|
Alice Smith |
Commentary: Churches, please check your telephone manners
June 27, 2006
By Alice Smith*
My mother, Irene Massey, is making a move from condo-living to a
senior adult facility, and as part of the paperwork involved, I spent
several hours on the telephone recently trying to get some needed
financial information. I was making the calls because she has trouble
navigating phone systems and hearing what people say.
My mother is quite smart and alert and on top of things (she speeds
through the daily crossword puzzle in the paper), and her physical
problems are mostly related to some hearing loss and trouble walking
because of an arthritic knee. She is moving to an independent living
facility, but one that offers support services. It is a move she
initiated and is ready for, and I believe she will enjoy the other
residents and the many activities.
I totally understand her frustration about trying to get a human on
the phone when you want some information that you are entitled to and
should be able to obtain readily. Convoluted voice-mail systems have
become so commonplace that there are Web sites that tell you what to do
in specific companies in order to access a person.
But what I've encountered as editor of Wesleyan Christian Advocate,
the newspaper of the North and South Georgia annual conferences, is
that many churches (not all, by any means) have impersonal phone systems
where it's difficult to get a person on the line. Of all the places in
the world you would expect to make human contact and hear a friendly
voice right from the start, it is a church.
I call a lot of churches in my job, and it's usually during regular
office hours when a staff member is normally there. Often I am amazed at
what I find (or hear). One church, upon answering, had two full minutes
of recorded options (I timed it). There was a greeting, listing of
office hours, a fax number, an emergency number, a chance to punch your
party's extension or access a staff directory, a lengthy discourse on
the church's ministries, an opportunity to hear a monthly devotion - and
finally the option to press "0" to talk to a person.
And while I'm at it, I have two other pet peeves. One is calling a
church, asking to speak to someone, being put through as if the person
were there and then getting the person's voice mail. I so appreciate
those who tell me upfront the person isn't in and then offer access to
their voice mail, because it gives me the opportunity to ask when the
person will be in or if there is someone else who can help me. When
you're working on deadlines, this information is helpful.
My other pet peeve is when people e-mail me but my response back
doesn't go through because I'm not on their approved list. Once I went
on one of our conference Web sites to get information about a specific
event, and when I e-mailed the contact name on the Web site, I received
the message, "I now allow incoming messages only from senders I have
approved beforehand." Why on earth would some give their e-mail address
"for more information" and then refuse to receive the e-mails?
I understand and appreciate the conveniences that come with message
machines and e-mail, but common courtesy never goes out of style.
Particularly it's incumbent on churches--which should place the highest
priority on human connection in an increasingly anonymous society--to
evaluate how they answer their phones and the image they are presenting
to their members and the world.
*Smith is editor of the Wesleyan Christian Advocate, the newspaper of the North and South Georgia annual conferences.
News media contact: Linda Green, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
|
|