The Death of Voicemail, and Other Evolving Trends

You may have heard recently that JP Morgan Chase & Co. is doing away with voicemail.

At one time, voicemail was a godsend, revolutionizing the office environment and getting rid of all those pink “While you were out” notes.

But with the rise of the smartphone in the past 10 years, and the ease to send an email or text message, the interest and usage of voicemail has markedly deteriorated. People dislike having to listen to each message in chronological order as well as having to listen to the entire message to get to the next one.

It’s just so … 2001.

With email, the written message can be read, reread, saved, deleted, or forwarded to others. Although you can re-listen to a voicemail as well as save, delete, and forward it, email is the most preferred method for business communication.

JP Morgan stands to save $3.2 million a year by doing away with a service that they say “hardly anyone uses” anymore. Clearly, it appears that the catalyst of this initiative was financial; it is all a part of a larger plan for the company to save $2 billion in annual expenses by 2017. Makes commonsense, right? Getting rid of voicemail in their consumer banking division may not seem overtly significant. Coca Cola did the same thing in 2014 in its effort to cut costs. But is there another reason that underlies the extinction of this once, modern technology?

According to Forbes, the dismantling of JP Morgan’s voicemail systems could mean that the company is placing greater “priority on the needs of their younger customers and employees.” This is all makes sense when you consider that the Millennial generation surpassed the number of Baby Boomers as the largest living generation in the U.S. today.

Since the Millennial audience helped invent and advance the social media phenomenon, some studies show that social media interactions are replacing email. Consider that one can communicate with a single person or thousands of individuals on a social media platform – you can either join a conversation or create a brand new one. Social media can be used as a hub where a company can manage all their communications in one place. There are no issues with ownership or privacy here.

According to the Pew Research Center, the 18 to 29 year old Millennial is “confident, connected, and open to change.” With this population shift, it should come as no surprise then that these younger adults are sparking new trends and helping getting rid of old ones.

How about you?
Does your company use voicemail?
What’s your preferred method of communication? Email, texting, or social media?
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Sources:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/8949090/50-things-killed-by-technology.html
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/files/2010/10/millennials-confident-connected-open-to-change.pdf