Easy Answers - answering systems and services - Buyers Guide

Home Office Computing, May, 2000 by Douglas Gantenbein

Messaging Etiquette

Pacific Bell recently conducted a survey to find out what irritates people most about voice mail, then created these tips based on the results:

When Leaving a Message:

* Keep it short. On an irritation scale of 1 to 10, messages containing too much info scored 7.5.

* Be sure you leave key information, such as a phone number and your name.

* To reduce telephone tag, mention the best times to reach you or an alternate pager or cell number.

* If you expect to get someone's voice mail, take a minute to get organized. Think about the key point of your message. Don't dial and start out with, "Well, let's see ..."

When Recording a Greeting:

* Urge callers to leave a brief message.

* Keep background music, jokes, and other distractions to a minimum.

* Avoid redundant statements such as "I can't come to the phone right now" or "After the beep, leave a message."

* If your system lets you reach a live person or skip to the end of the greeting, give callers this option early on in your greeting.