Knowing how to use your own phone

I am a patient services rep for a major medical company and I get calls from patients and doctor's offices all day long. One of my biggest pet peeves is when I get a call from someone and they insist on using their speaker phone. First of all I'm not going to strain my ear to hear you simply because you don't want to hold your own phone up to your ear. And you'd be surprised that the number of those who call tend to be over the age of 50 or 60. You answer the phone and you can hear them washing dishes, watching TV, or it sounds like the phone is sitting on a table on the other side of the room. Given that I'm about to give medical information or information about their accounts I would rather you not have the phone on speaker. Do you know that 90% of those who call on speaker don't know how to take their phones off speaker. Last time I checked the cellphone doesn't automatically dial on speakerphone. You have to hit a button to put it on speaker. Several times I've asked a patient if they could take me off speaker so I could hear them clearly and their response is "I don't know how to take the phone off speaker." I normally say something to the affect of "the same button you hit to put it on speaker is typically the same button you hit to take it off speaker." Then they'll usually say something like, "I don't know how to use this phone." Ok, well then, if you don't know how to use your phone stop hitting buttons you aren't sure of what they do.

Why does everyone insist on using speakerphone? I hate it and I can always tell when someone is using it and politely ask them to take me off. Again, I'm not going to strain my own ear simply because you just want to lay the phone on your lap or on the table next to you. Then also I don't want to give out your medical information where someone may be in earshot.

Worst invention ever created: Speakerphone. Do you agree? I guess it makes people feel important that way they can do other things while calling about their account. "I'm too busy to hold my phone but let me call you to discuss my account with you."

 

You are so right. I have an employee that calls from construction sites, always on speaker. All the construction noise comes over as loud or more loudly than him, and he sounds like he has a mouth full of marbles. Every time I have to tell him to get off speaker. Will it ever sink in?

 

No, because their time is always more valuable than yours. "I'm calling you about my life saving medicine but I would rather not hold the phone to discuss it."

And then I've heard this a lot too. "I can't hear you if I take you off speaker." So you mean to tell me, you can hear me clear as a bell if the phone is sitting on your lap or on a table feet away from your ear but the minute you take it off speaker and put it right up against your ear you now can't hear me? There is a volume button on every cell phone.