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The telephone was the first electronic channel to gain wide acceptance for business use. Telephones are everywhere—at least in the industrialized world. Most people raised in industrialized countries are familiar with the telephone and feel comfortable sending and receiving calls. Because they are so ubiquitous, people in industrialized countries have a difficult time comprehending that more than half the world’s population has never placed a telephone call.
| The telephone offers many advantages. It is often the fastest, most convenient means of communicating with someone. The telephone is also economical in comparison with the cost of writing and sending a letter or the travel involved in face-to-face meetings. Although standard telephone equipment limits sender and receiver to exchanging vocal information, tone of voice, rate of speech, and other vocal qualities help sender and receiver understand each other’s messages.
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Modern telephone services expand the utility of the telephone through answering machines and voice mail, telephone conferencing, portable phones, pagers, and other devices designed to extend the speed and reach of the telephone as a communication device.
The telephone does have disadvantages. The most common complaint about the telephone is telephone tag. Susan calls Jim, only to learn that Jim isn’t available. She leaves a message on his answering machine or voice mail system. Jim finds the message and returns the call, only to learn that Susan is not available. He leaves a message on her machine. Susan returns the call, and Jim is again not available. Telephone tag is time consuming, expensive, and—if it goes on long enough—irritating.
Telephones can also be intrusive. Senders place calls when it is convenient for them to do so, but the time may not be especially convenient for the receiver. This is especially true when the person placing the call and the one receiving it are in different time zones, perhaps even on different continents. Another disadvantage of the telephone is that they are so common that people assume that everyone is skilled in their use, when this is actually far from the case. Most people have had little or no training in effective telephone skills and are poorly prepared to discuss issues or leave effective voice mail messages when the person with whom they wish to speak is not available.
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