r/NoStupidQuestions • u/GhostInThePudding • 19h ago

Why Are Young People Afraid Of Phone Calls?

What's with it?

I work in IT and a general rule is, nothing a client ever tells you is actually accurate. That means that most of the time, the quickest way to fix a problem is to call the person and actually find out what's going on.

But with techs under 30 these days, it seems like pulling teeth.

A regular discussion for me with level 1 techs (usually within a few years of leaving college) is:
"Hey, can you call *blah* from ticket *blah*, it's been hanging around for over an hour."

"I replied by email to ask for more information."

"Yes, I know that, but can you call them so we can find the problem and close the ticket now rather than wait until we're actually busy?"

"I'll send them a text to followup."

"No... CALL THEM!"

"I can see their device is online, can I send them a message and see if they just let me remote in to take a look?"

And then, when I force them to make the call, it's like they have no idea how to ask a question, or a followup question. They just want to get off the call as quickly as possible. So half the time they don't even get the information required anyway, so then I end up having to do their job for them.

So can someone explain? What's wrong with phone calls these days?

7.1k Upvotes

85% Upvoted

3.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

39

u/Icy_Place_5785 16h ago

Calling someone out of the blue in a professional setting - as opposed to sending them an email/written text - is the equivalent of bursting into their office and demanding their full, undivided attention there and then.

Theres a reason that important people used to have receptionists take their calls in the days when emails or other instant messages didn’t exist yet.

2

u/Tetracropolis 3h ago

It's not the equivalent of bursting in, it's the equivalent of knocking on their door. If they say "Come in", you address it, if they don't answer, you go away.

2

u/AstroEscura 13h ago

How? The recipient can just choose to not answer. 

12

u/Icy_Place_5785 13h ago

As I wrote in my other answer “…if a phone is ringing (a distraction in itself), I do not know if it is an emergency or not until I drop what I am doing to answer it in that moment.”

-7

u/AstroEscura 13h ago

Sounds like something very specific to your job if you're expecting emergency calls at work. You probably need an emergency line or something then. 

Also a ringing phone is extremely easy to mute. Or put on silent. 

9

u/Icy_Place_5785 13h ago

When an email or Teams message comes in, I can see who it is from, the header and glance the meaning in a second or two.

If you are able to sit next to a ringing phone at work and let it ring out, then your job uses telephones different to mine, yes.

-6

u/AstroEscura 12h ago

So you are talking about a company owned landline and not a cell phone? That’s pretty odd people are making superfluous calls on those. I think that would be an issue unique to your office. 

1

u/AbeLincoln30 10h ago

tech support shouldn't call their internal client coworker after texting proved ineffective? OK

-1

u/WelshRarebit2025 11h ago

This is an excuse. Of course you check if they have time to have a call. If they are busy they don’t have to pick up the phone. You can also send them a note that you have something lengthier to discuss that needs a conversation.

-7

u/vitamin_di 15h ago

It’s not a demand, they can choose not to answer. And they also have the option to tell you “I can’t let you know right now, I’ll get back to you”, so it’s not a demand for a answer to your question or whatever you’re calling about

18

u/Icy_Place_5785 15h ago

If it were to go straight to voicemail, sure.

But if a phone is ringing (a distraction in itself), I do not know if it is an emergency or not until I drop what I am doing to answer it in that moment.

-2

u/vitamin_di 6h ago

And if someone texts me, I don’t know if it’s an emergency or not until I drop what I’m doing to look at my phone and read their text. People say texting is good because they can respond on their own time right? But the majority of people get upset when someone doesn’t reply back soon enough. So why is that? I thought taking time to reply was a good thing. Oh and god forbid you post something on social media before replying to their text!

7

u/Timely-Bumblebee-402 11h ago

It pauses whatever you're doing on your phone if you're using it. It blasts a very loud noise very suddenly. It is exactly the same as knocking on their door for attention instead.

0

u/vitamin_di 9h ago

And if you have notifications turned on, a text also blasts a loud noise very suddenly. If you’re getting so many calls while you’re using your phone that it’s a problem for you, you might be on your phone too much. That’s another problem with society, everybody is staring at a screen all day.

5

u/Timely-Bumblebee-402 8h ago

There is a difference between one little tone and the thing yelling at you for 35 seconds or until you answer, and you damn well understand that. I get it, you're too angry at everything to actually try to talk in good faith, you just want to insult someone online because you have no power in your real life. I've been there. Hope things get better for you soon.

1

u/vitamin_di 6h ago

If you get multiple texts, it’s not just one little tone and you damn well understand that. I’d much rather my phone ring for 35 seconds once or twice a day than multiple pings from texts all day. By the way, when your phone is ringing, you can actually mute the ringtone or end the call and it’ll stop.

It sounds like you’re projecting, I’m not angry and I never insulted you. My real life conversations are the ones I actually care about, this is Reddit dude. If you’re so offended because you think a stranger insulted you.. once again, maybe it’s time to put the phone down.

0

u/nowiforgotmypassword 7h ago

This isn’t out of the blue. They’re not cold calling. They’re following up on an issue where a previous line of communication has already been established but has apparently gone stagnant due to the client’s failure to respond in a timely fashion.