Mobile Network: Sneaky and Unethical

adindas

In my opinion, mobile phone network make a lot of money from Voice mail both from sender and receiver ....

An what is so bad is the default value is the voice mail is activated.
- Imagine a grandma who do not know anything got the network of this kind ....
- Also many people on the receiving end do not really bother to find out how switch it off as some really do not really care about the voice mail and they will not be paying it if if they do not bother to revisit the Voice mail box.

I do not really see the benefit of Voice Mail as nowadays you could just send an email or text if the message is short. Also nowadays most mobile phone have a QWERTY keypad ...Even-more clear and accurate with text or Email ....

What is your opinion about this....

redped

adindas wrote: »

I do not really see the benefit of Voice Mail as nowadays you could just send an email or text if the message is short. Also nowadays most mobile phone have a QWERTY keypad ...Even-more clear and accurate with text or Email ....

What is your opinion about this....

So what happens if someone uses a landline to phone you, and you don't answer? Surely that's a prime example of when they would leave a voicemail?

Personally, I can't see how networks are being "sneaky and unethical" by offering users a good service for when people don't/can't answer their mobiles.

adindas

Good point regarding the landlines. But the The point here is that the default value the voice mail is "activated" unless you do something it to deactivate it.

- Imagine a grandma who do not know anything about the network and technology of this kind, who do not know how to deactivate the voice mail. ....

- Also many people on the receiving end do not really bother to find out how switch it off as some do not really care about the voice mail as they will not be paying it if they do not bother to revisit the Voice mail box. But the sender will be paying the service that they do not need.

- How may times people experience, they call someone, and no answer, keep waiting and suddenly 20p has gone from their mobile phone credit, even they have no intention to leave a message. 20p is not much but if it happens many times and to a lot of people, how much money mobile phone network companies are making money from the people who do not really need these service.

redped wrote: »

So what happens if someone uses a landlines to phone you, and you don't answer? Surely that's a prime example of when they would leave a voicemail?

Personally, I can't see how networks are being "sneaky and unethical" by offering users a good service for when people don't/can't answer their mobiles.

Hammyman

I've never paid for voicemail. You also only pay for it when you retrieve it, not when someone leaves a message.

redped

adindas wrote: »

The point here is that the default value the voice mail is "activated" unless you do something it to deactivate it

I remember a time when you had to activate voicemail when you got a new phone - we've now gone full circle and people want it deactivated by default!

adindas wrote: »

Imagine a grandma who do not know anything about the network and technology of this kind, who do not know how to deactivate the voice mail. ....

I still don't see why a grandma wouldn't want voicemail - it's a really useful mechanism for people to leave a message if you don't answer your phone.

adindas wrote: »

Also many people on the receiving end do not really bother to find out how switch it off as some do not really care about the voice mail as they will not be paying it if they do not bother to revisit the Voice mail box. But the sender will be paying the service that they do not need.

So if you see you've got a voicemail, but don't want to listen to it, then don't. That way, you won't pay anything for it.

adindas wrote: »

How may times people experience, they call someone, and no answer, keep waiting and suddenly 20p has gone from their mobile phone credit, even they have no intention to leave a message. 20p is not much but if it happens many times and to a lot of people, how much money mobile phone network companies are making money from the people who do not really need these service.

If people are annoyed about paying to leave a message (which is daft, as they'd be paying to say the same thing to the person if the phone had been answered) then they should just hang up after a few rings, before the voicemail kicks in,

I really think you're making an issue out of something that is actually a useful service.

adindas

redped wrote: »

I remember a time when you had to activate voicemail when you got a new phone - we've now gone full circle and people want it deactivated by default!

The networks I am having have default "activate" voice mail. I have Sim cards with several network providers.

redped wrote: »

I still don't see why a grandma wouldn't want voicemail - it's a really useful mechanism for people to leave a message if you don't answer your phone.

Some people are too old to learn a new things or do not bother to do. Remember people need to learn how to "retrieve" and deactivate the voice mail. Every network have different method to deactivate and retrieve the voicemail
.

redped wrote: »

If people are annoyed about paying to leave a message (which is daft, as they'd be paying to say the same thing to the person if the phone had been answered) then they should just hang up after a few rings, before the voicemail kicks in

Leaving a message and talking to someone are two different things
Some people prefer to sent email or text. With QWERTY keypad nowadays this things is very simple.

redped wrote: »

I really think you're making an issue out of something that is actually a useful service.

Not quite, Not for everybody thing as you or I think. The above poster is an example, me is another one. Give people preference by not taking their money first (the default is voice mail is activated) is the way to go.

Guys_Dad

I have a couple of friends who do not activate their voicemail and I find it a pain.

I may want to leave a message and sometimes it's longer than I want to text. I also may be out walking around and don't want to stop to key in some text message.

But the proof of the pudding is this. Most of my friends have their voicemail on - overwhelming majority. I invite you to ask the same question. So, if your experience is the same as mine, then why not please the majority

Your argument Imagine a grandma who do not know anything about the network and technology of this kind, who do not know how to deactivate the voice mail. .... is equally true in reverse and I believe that more Grandmas would prefer voicemail ON. Knowing a good number of older people, my contention is if they can't fathom out how to switch voicemail off, they will ask someone and many hate texting as well.


It really is a pretty minor matter at the end of the day.

gizzi.n.lemon

Voicemail only charges when you retreive it and you keep stereotyping old people as clueless biddys who cant work a phone. It may be true in some cases but a lot can get there way around one just fine. I pefer voicemail on from the start. A call to a company to activate it would be a nuiscance.

redped

adindas wrote: »

The networks I am having have default "activate" voice mail. I have Sim cards with several network providers.

That'll be correct - I was mentioned a time 10+ years ago when I had to activate my voicemail when I got a new phone - it was one of the first things I used to do.

adindas wrote: »

Some people are too old to learn a new things or do not bother to do. Remember people need to learn how to "retrieve" and deactivate the voice mail. Every network have different method to deactivate and retrieve the voicemail

So your solution would be for people to send emails or texts to these grannies instead of leaving a voicemail, as they are too old to understand how to use voicemail? Are they not also too old to learn about text messages or emails (assuming they've got a PC)? Your argument doesn't hold up, I'm afraid.

adindas wrote: »

Not quite, Not for everybody thing as you or I think. The above poster is an example, me is another one. Give people preference by not taking their money first (the default is voice mail is activated) is the way to go.

Which poster are you referring to? I haven't seen any other posts agreeing with you.

The bottom line is that if a tiny minority of people are so bothered about having voicemail, they'll ask their network provider how to disable it.

Naf

Some people will want to use it and would be happy having it active by default; then they get a notification of a new message.
Some people might not be bothered about voicemail; whether its active or not doesn't matter to them.
Possibly a handful of idiots might be up in arms that the voicemail is on, and so they turn it off.
Where is the problem here?

Voicemail uses extra resources from the network to process and store the messages, as well as having an automated system to answer and play your message to the caller. I fail to see why its poor service for them to charge a small amount for this. My voicemail retrieval comes from my inclusive minutes anyway. On O2 PAYG it's 10p per call, however long you spend checking your messages... its not like the charges are in any way unreasonable, and probably don't fully cover the network's cost anyway.

rejsystems

For reference this page details how to switch on/off voicemail for most networks.
http://selfhelp.carphonewarehouse.com/SelfHelp/request.do?view()=c{b2417f40-d5b4-11de-e56d-000000000000}

People can then make up their own minds as what they want to do.
Personally I think voicemail is a nice little earner for the networks. Caller gets charged for leaving a message, mobile customer gets charged to pickup message (depending on contract) then mobile customer gets charged for returning the call.
But you're paying for the convenience.