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Should Voicemail be Eliminated?

Chase Consumer Bank recently announced that they were eliminating most of their internal voicemail system in order to save approximately $10 per person/month. This may not sound like much, but when it affects 68K employees, it amounts to $8.2 million per year. Chase wasn’t the first brand name to go this route; last December Coke eliminated voicemail at its headquarters. (Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-12-22/coca-cola-disconnects-voice-mail-at-headquarters) As DMG expects other companies to follow suit, we are reviewing the pros and cons of this decision.

Need to Cut Costs

After more than 20 straight years of cost-cutting, most companies have run out of obvious items and activities to eliminate, forcing them to think creatively. There’s nothing wrong with this departure from business as usual. In fact, companies should rethink their approach to everything, including internal and external communications, in order to establish a unified communications infrastructure that will carry them into the future.

There are an ever-growing number of communication channels, but the phone is still standard for commercial interactions. (Email and chat are great for arranging meetings and calls, but they are not an effective way to discuss and transact business.) Even though many people use their cell phone more than their desk (or home) phone, it doesn’t mean that desk phones should be eliminated. And just because many people have a personal cell phone does not mean that businesses should assume that they want to use their own device for work-related activities. And if employees still have an office phone, it’s convenient to have voicemail. What’s the alternative – to drop off a call when no one answers and then pick up the cell phone to send a text or email instead? This doesn’t sound very efficient.

Should Employees Use their Personal Devices for Work?

Although it may not be illegal to force employees to use their personal devices for business activities, and it may not cost all employees more money, it is an imposition, and forces workers to merge their personal and work lives. Even if it only adds 10 minutes a day, on average, it’s still additional work time. And how about operating environments – like contact centers – where using personal devices presents a security challenge? Also, once an employee starts using their personal device for work, managers can’t tell if they are conducting business or taking care of private issues.

On the other hand, it could be beneficial if some voicemail were eliminated and not just shifted to another device. But to do this, companies would need to retrain their employees. Instead of using a phone, it makes sense for employees to use a technology called “presence” to see if the person they want to reach is available. This reduces time spent leaving and returning voicemail messages, and represents true savings and benefits for employees and organizations. However, it does nothing for customers, who still won’t know whether or not the person they need to reach is available. And if companies create an exception process to justify voicemail for a select number of workers who claim to (and likely do) need it, then some of the cost savings will be lost, although new jobs will be created for the people who manage the process.

Final Thoughts

Change can be good. Cost-cutting is necessary, whether we like it or not. But common sense must rule the day. I’d wager that there are departments in many companies where not every employee needs to have their own voicemail, but there must still be a way to leave a work-related message that doesn’t involve the employee’s personal device or time. Also, there are still departments where voicemail is a necessity. Reducing voicemail is likely to be a good idea; eliminating it is not, at least not at this time.

Ask the Experts

Question:
I have been asked to update our contact center’s new-hire training program. What are some things I need to consider when developing a new program?

Answer:
Contact center representatives are the “voice” of the organization to its customers and prospects, and the voice of the customer to the organization. Contact center representatives need to be well-versed in the organization’s products and services, policies and procedures, as well as its culture, in order to be properly positioned to represent the company to the public… Read More

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DMG Consulting LLC is a leading independent research, advisory and consulting firm specializing in unified communications, contact centers, back-office and real-time analytics. Learn more at www.dmgconsult.com.