There is an important distinction that should be made here. Your question isn't about putting up with phone calls but rather that you don't like business phone

There is an important distinction that should be made here. Your question isn't about putting up with phone calls but rather that you don't like business phone calls, whether making or receiving them. So if we separate the call types: Personal calls - a personal phone call gives you the opportunity to have just that, a personal connection. Sure, you could argue that the future might bring even more personal touches using virtual reality but for now I don't think your mother would appreciate an email from you as much as a phone call. But it seems like you're really focused on business calls so let's dive in there. When you need support - When I need help with something, I'd usually prefer a phone call because it allows me to quickly ask follow up questions or interpret nuance that I might not glean in an email. Of course, it also means that I should get a more immediate answer to my specific question. It also means that I'm in a bit more control of when I'm going to get an answer or at least I hope. This is a HUGE advantage for small businesses over large because you can build a ton of trust with your clients by giving them a number to call that actually will provide them with answers. Of course, if you're in a B2C business you'll need to manage this wisely, but customers generally don't trust that sending in an email will net them a good answer. Answering the phone and telling them the answer is a huge customer confidence win and better, most big companies can't do this. Believe it or not, but sales is also about a personal connection. When you're doing business with someone you want to trust the person on the other end and it is _very_ hard to build trust via email. I think it's great that you trust that you can send mail to a large company and assume it will end up with the right person but I would much rather call the company than depend on their mailroom figuring out where to send the message. It seems your rant here isn't really about phone calls, but instead about context switching and the interrupter being a phone call. To manage the context switching AND manage phone calls I'd recommend something like putting on a Do Not Disturb during a part of the workday and letting people leave voicemails that you can later return.