Communication Today: Is It Really Better?
Is communication really better with all of the technology available today? That's a good question, and it depends upon what type of communication you are talking about, and most importantly, how you use it.
The advent of electronic mail, or e-mail, has proven to be a fast and for the most part, a cost effective way to communicate whether it is used for personal or business reasons. It has, in many instances, replaced personal letters and telephone calls. There is no postage charge or per minute charge to use it. In business, it has proven to save enormous amounts of time as well by e-mailing documents to business colleagues, customers, or suppliers and vendors, which moves "paperwork" in a matter of minutes, verses days. In this regard, I think e-mail has become a very useful tool for both personal and professional use. The downside of e-mail is that it is much less personable than a telephone call, especially if you'd like to hear someone's voice as you are communicating with them. This can be a real downside if you are in a delicate business or personal situation.
There are so many electronic ways to communicate, it's almost overkill, or pick your poison. There is voice mail, e-mail, pagers, faxes, cell phones, and combinations of equipment available now that will do just about any type of communicating you need.
The communication "relay" game goes back to the early days of the pony express, telegraphs, telephones and "snail mail," or post offices. Communication tools then grew with the coming of voice mail and audio text programs that guided you through a maze of options to try to get to a live person to voice your needs. Voice mail, as it came into the market, was developed to be a communication tool to lessen the time it took to write down a message and get that message to the appropriate person, utilized mostly in business offices. With voice mail, you could leave a message directly with the person to whom you needed to communicate. This became a curious thing when in actual use. Voice mail in many ways, became a tool for people not to respond to when they received messages from customers, co-workers or whoever left the message. It became a means with which to hide behind, as people would not answer their telephones anymore, but instead, wait for someone to leave them a voice mail message, and either call them back, or not. Thus, less live voice interaction. In this regard, voice mail became a hindrance, and is still used by many like this today, which really defeats the purpose of voice mail. Voice mail was designed to pick up calls when you were unable to answer the telephone. It was designed so that a person could quickly receive and respond to communications from others so that it could be responded to more rapidly and efficiently. In other words, when a message was received, the idea was to respond to it as soon as possible. By returning a call, this completes the communication cycle. If messages are not responded to, only half of the communication cycle has been fulfilled, and the chain of communication has been broken.
Audio text programs are really fun to maneuver. When I talk to people about the "maze" most people are put through, the conversation can get pretty irate! The biggest complaints I hear is that they are unable to talk to a live person, or else they've ended up in the wrong "department" and can't find their way back! Audio text programs have actually come a long way. There are interactive audio text programs that I think are most effective, otherwise, give me a receptionist! One vendor that I have now has the best audio text program I've ever used. It is voice interactive, and will skip areas that you do not want to deal with, and get you to the right area of the company and a live person to handle your concern. The good news is audio text programs have really gotten much better than, say, ten years ago. Everybody should upgrade!
Communication tools have really come a long way. Whether you have voice mail, a pager, a cell phone, a Blackberry, or other combination of equipment, make sure that you hold up your end of the communication. Think about when other people do not respond to your communications, and how you feel when this happens, especially during a time sensitive situation. Return the call or e-mail, whether it's an easy situation to deal with or tough one! Respond to the communication to let people know that you received it, and are following up on it! Completing the communication cycle is important for the overall flow of communication in the world. If you utilize these tools effectively and as they were intended, you will be on top of the communications game, and accomplish much more.
