The Running Commentary

SMS vs Voicemail

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There was a really interesting article on My Broadband.co.za about whether SMS’s or text messages are replacing the traditional voicemail. I must say that I had not rally given it any thought until now, but can clearly see the point. Below some of the disadvantages registered for voicemail vs the advantages for text messaging. I think that many of you will agree that this supports the notion the text will replace voice in terms of messaging.

Voicemail disadvantages

Voicemails are less likely to be listened to as soon as they are received, and may only be accessed some time later.
If the caller left a voice message while in a noisy environment the recipient may find it difficult to make out the message. Similarly if the recipient is in a noisy environment, they may also struggle to hear the message.
Several voicemails have to be listened to sequentially, resulting in delays picking up voice messages.
Mobile users are not always in a position to write down details or do not carry notepads, resulting in them having to save messages and re-listen to these later.


Advantages of SMS over voicemail

It is simply a lot faster to scan through several SMS’s, compared to listening to many voicemails.
With an SMS the relevant details are already visually presented, making it easy to write down information or, if phone has the capability, to save or call the number directly.
SMS can be stored and saved for later reference.
SMS is more likely to be read and acted on as soon as it is received.

Makes you think doesn’t it?

smstext messagesvoicemail vs text services

Mike • October 17, 2008


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