Take Back the Beep!

By  |  Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 12:17 pm

My friend David Pogue of the New York Times is a man on a mission. He’s become irate over the time that cell phone company voicemail systems spend playing a recorded message telling you to leave a message, explaining how to send a page, and suggesting that you hang up when you’re done leaving the message. The messages are pointless little annoyances every time you hear them–and since they take fifteen seconds or so to play, they eat up the monthly minutes of the person who called.

David is trying to rally phone users to bury carriers in such a surging sea of complaints that they enter the 21st century by ditching these obsolete recorded messages. It’s a great idea. His post about all this includes instructions on how to tell your carrier you’re part of the crusade.

Of course, it’s not just that 15-second message that’s irritating–voicemail systems in general tend to sport the most aggravating user interfaces this side of automated supermarket checkouts. One of the nice things about using an iPhone and/or Google Voice is getting to avoid those convoluted menus…and David says that Apple insisted that AT&T eliminate the 15-second message for iPhone voicemail. Which proves it can be done–you know of anyone who’s called an iPhone owner, been bounced into voicemail, and gotten confused by the lack of instructions?

 
14 Comments


Read more: , , , , ,

10 Comments For This Post

  1. tengeta Says:
    July 30th, 2009 at 1:13 pm

    Wow, my phone doesn’t seem to have that issue. Thats what you get for being on the bleeding edge with those stupid ass smartphones to begin with. Who cares about 15 seconds of anything when you pay $1,200+ just to do billing and porn surfing with your phone?

  2. Colby Aley Says:
    July 30th, 2009 at 2:58 pm

    i did not know that thats why there is not 15 sec thing for iphone! thanks!

  3. gwaterson Says:
    July 30th, 2009 at 4:49 pm

    Call anyones cell phone, hope you get voice mail, AND YOU WILL hear the message that everyone is referring to

  4. DaveZatz Says:
    July 30th, 2009 at 5:14 pm

    I don’t have it on my AT&T iPhone. Melissa doesn’t have it on her T-Mobile Blackberry. And of all the wireless/carrier issues and injustices to rally the troops around, this sure seems inconsequential.

  5. gwaterson Says:
    July 30th, 2009 at 5:15 pm

    Maybe to you but not to thousands of others. have a nice nite

  6. Will England Says:
    July 30th, 2009 at 5:16 pm

    Wengla02 here from BuzzAboutWireless.com and now the Sprint Community.

    We hear you – and we’ve stood up a brand new forum to talk about this topic:

    http://community.sprint.com/baw/community/buzzaboutwireless/general/takebackthebeep

    Jack Diemer, our Voicemail guy, has also posted some handy tricks out there to streamline your voicemail experience.

    Why do we make the prompts so long? We have to work on the assumption that everyone using voicemail is a beginner – but for customers that have some experience with the system and want to streamline their settings, you can follow these tips at:

    http://community.sprint.com/baw/community/sprintblogs/buzz-by-sprint/announcements/blog/2009/07/30/take-back-the-beep

    It is really cool to see this level of interest — thanks for visiting!

    Will England

  7. s Says:
    July 31st, 2009 at 10:28 pm

    You have nothing better to do? WOW, think about how much you could do if you put your actions to causes that really need focusing on like oh I don’t know CANCER – nice action guys

  8. Roger That Says:
    August 3rd, 2009 at 11:48 am

    I took back the BEEP! Did you?

    http://bit.ly/1Vw6M

  9. Cathy Says:
    August 18th, 2009 at 7:37 am

    I’ve been amazed by this for years and wondered why no one else picked up on it. In fact every time I dial someone and get that message I rant about how much extra money the phone companies are making on the additional time the message takes. Some messages are so long that by the time I get the beep I have forgotten who or why I called in the first place! BTW – I have an I-phone. Let me tell you how the I-phone racks up minutes – auto-dialing everyone in your contacts folder if you forget to push the top button each time you end a phone call. And what about the phone company (don’t know which one it is) that has some girl instructing you to “enjoy the music while your party is being reached”! That’s really priceless! For those people with that particular service, I NEVER leave them a message.

  10. Ruth Says:
    June 6th, 2010 at 2:11 pm

    This is exactly why I’ve been enjoying the txt and skipping voicemail for almost everyone. If I hang up they know I’ve called; if it’s important I’ll send them a message they can most likely receive sooner and with less trouble. Maybe it is why many if not almost all of the younger set ignore their voicemail – as a group they’ve rejected it altogether. It is becoming obsolete…

4 Trackbacks For This Post

  1. Cell Phone Users Of The World Unite! You Have Nothing To Lose But Your Ringtones! « Around The Sphere Says:
    July 31st, 2009 at 3:13 pm

    […] Harry McCracken […]

  2. Condensed Knowledge – August 2, 2009 – Lists - Raoul Pop Says:
    August 2nd, 2009 at 2:30 am

    […] Take Back the Beep! […]

  3. The Beep is Being Taken Back! | Technologizer Says:
    August 14th, 2009 at 12:43 pm

    […] all:&nbspNews Good news about David Pogue’s Take Back the Beep campaign, which targets the voicemail instructions which explain stuff everybody already knows, thereby […]

  4. Take Back The Beep « Techtrosity Says:
    August 18th, 2009 at 11:52 am

    […] Fox News, NY Times, Technologizer […]