Answering Capabilities (was Answering Machines)

[Tom Cole]

Z! Reinhardt wrote:
> 
> Call-Forwarding Users -- do you have a problem with junk (solicitation)
> calls?  Personal calls?  I can certainly appreciate the convenience of
> receiving calls in *real time* but I'm a stubborn old bitch when it comes
> to manners.  I have always felt that the piano before me gets my undivided
> attention unless there is an all-out drop-everything emergency, and the
> people most likely to have to call under those circumstances already have
> the cell-phone number.
> 

Z!

I used to call-forward to my cell phone when I first got it. The first
call I got was someone shopping the Yellow Pages and I talked the guy
into a $250 tuning/repair job - while standing in line at the
supermarket. Another time, I got a call from a colleague who needed a
butt plate. I happened to be nearby and could supply the part.

It's been mostly downhill from there, though. People would call while
I'm speaking with a customer or during a tuning when I'm running late or
while I'm driving and about to leave a cell. Later on, telephone
solicitations became more frequent and much more annoying considering I
have to pay the air time so I stopped receiving calls in the field.

Once in a great while, if I'm expecting an important call, I can turn on
Call-Forwarding. It's nice to have the feature. The only other time is
when my wife comes with me and can screen the calls.

Tom

My dad used to call 'em "modern inconveniences".

-- 
Thomas A. Cole RPT
Santa Cruz, CA