Public Service Announcement

[muck_a_luck]

Dear Everyone:

I am feeling peevish.

Please note that I am a professional secretary.

Here is one of my pet peeves.

People who don't understand how to use voicemail.

Here's the deal.

The absolute, most important thing in your message, EVEN MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR NAME!!! is your phone number.

When leaving a message, please help me. Say your name. Say your phone number, leave whatever message you really feel you must leave. But please be as brief as possible. Then say your phone number again. I am begging you to repeat it. Don't be shy. Every other professional secretary I have spoken to about this agrees with me that we LOVE it when you say your number at the beginning and end.

I am fairly tolerant of long messages. I understand sometimes you need to leave a very complete message for various reasons. But keep in mind that your message is just being transcribed by a secretary, and a long message is very burdensome. Don't just ramble needlessly when all you really want is a call back.

But of utmost importance. Say your number clearly. Up front.

I cannot tell you how many times I have listened to a three minute message from some person who is contacting us for the first time - opposing counsel, say, or a mediator - and the person has gone on and on and on with information they are just going to repeat in the real conversation anyway, then they have as a final thought said their phone number in a jumble of mumbled numbers I can barely catch and I have to listen to the entire FUCKING message three FUCKING times just to try to catch the number.

It pisses me off, people. Quit it.

Kind regards,
CK

Comments

[alpha-strike.livejournal.com]

This is the third time I've called! What is wrong with you people? You never return calls, you never answer your gorram phone and you don't seem to understand the gravity of the situation here. If you don't return my call this time, I'm not going to pay you. Call me back RIGHT NOW!

[muck-a-luck.livejournal.com]

At which point I pound the phone on the desk, pull my hair, and yell, WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?! so loud they can hear me down in the parking garage! :)

[amise.livejournal.com]

Sadly, it never occurred to me to leave my phone number twice in a v-mail until last year, when it was taught at a Franklin Covey seminar I attended.

Now I do it religiously.

[muck-a-luck.livejournal.com]

Not sad. I think people do need that little trick pointed out to them. And now you are the best ever! :)