Cordless Phone with Answering Machine
Since we got our new cordless phone with answering machine, it has been nothing but trouble. First of all, although it is supposed to have the newest digital technology to supress any disturbances, you would be amazed at the amount of static and interference on our cordless phone with answering machine the moment we step away from the base unit. Some part of the problem is that there is a radio antenna on top of our office building, and the waves that are emitted by that are causing some of the disturbances, but still, this was never a problem when we had our old standby phone with answering maching.
In addition with the hiss and the radio announcements in the background of our phone is an even more worrying problem ? signal crossover from other cordless phones with answering machines. Normally we can't really hear what they are saying and they can't hear what we are saying, but occasionally words do slip through. Ours is a high powered financial institution with clients from among the richest businessmen in the whole world, and so security is a premium. If people can unintentionally hear a word or two gleaned from our conversation over our cordless phone with answering machine, imagine what someone bent on industrial sabotage could do!
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Another problem with the cordless phone with answering machine is that the darned phone is always getting lost. My secretary takes it and then puts it down getting coffee, forgetting to return it and it is lost. I take a call, and leave it in my closet or filing cabinet, searching for some client information or other. Somehow it is impossible to keep track of the cordless phone with answering machine, although in truth we've both managed to hang on to our cell phones for years and only lost them once or twice.
I guess the difference is that you're always on the go at the office. That was the appeal of the cordless phone with answering machine in the first place: it gives you the flexibility to move about the work space while conferring with clients on important business. But the slick, compact phone headset finds its way into the most unlikely and inconvenient places. A junior partner accidentally took it to lunch with him the other day and the whole office was paralyzed for an hour. I know that modern technology is key to keep a business on the cutting edge and to give it the competitive advantage that we all need, but I wonder some times if the tried and true methods don't have there merits as well.