#telephoning

Stop telephoning me - eh -eh, i’m busy

Ever listen to a voice message where the person leaving the message rattles on and on and then at the very end of the recording rushes through an undecipherable telephone number? Yes, I hate that too!  The problem is, even if your answering system has a fast forward button, it’s still going to be work to find, discern, and write down the caller’s 10-digit telephone number.

Photo Credit: Anthony Crider

I had a professor once who decided that if he couldn’t write down your call-back number after listening to your voice message one time he wasn’t going to bother calling you back. While I don’t have that harsh of a policy, I do get frustrated with some of the callers who leave me messages.

To avoid this frustration, here are three things everyone should do when leaving a voice message that includes a telephone number:  1) Start the message off by stating your name and providing your full telephone number.  Do this at the very beginning of the recording, don’t leave it until the end. 2) Speak your call-back number slowly and clearly. 3) Provide the number twice in a row.  In other words, repeat it.