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I'm surprised people (especially clients) react better to you not having a cell phone at all than to you not always answering. I always make sure to disable th

by Jare 13y ago

I'm surprised people (especially clients) react better to you not having a cell phone at all than to you not always answering. I always make sure to disable the auto-away setting in all chat/IM programs so it always shows me as online, and then I explain to everyone that since the program is not smart enough to know for sure that I am available, I prefer to avoid the confusion. With phones I follow a similar philosophy: I make sure to avoid answering it all the time, I let it run out of battery, or in Silent mode, or I leave it at home, etc. and I'm very vocal about having done so. I don't know if this makes me antisocial, but it seems to work fairly well in removing other people's expectations (except with my dad heh).

nbrogi 13y ago
I think that for them the situation improved. If they called me to see if I knew their password and I didn't help them they'd feel stuck, now they just go in their inbox, find it themselves, and go on with their lives without emailing me, which ultimately doesn't piss them off. Before, I just couldn't handle the amount of calls and sometimes I just wouldn't even call back if I thought it wasn't important, then people would have to call me back to finally try to solve their problem. Now, I always reply to my email, so in this case, too it's better for them.
- Amadou 13y ago
  That sounds like a business opportunity. If people want to call you for hand-holding then charge them money for it. On-call support contract - business hours or a more expensive 24-hour option. Make it a "best effort" contract so you aren't liable if you can't answer the phone.
militiaman21 13y ago
This is the same approach I use. I set the expectation that my cellphone is NOT for you to reach me 24/7. You can sure try but I reserve the right to not answer for any reason. My phone is normally on vibrate or airplane mode.

by Jare 13y ago

nbrogi 13y ago

I think that for them the situation improved. If they called me to see if I knew their password and I didn't help them they'd feel stuck, now they just go in their inbox, find it themselves, and go on with their lives without emailing me, which ultimately doesn't piss them off. Before, I just couldn't handle the amount of calls and sometimes I just wouldn't even call back if I thought it wasn't important, then people would have to call me back to finally try to solve their problem. Now, I always reply to my email, so in this case, too it's better for them.

Amadou 13y ago
That sounds like a business opportunity. If people want to call you for hand-holding then charge them money for it. On-call support contract - business hours or a more expensive 24-hour option. Make it a "best effort" contract so you aren't liable if you can't answer the phone.

militiaman21 13y ago

This is the same approach I use. I set the expectation that my cellphone is NOT for you to reach me 24/7. You can sure try but I reserve the right to not answer for any reason. My phone is normally on vibrate or airplane mode.