While two major corporations and one commercial photographer do not constitute a trend, we’re beginning to see reports of something that would have been unthinkable even five years ago: Doing away with voicemail.

Background: Do we even use voicemail these days?

Until I started reading these reports, I have never thought of doing away with voicemail. Then I started monitoring my own usage of voicemail and realized that I only receive a trickle of voicemail messages for several reasons:

• My recorded greeting provides my email address and encourages people to contact me that way.
• My phone lists everyone who has called, so I often call them back before even listening to the message.
• When it comes to friends and family, co-workers and clients, they all know how to reach me via text message and messaging features on social media.
• People know I respond to email better than any other form of communication

After several weeks, I realized that the only voicemails I receive are from sources I don’t want to talk with: People trying to sell me things I already have or don’t want.

Why Coca-Cola and JPMorgan did away with voicemail

Last December, Coca-Cola announced it was doing away with voicemail in its corporate offices. Earlier this summer, JPMorgan made the same decision. Here are their reasons:

To save money. No, wait, to encourage productivity.

Coca-cola told its employees the no-voicemail decision had nothing to do with savings. The savings from eliminating voicemail will be less than $100,000 a year, said Amanda Rosseter, a Coke spokeswoman. The decision had more to do with simplifying work than trimming costs, she said. However, JPMorgan, in announcing their voicemail reduction earlier this summer, said it will save $3.2 million from the 65 percent of their employees who agreed to have their voicemail deactivated, according to Michael Fusco, a JPMorgan spokesman.

Because no one uses voicemail anyway.

—Gordon Smith, JPMorgan

A small business owner cuts off his voicemail (and doesn’t answer the phone)

Recently on the website DIY Photography, Toronto commercial photographer J.P. Danko provided a small business perspective on why he canceled his voicemail—and took it a step further: He no longer answers his business phone.

5 reasons why commercial photographer J.P. Danko no longer answers his phone.

1. “Phone calls are inconsiderate.”

When your phone rings, the expectation is that you drop everything and take the call. If you think about it, that’s actually pretty rude.

2. “Answering the phone is an inefficient waste of time.”

Numerous studies show that it takes an average of 25 minutes to return to task after being interrupted! That makes answering the phone a much bigger waste of time than it might seem.

3. “It is almost always a telemarketer.”

I’d say my ratio of telemarketers to actual calls is at least 5 to 1—maybe higher. The result is that when my phone rings, I know it’s probably someone I really don’t want to talk to.

4. “Only old people call me.”

If it’s not a telemarketer, it’s almost always someone over the age of 40. It’s not that I don’t like talking to old people, it’s just that they tend to use the phone a lot more often than their younger collogues, and they tend to call about much more trivial issues.

5. “I’m angry when I answer the phone.”

Because of the above, I’m always kind of pissed off when I answer the phone. This means that I sound pissed off right from “hello.” On the off chance that it is actually a client, or someone important that I want to talk to, the conversation usually doesn’t start off on the right foot.

(via: DIY Photography)

“I know you called—your name and number are on my phone—I just didn’t want to talk to you, so don’t leave a voicemail. If you have a message for me—leave a text.”

Why J.P. Danko did away with voicemail, also.

Could you cut off voicemail? Have you?
Share your experience here or on comment on Facebook.

Illustration: Thinkstock