Having just made a telephone call that left me holding on for over twenty minutes , I have come to a startling conclusion.  Telephone rage has taken over from Road Rage.

A telephone call that should have taken just minutes to complete and a decision that could have benefited everyone concerned has just left me with a raging headache and a state of despair and anger.

When I have to wait on the phone while tinny music plays in my ear, and a disembodied voice returns every five minutes to tell me I am important and my call will be answered in due course, I want to scream.  The music is mostly what I call elevator music, and does not transpose comfortably to a telephone earpiece, and the disembodied voice reassuring me is less than reasssuring, to tell the truth.

Should I really be listening to  that recording telling me that my call is in a queue and will be answered within the next 30 minutes, because then the question arises, do I cancel this call and try again later, or do I hold on to this call in case I lose my turn?

If I decide to hang up on this call, how long will I have to wait next time I dial this number before my  call gets selected for answering.  If I hold on, I put the phone on speaker and wait ……….. and wait………..and, yes, I can do other things while I’m waiting, but one of my lines is now tied up with tinny elevator music and going nowhere fast!

So, this leads to frustration, frustration lends itself to growling at the poor soul who does eventually answer the phone, and who then asks the inane question of where shall I direct this call?  Well, how about the people I’m supposed to be speaking to right now!!!

Doesn’t a lot of business still get done over the phone , even  in these days of internet, e-mail and social media?   Is there a problem with employing sufficient numbers of staff who can answer the phone comfortably and happily.   Do large corporations not realise how very aggravating it can be when you are put on hold even before you speak to a living breathing person.

If I have to get past the “gatekeeper” or receptionist , that’s fine, at least I have a fifty -fifty chance of explaining why I’m telephoning, and my blood pressure stays relatively calm.  It’s the call that simply doesn’t get to a human being at all that bugs me.

It’s strange -  one of the services that we are most proud of, in my office, is the fact that the telephone call gets picked up by one of the staff members.   Yes, a caller may get asked to hold while we switch the call through to the addressee, and yes, we may then move to e-mail discussions, but the very first contact that anyone has with our staff is with a real live person.

Road Rage is bad, and I’m not too keen on Telephone Rage, but while companies use machines to answer phones, there’s no getting away from it.   So, deep breathing, count to ten , then ten again, and with a bit of luck , your call will go through like a hot knife through butter.  Good Luck!!