[imagesource: Reuters]

The majority of the calls I receive now are automated robocalls, or someone trying to upgrade my mobile contract.

You know the ones – “Hi, how are you?”

It’s nice that you’re asking but, cut to the chase so that I can politely say I’m not interested, thanks for the call, and hang up.

Anyway, that is both a black mark on how our details are sold to companies for profit and the fact that more and more people are realising the humble voicenote is the way forward.

I’m delighted it’s replacing phone calls, which, unless the person calling has messaged first to check if now is a good time, is basically someone assuming that you’re going to be able to drop whatever else you’re doing at that moment because it suits them.

In singing the praises of the voicenote, Mashable says it could also replace typed-out messages as well:

Whenever you need to tell an exceptionally long story or explain something that your thumbs don’t have the energy to type out, audio messages are there for you. And whenever you want to let someone know you’re actually laughing at something they said, sending a clip of your cackle is infinitely more gratifying than texting another tired, insincere “lol.”

Audio messages are great time savers, and they’re also a perfect way to show someone that you feel extra comfortable expressing yourself to them…

Hang on, isn’t sending voicenotes back and forth essentially the same as a phone call?

Incorrect buzzer noise – no, it is vastly different:

While voice messages allow you to year your contacts speak, they’re more like using a walkie talkie than having a phone call. They have the audio benefits of a call — such as allowing you to hear tone of voice and inflections — but they nix the anxiety factor, and also give you a chance to respond in a delayed fashion.

You send me a six-minute voicenote – all good, when I have six minutes to listen to it, I will do so. I can then fire off my own voicenote when I have time.

People who don’t enjoy typing save on the hassle, and people who don’t enjoy receiving phone calls out of the blue also win.

Everyone’s a winner. Look at us, all winning.

At this stage, for the technologically inept, we should point out a very simple trick. If you push play on a voicenote in WhatsApp, and lift the phone to your ear, the sound stops playing out of the ‘loudspeaker’, and instead comes out of the phone speaker, directly into your ear.

Perfect for when you’re standing in a queue at Woolies, and you don’t want anybody to know your pal has asked that you pick up a second bottle of Chardonnay to plough through over lunch.

I guess one downside of voicenotes is that they can be forwarded on, and on, and on, and next thing South Africans are flocking to the bottle store in fear, but the same is true for text messages, even if they tend to have less impact.

Ultimately, phone calls have their time and place, but as we become more used to employing voicenotes in situations where they can be equally as (or more) effective than a call, the revolution will continue.

Viva.

[source:mashable]