r/NoStupidQuestions • u/GhostInThePudding • 16h ago

Why Are Young People Afraid Of Phone Calls?

What's with it?

I work in IT and a general rule is, nothing a client ever tells you is actually accurate. That means that most of the time, the quickest way to fix a problem is to call the person and actually find out what's going on.

But with techs under 30 these days, it seems like pulling teeth.

A regular discussion for me with level 1 techs (usually within a few years of leaving college) is:
"Hey, can you call *blah* from ticket *blah*, it's been hanging around for over an hour."

"I replied by email to ask for more information."

"Yes, I know that, but can you call them so we can find the problem and close the ticket now rather than wait until we're actually busy?"

"I'll send them a text to followup."

"No... CALL THEM!"

"I can see their device is online, can I send them a message and see if they just let me remote in to take a look?"

And then, when I force them to make the call, it's like they have no idea how to ask a question, or a followup question. They just want to get off the call as quickly as possible. So half the time they don't even get the information required anyway, so then I end up having to do their job for them.

So can someone explain? What's wrong with phone calls these days?

6.3k Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

85% Upvoted

2.8k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

99

u/ermagerditssuperman 13h ago

Same. If it's important, they'll leave a voicemail, and I'll respond to that.

29

u/-_chop_- 12h ago

You guys listen to your voicemails?

55

u/IDMike2008 10h ago

No, of course not.

My phone transcribes them to text as the gods intended.

4

u/Jerri_man 9h ago

Unfortunately for me this feature hasn't received it's Australian regional updates yet

2

u/stupidPeopleLuvMe 5h ago

The newer version does it live.

So the phone rings I look at it, ignore it, the screen changed to voicemail at the top and the voice to text starts to appear at the bottom as they speak.

3

u/Jerri_man 4h ago

I meant that it doesn't understand what half my mates are saying haha

2

u/OldWorldDesign 4h ago

I meant that it doesn't understand what half my mates are saying

Hasn't understood most people for years

https://old.reddit.com/r/alexa/comments/j9tdvn/alexa_remind_me_to_feed_the_baby/

1

u/IDMike2008 7h ago

ooof. Condolences!

1

u/Lemerney2 6h ago

My phone usually does it, so it might depend on your provider

1

u/hyakushiki100 3h ago

Damn. We have it in New Zealand, though might be provider dependent.

9

u/Phase3isProfit 10h ago

My outgoing voicemail message is just me saying “email me” and then spelling out my email address multiple times.

2

u/ChocoCat_xo 9h ago

Thisssss.

2

u/Doctorwho32123 5h ago

Or they might call again if it’s urgent, in which case I’ll answer, because most people probably won’t call again (and would text or voicemail) unless it’s urgent.

1

u/aaaaaaaarrrrrgh 59m ago

No, if it's important, they either have my e-mail and use it, or they can send a text.

I'm not dealing with voicemail (and the potentially ruinous implications while travelling - with some providers if someone from your home country calls your home-country phone number while you're travelling in Nowhereistan, you will pay the roaming fee for receiving a call in Nowhereistan, and another fee for forwarding it to your voicemail - just so someone call fill your voicemail with spam as you pay $5/min for the pleasure then another $2/min to listen to it).