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kaberett ([personal profile] kaberett) wrote2013-08-22 05:46 pm
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The please-don't-leave-me-voicemail voicemail message

You've reached [name]'s voicemail. If you need to get a message to me, if possible please send a text, or send an e-mail to [e-mail address], rather than leave voicemail. I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Again, please text me, or send an e-mail to [e-mail address].

(Posted because last time I mentioned thinking about doing this, a lot of you said WOW YES I SHOULD DO THAT THING-- so here is the wording I settled on, but it'd be great to know what you decide on if you do something similar!)
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[personal profile] swaldman 2013-08-23 12:59 pm (UTC)(link)
The NHS *shouldn't* leave voicemail. At least, the bit where I used to work had a policy that one does not leave voicemail, since you don't know who will listen to it and thus you can't ensure confidentiality.[1]
I could see an argument for relaxing that for mobile voicemail, on the basis that mobile phones are pretty personal and not generally shared by multiple people, but I've no idea whether that may have happened. Or, indeed, whether such policies may vary between organisations within the NHS.


[1] (This did cause trouble with some people who use their mobiles pretty much as answering services, sending any unknown number to voicemail.)
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[personal profile] kaberett 2013-08-23 01:02 pm (UTC)(link)
My consultants sometimes do. The information tends to be "please call us back", but on the other hand said callback request tends to include a direct line that's not trivially publicly findable, so.

[personal profile] swaldman 2013-08-23 01:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah, right.
We weren't even allowed to do that, in case family members (or whoever) found out that an NHS person had called. Clearly policies do differ somewhat, and it sounds like you have a more useful compromise ;-)
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[personal profile] pipisafoat 2013-08-26 04:50 pm (UTC)(link)
In my (US-based) experience, doctor offices & the like have a place where you can fill out if they can leave messages or not (and some even have asked detailed messages vs callback messages), so that's my perspective! And that I can set different things for different numbers. So my cell phone they can leave detailed messages on any matter, my mother's house phone is detailed from billing only and otherwise callback, her cell phone is callback only. (And they also aren't allowed to tell her anything other than billing, so even if she does call them back about anything else! That was just a measure set up when I lived with her one summer & had no cell reception at her house.)
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