In this always-connected world there seems to be an increasing demand by people to always know where their friends/families/associates are and what they are doing. Some may see this as an intrusion into the lives of one-another, but others, myself included, like to let people know what we are up to. Andy takes pictures with his cameraphone and sends them to Flickr while he is doing things. The rest of us get to observe his life. There are even sites like dodgeball designed to let people know where their friends are when something is going on.

All of this led me to think about voicemail. How come we only get one greeting for people to hear on our phones if we don’t answer them? Obviously we can’t answer the phone right now, because we didn’t, and obviously if it’s important you will be called back. But when? What’s going on? In our fast-paced world, “Sorry I can’t answer my phone right now, but leave a message and I’ll call you back,” doesn’t cut it. It only leads to frustration.

I think there ought to be choices for individuals to use for their voicemail greetings depending on the situation they are in where they cannot answer the phone. “I’m in a meeting, call you back in 30 minutes,” gives so much more important information than the standard greeting and can stop frustration and lead to the caller being productive again rather than worrying about getting ahold of the person.

As long as the choice is there, individuals would be able to customize the messages however they see fit. I imagine it working like Away Messages do on IM clients. “I am away from my computer” works for many people, but others like to say, “Out to lunch,” or “be right back.” Not everyone will want to know that you are currently in the shower, but your callers will know why you didn’t answer your phone if they hear your greeting.

I think it’s time for voicemail to lose the answering machine quality and catch up with the world.

tags: voicemail, idea, communication