AT&T Relents, Drops Paging Instructions from Voicemail
September 9, 2009, 6:05 pm
I know the big news today is supposed to be Steve Jobs returning to the stage at Apple's iPod announcements and all. But for me, the big news is this: As of today, AT&T has eliminated the most egregious portion of its mandatory, time-wasting voicemail instructions recording.
You know that blast from 1975? The part that says, "To page this person, press five now"? It's gone. Nationwide. Because of you, dear readers, and all the complaints you've filed in the last five weeks.
This is the first victory in our "Take Back the Beep" campaign. That's my crusade to pressure the cell carriers to eliminate those ridiculous, mandatory, airtime-eating, life-wasting recordings.
The wheels of huge corporations usually turn very slowly, but AT&T managed to discuss, process and implement this change in just five weeks.
Now, the truth is, the stupid recording isn't completely gone. When you call an AT&T phone, you still hear "At the tone, please record your message. When you are finished recording, press pound. You may then leave a callback number." But the whole thing is only 8 seconds long, down from 12 or 15.
Wheels are turning at T-Mobile on this issue. Sprint already lets you eliminate the entire recording. Verizon, characteristically, refuses to respond.
But AT&T gets the credit for being the first to take a small, important step toward sanity.
- Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company