Do you keep a record of your phone calls?

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wefunction
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26 Jul 2011, 2:52 pm

This sounds dumb, especially when we have cell phones that can have us taking calls anywhere anytime, but for the important calls, I like to keep a written record in the notebook. I write down the date the phone call took place, the number, who it was with, what the purpose was, and any important information included in that call. If a voicemail was left, I note that.

This helps me remember and it also gives me a quick reference to grab and use when I need it.



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26 Jul 2011, 4:21 pm

Nope. Because I don't make phone calls unless absolute essential.
And because it's so hard for me to make calls, I tend to remember the few I make in intricate detail (which I replay in my head over and over) without needing to write them down.


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26 Jul 2011, 5:33 pm

No, actually I'm just the opposite - as soon as I end a call, I automatically delete it from my phone. I can't stand to have a cluttered in or out box.


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wefunction
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26 Jul 2011, 6:12 pm

I don't know how you all keep track of the phone calls that need to be made and when you have to follow up on issues if you erase all evidence of making the call in the first place. How do you remember who you talked to? Their employee ID number? The case number for your call? Any pertinent information in that call? I'm in awe how you can have social anxiety and yet retain all this information effortlessly. I wish I could be like that.



ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo
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26 Jul 2011, 7:25 pm

For me, the calls are on the caller ID and I can remember who goes with which number. I'm funky like that.



CockneyRebel
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26 Jul 2011, 8:33 pm

I don't keep records of my calls, because I don't get calls from many people anyways.


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27 Jul 2011, 6:13 pm

wefunction wrote:
I don't know how you all keep track of the phone calls that need to be made and when you have to follow up on issues if you erase all evidence of making the call in the first place. How do you remember who you talked to? Their employee ID number? The case number for your call? Any pertinent information in that call? I'm in awe how you can have social anxiety and yet retain all this information effortlessly. I wish I could be like that.


Retain what? I don't make calls to people I don't know, nor answer calls until I know who's on the other end. I have far less social anxiety on the phone than I do in person, because I don't have to interpret body language or facial expressions, but I still don't go out of my way to interact with strangers that way, unless its absolutely necessary.

OTOH, if you started using the phone when they were still rotary-dialers, you remembered the details because you had to. I was a teenager before the first answering machines were marketed and in my thirties before there was such a thing as caller ID. A notepad can help, but notes get lost.


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wefunction
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28 Jul 2011, 2:45 pm

Caller ID doesn't do anything for me. It shows me a number and possibly the registered name. Big deal. I need to retain more than that or else the phone call would be unnecessary. I guess I'm the only one here who has to make actual phone calls to people, regardless of whether or not I know them to any degree, to discuss issues that involve my life, my money, my children's lives, etc. and that things can get pretty messed up if I don't keep it straight. You're all pretty lucky.



YellowBanana
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28 Jul 2011, 3:26 pm

You have children so your life is probably more complicated than mine. The main reason we don't have children is that I doubt my ability to cope not with the children directly but with everything that goes with them - does that make me lucky?

However, as I stated above the ONLY calls I make are those that absolutely have to be made - and even with those I'll attempt to deal with them by email first if at all possible. It will take me
days (or weeks or months) to work up to making the call and sometimes it takes so long that the issue resolves itself one way or another - not always in a positive way. Again, does this make me lucky?

When I finally make the call it is like any interaction - stressful! - and it sticks in my head like any other ineraction, replaying regularly for hours, days, weeks, months as I analyse and reanalyse everything that was said, the way in which it was said, wondering whether I misinterpreted something or if I was misinterpreted and affecting my concentration and ability to do other things. So, does this make me lucky?

Just another perspective...


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28 Jul 2011, 4:46 pm

I purposely do as much communication as possible via e-mail because I want a record. I avoid the phone as much as possible because people mistake my enunciation and expression of details to be anger instead of just trying to communicate as error-free as possible. Now if I could just get people to actually completely read an e-mail and stop interpreting it for what they think it's saying instead of simply reading what's written...

When I do call places like the electric company, I write all the appropriate information down on the statement I'm inquiring about. I don't like dealing with all the menus (slow slow slow) and constantly having to repeat the same information as I'm passed from person to person. My biggest issue with calling places though is that I can't always understand the person on the other end of the phone. Many people simply don't enunciate enough for me to understand and it's very tiring to constantly tell people to please speak up and repeat what was said. The standard level of "familiarity" used also irks me because I expect a level of formality that seems to be lacking nowadays. I am not "Blue" and I am not your friend; I am "Mrs. Star", "Ma'am", (or even "Sir") or some other form expressing respect.