I think the days are long past when people used voicemail greetings to be show off*. These days you pretty much get the standard “I’m not here right now, but leave me a message” response. The trouble is, the cell carriers provide all this extra stuff at the end that JUST DRIVES ME CRAZY !!
So how can you get past all that and get to the bleeping beep !!
Of course there is no standard, but if you which carrier you are calling, here’s the magic trick:
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AT&T or T-Mobile |
PRESS # |
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Verizon |
PRESS * |
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Sprint Nextel |
PRESS 1 |
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And if you are a kind sort, you might want to add to your own outgoing message what button they need to press to bypass all the instructions.
*In the spirit of open disclosure, I have to admit that I, too, was one of those folks with a “precious” phone message that might have been clever the first time you heard it but was a waste of 20 seconds every time after that. But it was the mid-80’s so you have to forgive me.
My Two Singing Voicemail Messages
Hey ThereWith Apologies to Rosemary Clooney |
DesafinadoWith Apologies to Antonio Carlos Jobim |
| Hey there You with the phone at your ear We are not here to answer you So please leave a message quite clear Won’t you leave a message when you hear the beep? We’d love to listen to what you say But we just don’t have the whole day So be quick with what you need to say Or we’ll just hang up ! |
We’re so glad you called But we’re not home right now Leave your name and number for us Anyhow We’re caught up in this busy world Of day-to-day So please let us know what you are thinkin’ Cause when we see that little light A-blinkin’ We will hope you’ve left a word or two Before you go away |