I'm not sure if I like voicemail or not.

I'm not sure if I like voicemail or not. I like getting messages when I'm either away from the office or on another call, the security of knowing I don't miss a call is nice. I hate voicemail when I know someone is hiding behind it, letting it take my call as opposed to answering themselves.

But this post is created not from those likes and dislikes, its creation is a pet peeve of mine - the voicemail where the caller merely says "Call me when you get a chance."

It happened again recently and I can't stand it.

Why did the person call? Is it urgent? Should I immediately return the call? Can I wait to return the call after I handle a more urgent issue? Is there something I need to do?

I worked with a sales person once that used to leave me this type of voicemail all the time. I never had the slightest idea what they wanted and never knew if I should hunt them down or not. Probably 9 out of 10 times they wanted to discuss some trivial issue that could have waited or been addressed with a return voicemail or email from me. Rarely if ever was there anything urgent.

What really got me with this sales person though was they used voicemail the same way with their customers. They