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I know that I can easily guess the age of a person calling my business based on whether they can actually talk properly on the phone. Above about 35 they can al

by fipple 8y ago

I know that I can easily guess the age of a person calling my business based on whether they can actually talk properly on the phone. Above about 35 they can all do it. Below about 25 they use the phone so little that they cannot place a professional phone call or leave a professional voicemail.

function_seven 8y ago
What do the younger callers do (or not do) that sticks out? Are they awkward in their greeting? Do they act like someone who's giving a speech for the first time?
- freehunter 8y ago
  I've noticed something similar, it's mainly a lack of confidence. Being on the phone is being put on the spot, and your voice is the only stalling technique you have. In text or email or IM, you can pause and respond without anyone noticing you're stalling. In person you can fidget or walk across the room or make motions with your hands or make a face instead of saying something. On a phone call, all you have is your voice. So if you get uncomfortable and start stuttering or stumbling and you don't have the confidence to recover, you're not going to recover. You've also only got your voice to give impressions of your attitude and emotions, as well. People who are good on the phone tend to be animated, tend to use body language even if the other person can't see it, smile when they're happy, and furrow their brow when they're not. All of this impacts your speech, and a bit of over-acting goes a long way. They also know how to break into someone else's conversation to get a chance to speak. These are all things learned over time, and someone who just started using a phone isn't going to have the skills or the confidence to pull it off.
  - function_seven 8y ago
    This is funny. I just realized that I never talk to anyone under 30 on the phone. The few kids I do talk to (my nieces) use FaceTime exclusively. Your explanation makes sense. Meanwhile, all the phones at my office have attached cameras and displays. We can see each other on the phone. Except most of use keep the camera turned off because we want to retain our private eye rolling.
    - fipple 8y ago
      What model of phones do you have and what software do you use them with?
njarboe 8y ago
The current cell phone infrastructure and the phones themselves really suck for talking to people. This is why, I think, kids don't talk over the phone. Not because they really prefer texting over voice but that live voice sucks. The smart phone is a bad shape for catching and producing sounds and the cell phone network has high and variable lag, dropped calls, many "Can you hear me now" moments, the "I can hear you clearly and think all is well but you can't hear me" problem, etc. So people don't do most of there communications with voice and eventually you see people texting each other in the same room. It really is a problem that has not gotten enough attention. I recently brought back my landline so a least 1/2 the communication is on a good system for talking when I actually want to have a conversation with someone over the phone. Its great but why does it cost $30 a month for just unlimited local calls? Only someone with quite a bit of extra resources would have one. Business have landlines and/or low latency internet to handle quality voice communication. Most families these days don't.
voltagex_ 8y ago
It's a skill - I did some helpdesk work which certainly helped a lot, but I don't think you should be measuring someone based on the way they talk on the phone. There are lots of factors that could impact the way someone comes across on a phone call.

by fipple 8y ago

function_seven 8y ago

What do the younger callers do (or not do) that sticks out? Are they awkward in their greeting? Do they act like someone who's giving a speech for the first time?

freehunter 8y ago
I've noticed something similar, it's mainly a lack of confidence. Being on the phone is being put on the spot, and your voice is the only stalling technique you have. In text or email or IM, you can pause and respond without anyone noticing you're stalling. In person you can fidget or walk across the room or make motions with your hands or make a face instead of saying something. On a phone call, all you have is your voice. So if you get uncomfortable and start stuttering or stumbling and you don't have the confidence to recover, you're not going to recover. You've also only got your voice to give impressions of your attitude and emotions, as well. People who are good on the phone tend to be animated, tend to use body language even if the other person can't see it, smile when they're happy, and furrow their brow when they're not. All of this impacts your speech, and a bit of over-acting goes a long way. They also know how to break into someone else's conversation to get a chance to speak. These are all things learned over time, and someone who just started using a phone isn't going to have the skills or the confidence to pull it off.
- function_seven 8y ago
  This is funny. I just realized that I never talk to anyone under 30 on the phone. The few kids I do talk to (my nieces) use FaceTime exclusively. Your explanation makes sense. Meanwhile, all the phones at my office have attached cameras and displays. We can see each other on the phone. Except most of use keep the camera turned off because we want to retain our private eye rolling.
  - fipple 8y ago
    What model of phones do you have and what software do you use them with?

njarboe 8y ago

The current cell phone infrastructure and the phones themselves really suck for talking to people. This is why, I think, kids don't talk over the phone. Not because they really prefer texting over voice but that live voice sucks. The smart phone is a bad shape for catching and producing sounds and the cell phone network has high and variable lag, dropped calls, many "Can you hear me now" moments, the "I can hear you clearly and think all is well but you can't hear me" problem, etc. So people don't do most of there communications with voice and eventually you see people texting each other in the same room. It really is a problem that has not gotten enough attention. I recently brought back my landline so a least 1/2 the communication is on a good system for talking when I actually want to have a conversation with someone over the phone. Its great but why does it cost $30 a month for just unlimited local calls? Only someone with quite a bit of extra resources would have one. Business have landlines and/or low latency internet to handle quality voice communication. Most families these days don't.

voltagex_ 8y ago

It's a skill - I did some helpdesk work which certainly helped a lot, but I don't think you should be measuring someone based on the way they talk on the phone. There are lots of factors that could impact the way someone comes across on a phone call.