've gotten in quite a pickle due to un-checked messages on my home phone.
JJ 7 Jul 2008 01:40 PM
Voicemail is redundant. In 99 out of 100 cases, the person who's left you a vm wants you to call them back. Ergo, I never listen to vm, I just call the person back directly and ask them what they want.
Zidge 7 Jul 2008 03:40 PM
The reason why VM is so poor is because VM messages are a lot less concise than text-based equivalents (e.g. email/sms/IM).
A VM message is usually a stream of consciousness - e.g. "I ... er ... just ... um ... was calling to ... er ... let you know about Mike's ... um .... birthday on Monday ... I mean ... er ... Tuesday. Er ... call me later when you get in from work ... er actually I won't be home then ... um ... call me tomorrow ..."
In contrast, an email has usually been more carefully crafted, since the writer has time to think, re-read and edit the message he or she is trying to convey before transmitting it.
Sarah Lipman 7 Jul 2008 07:48 PM
Simon Crowfoot of SpinVox said the following at the MEX conference in London in May:
It is 7 times quicker to read than to listen.
It is 7 times quicker to say it than to type it.
I don't know on what those numbers are based, but generally it matches my personal sense (certainly the reading over listening bit). I avoid video news and YouTube, because I don't have the patience to sit and wait for the information at someone else's speed. Voicemail is an extreme example of the same thing.
Now I just have to hold out until SpinVox (or one of its competitors) comes to Israel.
Tamlyn 10 Jul 2008 10:53 AM
I disabled my voicemail years ago. Problem solved.