[comp.dcom.telecom] Voice Mail -- Just Say "O"

yazz@prodnet.la.locus.com (Bob Yasi) (10/28/90)

Whenever I get a mouthy voice mail system I just dial "O".  It gets me
a human more than half the time and I believe this is likely to become
a de facto standard.

I certainly complain to whatever human comes on the line -- once I
divinate the bizarre touchtone incantation required to reach one.

"How dare you have a phone system that doesn't get you an operator
when you dial O?"

I've never heard a satisfactory answer to that one!


 -- Bob Yazz --

segal@uunet.uu.net (Gary Segal) (10/29/90)

yazz@prodnet.la.locus.com (Bob Yasi) writes:

>"How dare you have a phone system that doesn't get you an operator
>when you dial O?"

At one company I worked for, there was no one other than myself to
answer my phone.  When a voice mail system was installed, it was very
usefull, allowing me to recieve calls when I was away from my desk.
However, if somebody dialed "0", it would simply ring my line again,
and then go back to the message.  There was no person to whom the call
could be routed to; I didn't have a seceratary, nor would the company
operator have been able to take a message.  I wasn't about to send all
of my calls to my boss, who didn't have seceratary either, and was
also hardly at his desk.  Not the best system, but given the option of
no answer, what would you want?

>I've never heard a satisfactory answer to that one!

How's that?


Gary Segal	...!uunet!motcid!segal		+1-708-632-2354
Motorola INC., 1501 W. Shure Drive, Arlington Heights IL, 60004
The opinions expressed above are those of the author, and do not consititue
the opinions of Motorola INC.

yazz@prodnet.la.locus.com (Bob Yasi) (10/29/90)

motcid!segal@uunet.uu.net (Gary Segal) quotes me getting irate:

> >"How dare you have a phone system that doesn't get you an operator
> >when you dial O?"
> >I've never heard a satisfactory answer to that one!
 
and suggests an exception from his own experience:

> There was no person to whom the call could be routed to

Well, Gary, in your example, the actual answer is that there was no
human available at all.  There being no "bizarre touchtone incantation
to divinate", no "French Horn Routing to traverse", no "droning menu
having more options than this sentence has adjectives" to wade through
for before being Permitted to talk to a real human, I'd simply leave a
message on your machine.  So you'd have never heard an irate message
from me; I like answering machines just fine.

By the way, I was so amused by Andy [a College friend I'm back in
e-mail contact with thanks to the Digest] Behrens's posting about the
Sharper self-Image's phone that makes eight different sounds,
including a crying baby to repel telemarketers, that I called them up
to order one!

Well, THEY have a voice mail system. And IT has a LONG menu.  And
dialing "O" only makes it start all over again.  I'll be ordering my
crying baby phone elsewhere!


 -- Bob Yazz --  yazz@locus.com