Voice Messages — Ill-timed or a Timely Necessity
All popular messaging apps, even Instagram, support a voice messaging feature. There are two types of people nowadays: those who love using voice messages and those who hate them. In today’s article, we’ll try to weigh the pros and cons.
Voice messaging is a controversial way of communicating. To some, it’s all about convenience — you can record them on the go or even while behind the wheel. However, not everyone will be delighted to receive a voice message while sitting at a meeting, in the lecture room at the university, not to mention in a noisy environment.
When Voice Messages are Appropriate
Pre-arranged consent
Voice messages are acceptable when you and the other person have agreed to use them. This could be in form of a non-verbal arrangement — that is, when it simply happened by itself — without compulsion or encouragement to do so. This is more likely to be true for close friends or relatives. Most probably, your interlocutor situationally knows that a voice message is the most obvious option, for instance, when you are at home or behind the wheel. The ideal thing to do before sending a voice message to friends or business partners is to send a text message to ask whether this form of communication is acceptable to them. Even when you get a positive response, it is better to develop the habit of asking each time you need to send voice messages. It’s all well and good when both parties are satisfied with voice messages since most people can speak faster than they type.
Always make the other person aware that it just might be easier to resolve a problem using a usual call.
When a voice message is not a whim, but a necessity
You can use your voice behind the wheel in case of urgency or emergency. Security above all else but you also don’t want to break an important deal. Here are a few instances for you:
“Hi, Jack! Sorry I have to leave a voice message as I’m driving. The client just called and said that they are ready to sign the contract if we send the layout before lunch today. Please send it immediately. It’s named “Layout_Client 1” and it’s right there on the desktop.”
Or this scenario:
“Good evening, John! I’m sorry I’m leaving a voice message, but my hands are full at the moment — still carrying some heavy boxes from the warehouse. Please pull up the vehicle at the third checkpoint. I’ll be there soon. It’ll take me half an hour to carry this stuff in my arms to the office”
In instances such as the above, always say hello and explain the reason for leaving a voice message and, of course, leaving voice messages seems quite appropriate.
But that may also be where the fun ends.
Are Voice Messages an Evil?
The drawbacks of voice messages by far outweigh their advantages.
Always be considerate when sending voice messages
For many, phone calls are considered a violation of personal space. A voice message is no different from a phone call, except that the recipient has to listen to a monologue. The most active smartphone users are millennials. According to surveys, they hate phone calls more than other generations. Voice messages often arrive at the wrong time. It’s convenient to listen to them only when at home when there is no one nearby, and when you are not busy doing business. Imagine if a voice message arrives when you are in a cinema, in the classroom, or at a meeting. It is impossible to know how important and urgent the message is without listening to it first. If you notice people in public places who strangely hold the smartphone speakers to their ears and trying to listen to something with irate expressions on their faces, then you can be sure that someone just sent them a voice message.
No search option
In text messages, you can search for messages by entering keywords. You can’t do that with an audio message. Not finding a good joke in a conversation with a friend is not so scary, but not finding a phone number or a contract, important details of an upcoming meeting, or the description of a task is far worse. Such information cannot be relayed through voice messages. In addition, such a message cannot be forwarded. It’s easier with text messages, where you simply delete unnecessary stuff and hit the forward button. Voice messages also need to be rewritten.
The technology is still imperfect
Microphones with 100% noise reduction have not yet been invented. Therefore, background noises, the sound from the highway or the railway will not contribute to improving the quality of the recording, and the message can become a mixed-up of words and hissing. Headset microphones often cannot boast of enough recording quality for sending a voice message. Consider these points before sending voice messages.
A most distracting task
Text messages will normally not attract attention if there is nothing important in them. Since they are displayed as previews, you only need to glance through the messages. A voice message requires attention, unless, of course, you simply ignore it. You need to grab your headphones, unlock your smartphone, or go to the app on your computer before you can listen to the message and understand its import. With such distractions, full concentration is lost.
Advice to lovers of voice messages
In situations such as those described at the beginning of this blog, it is well and good to send voice messages. If you need to send them quite often, you should try using your phone voice dictation feature. This feature will convert your speech into text directly in the text input field. Android phone users can use third-party software or built-in features on their phones. On the iPhone, the function is activated by pressing the microphone icon on the keyboard. Recognition works precisely in most cases and even allows you to insert punctuation marks. Using the speech-to-text feature will save the day in noisy places when neither your smartphone nor the person at the other end can clearly hear you.
Voice recognition and speech synthesis technologies are at the peak of development: voice assistants and smart home systems offer great opportunities for people with disabilities. For example, Apple’s VoiceOver technology is built into FineScanner. It voices the events on the screen as well as the interface elements and the recognized text of the documents. This will help visually impaired individuals to use FineScanner without any problems.
Avoid using voice messages if you’re in the habit of using swear words, interjections, or simply unable to speak briefly. In this case, for example, two minutes of voice message may contain only 30 seconds of meaning.
