NY Times Asks: Is Voicemail Dead?
Thursday, April 2, 2009 at 2:29PM 
It's an interesting and valid question. The basic idea behind today's New York Times article is people, especially young people, are choosing to text, email, or tweet information, rather than leave a voice message. And it turns out, it seems a growing number of people aren't even bothering to check voicemail anymore.
As anyone who's left me a voicemail message can attest, I definitely neglect those messages. Often, if I call someone and they don't answer, I'll hang up and email or text them rather than leave a voicemail. This method actually takes longer, but I don't think I'm alone in this habit.
Visual VoiceMail on the iPhone, touted in the NYTimes article, has actually made it worse for me. Previously, I would call in to find out who those three new messages might be from. Now, I can simply look at the phone, see who it is, and I'll have a pretty good idea what they're calling about.
What do you think? Are the days of voicemail numbered? Which communication method has replaced voicemail for you?
Reader Comments (4)
I hadn't realized it, but I've stopped using voicemail too.
I think it is somehow more satisfying to type and send a message, and feel like the whatever thought that was in your head, or item you need to take care of, is now off your plate and onto someone else's. I always use email at work- its safer to have that paper trail, and easier for me to look back and follow up if someone didn't get back to me but with a phone message, you can forget if you even called them. My two cents.
I still prefer voicemail and check mine regularly. Texting is great if you want to check to make sure one is not in an important meeting but that's about it. When I use text I usually need time to think out what I'm writing which texting doesn't give you and email does. So in my lifestyle the only thing on the wane is snailmail.
Which communication method do I prefer? Talking. I prefer just to keep of list of things and have a weekly one on meeting with people and discuss things at the meeting. Most of the time things are not that critical that they need this constant email contact.
If face to face isn't an option, a scheduled conference call works just as well.
I run my business on my cell phone. Voicemail destroys that illusion and sounds really unprofessional. Found this company at RingAlice.com that kills your voicemail, replacing it with a person who takes your unanswered calls. Really revolutionary, has that personal human touch, and sounds very sophisticated for $30.