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Stop asking me for my phone number

spottedsun.com

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Re: Stop asking me for my phone number

#51

Post by nirvana »

Not even my parents have a real phone number for me, I'm sure as hell not going to give you one when asked by some 19 year old cashier! But, I no longer have to debate with these people about whether they really need my phone number or not, I just give them the google voice number.

As a programmer, I've found that interruptions are the most problematic thing that keeps me from being more productive, and nothing is more irritating than being interrupted by a pointless phone call. So, over a decade ago, I stopped having a landline, and only gave my cell number to a small number. Then I stopped carrying a cell completely.

I'm kinda amazed, in this day and age, how many organizations primary method of communication is the phone. I've had people, on multiple occasions, say "I can't do that for you via this forum, please call us at XXX".

The only reason I want an iPhone 4Steve (unlocked, of course) is because I want to have data access everywhere. The ability to make the occasional phone call for those people (usually government offices it seems) still stuck in the 19th century is a minor bonus.

If you require a phone number in order to do business with you, I simply will not do business with you.

Re: Stop asking me for my phone number

#52

Post by WingForward »

bradleyland wrote: post #4

According to some brief research, it looks like somewhere around 0.33% of Americans under 85 are deaf, and around 4% are hard of hearing [1]. I find it preposterous to optimize for that small section of the user population at the expense of the overwhelming number of our users who tell us that phone is their preferred method of contact. We're probably going to continue asking for a phone number, because many users wo…

TTY users are declining. I don't know the statistics, but 80% of my interaction with the Deaf is by Videophone (VP) (aka video relay service (VRS)).

Training staff on how a VRS or TTY relay call works is pretty simple. A few general rules are: 1) Talk as if you are addressing the Deaf person directly (don't say, "tell her hello", say "hello"). 2) Speak in discrete chunks of meaning with pauses in between to give the interpreter a chance to catch up. 3) Expect everything you say to be interpreted.

Re: Stop asking me for my phone number

#53

Post by epochwolf »

dredmorbius wrote: post #47

The phone has its place. Generally it's buried somewhere far from me under a pillow. I'm a non-deaf, high-functioning normal. I hate phone calls for all the reasons iterated here (intrusive, annoying, inconsiderate, lossy, non-searchable, difficult (or illegal) to record, etc.). I'll just include reemrevnivek's post by reference, it's excellent: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3104873 I might check voicemail once…

> What I'd like to see is the ability to classify contacts by who is or isn't allowed to actually ring through to the handset.

Google voice allows you to do this. I have everyone except my friends and family go through call screening before they can ring my phone. I also have a recruiter who was calling me blocked with a "this number is disconnected" message. (he used 6 different numbers before I completely blocked him... yeesh)

Re: Stop asking me for my phone number

#54

Post by alttag »

For some instances where I know it's for marketing purposes but also that they'll use it as a lookup key for my account (e.g., loyalty cards) I give my parent's phone number.

Between that and being on the national do not call list (U.S.), I get no sales calls.

Occasionally, I'll use a 555 prefix (like in books or movies) which is a reserved designation for fictional numbers.

Re: Stop asking me for my phone number

#56

Post by briandear »

estel wrote: post #19
scott_s wrote: post #15

Are we talking about asking or requiring ? I agree no one should require a phone number, but it's completely reasonable to ask if people want to use that rather than email.

This is the key point isn't it? For so many services whose core demographic is not HN readers, vast numbers of the customers will prefer to use a telephone over anything else. Even I will occasionally prefer to call if there's an issue with a large company that needs sorting immediately, or I'm finding emails getting constantly ignored. Certainly requiring a telephone number (or any other personal details that I'd ra…

Phone calls get ignored too. Just ask my credit card company.

Re: Stop asking me for my phone number

#57

Post by r00fus »

nknight wrote: post #12
bradleyland wrote: post #4

According to some brief research, it looks like somewhere around 0.33% of Americans under 85 are deaf, and around 4% are hard of hearing [1]. I find it preposterous to optimize for that small section of the user population at the expense of the overwhelming number of our users who tell us that phone is their preferred method of contact. We're probably going to continue asking for a phone number, because many users wo…

A lot more than just your deaf customers hate phone calls. They're disruptive, intrusive, unreliable, and for many people with autism-spectrum disorders, extremely uncomfortable.

Google voice solves this pretty well... I get an email saying someone left a VM with the poor but adequate transcript.

Re: Stop asking me for my phone number

#58

Post by bradleyland »

reemrevnivek wrote: post #13
bradleyland wrote: post #4

According to some brief research, it looks like somewhere around 0.33% of Americans under 85 are deaf, and around 4% are hard of hearing [1]. I find it preposterous to optimize for that small section of the user population at the expense of the overwhelming number of our users who tell us that phone is their preferred method of contact. We're probably going to continue asking for a phone number, because many users wo…

What service are you running where the "overwhelming number of [y]our users" tell you that phone is their preferred method of contact? As I wrote on the blog, email allows me to: - respond when it’s convenient for me. - keep most of my attention on what I’m doing. - archive and share the correspondence easily. - filter content I don’t want to hear anymore. - remain anonymous. - make careful, researched, edited respon…

Our customers are other businesses, but not focused on the technology field (electronic purchasing, actually), so your mileage may vary. I'm certain that if our target customer were tech-focused, that far more would prefer email, but that's just not the case for us.

I fully recognize the benefits of asynchronous communication, but I'm not out to educate my customers on the best way to communicate. I'm here to respond to them in whatever way they prefer. You'll be happy to hear that we let them choose the preferred method.

Re: Stop asking me for my phone number

#59

Post by kellishaver »

reemrevnivek wrote: post #13
bradleyland wrote: post #4

According to some brief research, it looks like somewhere around 0.33% of Americans under 85 are deaf, and around 4% are hard of hearing [1]. I find it preposterous to optimize for that small section of the user population at the expense of the overwhelming number of our users who tell us that phone is their preferred method of contact. We're probably going to continue asking for a phone number, because many users wo…

What service are you running where the "overwhelming number of [y]our users" tell you that phone is their preferred method of contact? As I wrote on the blog, email allows me to: - respond when it’s convenient for me. - keep most of my attention on what I’m doing. - archive and share the correspondence easily. - filter content I don’t want to hear anymore. - remain anonymous. - make careful, researched, edited respon…

I'm much like you. For the most part, I prefer email, especially with a new client/potential client, because I hate being caught off guard in those first moments. It's often easier to explain things in writing. I can edit before clicking "send" and it gives me a written record of whatever it is we've been talking about without having to take notes.

That said, I also quite frequently run into situations where multiple emails or IM conversations that go nowhere could be easily solved by a quick phone call. But this generally happens when I'm working on a project with someone, rather than simply passing along information.

I prefer email for general correspondence, but if I'm looking to do some brainstorming and collaborative problem-solving, or to do a quick review of some code/layout/functionality nothing beats a phone call. It's more engaging and more fast-paced for quickly exchanging and discussing ideas than email or even IM.

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