That Thing In Your Hand Is A Phone

With all the technology advances and the “latest toys” being touted everywhere, the telephone has become everything to many. It’s a camera, a music player, a web browser, a connection to social networking sites, a portable file cabinet for information, and all sorts of other applications. But here’s the thing — underneath all the fun stuff added on, it’s still a communication device to use for one on one personal contact!
With all the pressures of Social Networking — Facebook, Linked In, Biznik, Ning, Xing, Twitter, Plurk, and more than I can list here, how many times do you just pick up the phone and call someone to touch base and tell them you’d like their business?

For years it was the only way to do that, now it’s foreign to many. I have one client who tells me that although they MUST have the latest and greatest phone out there, they never make any calls on it. They wouldn’t know where to start if they had to talk to someone on the phone! Have we lost that skill?

Oh, and another thing to think about – with all the phone services offering free national calling, do we still need 800 numbers? They cost us for every minute used. A few years ago, they were required as a business tool but now seem pretty superfluous and an earmark of a bygone era. What do you think?