Is Voicemail Really So Bad or Just A Better Way to Capture Information from Your Clients?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately of all the articles being written concerning the downside of technology. In reading these articles, I have to agree that technology can be a huge distract and have a severely negative impact on your ability to focus on important tasks. I use my cell phone as my primary phone. Clients and other counsel know, when they need to call me, to use the cell number and if they need to contact someone in my office, to call the land line. Our internal staff, including our virtual workers, uses Skype to communicate amongst team members. Lately, I am letting more and more calls skip to voicemail when I am in the middle of a project. I have changed my voicemail message to let clients know that they need to provide detail information about their issue and allow me time to review their message and get back to them in an orderly fashion. I also encourage clients to use e-mail which can provide even more information for me to review and doesn’t have the negative stigma which being placed in voicemail may have to some clients.

Whether for good or bad, voicemail is becoming a far more integral part of our communications strategy. I believe that clients become even more accustomed and excepting of leaving a voicemail message as opposed to getting a live person on the other end of their call. Is it really so great when they simply get to talk to the receptionist or secretary and leave a message?