Any rescues that use an answering machine?

[Canterbury_cats (Sharon)]

our answerphone for the branch was around 35 quid from Amazon..  But if anyone can find a better one i am all for it.. It does have an 1471 facility so numbers are repeated but like rehoming if they dont leave a message i dont ring them back..

I dread to think the cost of our calls this quarter it must be a large amount so many mobiles...

[Mark]

A question - you have to pay to pick up messages from mobile don't you???

Yes - the standard mobile rate. It can really add up. The last woman started telling me about her old cat and I cut her short and told her we have to keep calls short as they are paid for out of money we need for vet bills 

[Angiew]

Also meant to say we invested in a bog standard pay as you go mobile phone to use as the number.

The theory was when i have a nervous breakdown the phone could be handed to the next victim volunteer and so on. Calls would be dialled out from home phones or texted so t outgoing calls (costs) were kept to a minimum.

Am a bit worried about it putting people off but I think most people are used to the idea of mobiles (apart from me!) and premium rates now. Haven't got round to using it yet as I can hardly remember to charge mine or my works one as it is, but intend to do so soon - it was going to co-incide with our new website bit I forgot
Mind you the thought of having to carry 3 mobiles around with me is a bit daunting!

A question - you have to pay to pick up messages from mobile don't you???

[LilyandGary]

I used one when I was heavily involved with dog rescue. People would start ringing at 9 am, assuming I worked in an office, so I used to take the dogs out then or I never would have walked them!!!! I did leave a mobile number for them to contact in an emeregency with a dog needing a home, as I was out and about so much (usually with rescue stuff!)

I would always ring people back asap if it was a request for help with rehoming their dog, and then start on the people wanting a dog. It was handy to leave a short message for people especially at busy times. I did find it frustrating at times, but I did need to lead a life too.

[Mark]

It turned out she wanted a kitten "for my daughter as a surprise" -  

[Mark]

Our phone number is my home line with a machine attached. If I don't answer then a lot of people hang up when the machine kicks in and as it does so after 3 rings I very often can't get to it in time.

If its important they will leave a message or try again.

As its my money I waste , mostly I text via 18866 online for them to call back if its a mobile. If I can't get the number then tough - some people just mumble..... they will phone back if they want it bad enough!

I have phoned this last one about 5 times and it keeps going to voicemail. I am tempted to leave her my home number but some of them are bunny boilers and keep calling forever more.

Anyway, on the bright side, we have had 4 calls for neutering vouchers today.

[Mark]

Mark, if you want to repeat the message press 4. 

Thanks Julie  - I assumed it was the best we could do - didn't Sharon Pay about a fiver for it off Amazon?

The other annoying thing is say you get 5 messages, 4 of them are duds so you delete as you go. The last one is a real message so you write it down but don't delete it just in case. When you dial in again, the 4 deleted ones are still there  - so in other words. unless you delete them all, none get deleted.

[Angiew]

Our phone number is my home line with a machine attached. If I don't answer then a lot of people hang up when the machine kicks in and as it does so after 3 rings I very often can't get to it in time.

If its important they will leave a message or try again.

As its my money I waste , mostly I text via 18866 online for them to call back if its a mobile. If I can't get the number then tough - some people just mumble..... they will phone back if they want it bad enough!

[Pinkbear (Julie)]

Mark, if you want to repeat the message press 4. 

[Mark]

I tempted fate there as I just had a call. She didn't say what she wanted but wanted someone to phone her on a mobile. Depending on what it is about, she will get a lecture about wasting charity money (even though it is my minutes - she will get no more than 2 of them!)

[Mark]

That annoys me too.

They gabble the number once and you have to start again to hear it. Our machine won't play a message again to you have to dial in, wait for it to answer, press *, then the security code and listen over again. I agree re the people that don't say what they want - it's just "phone me on XXXXXX" which 9 times out of 10 is a mobile number    and then it is usually something silly like "can you feed my cat while I am away?" 

[Ann Clarke (Tabby cat)]

We have that problem all the time Mark, I only do the phone for short periods to give our wonderful Maureen a break from it but it really annoys me. We've had different answer machines over the years but it always happens  My other bugbear is people who don't speak clearly enough for you to hear their number or don't give you any clue as to why they are ringing.

[Mark]

Since I last posted I checked again and it said there were 5 messages. 4 were dropped calls from a mobile and the 5th was the woman asking for a neutering voucher for her mum. She gav her mum's landline or her own mobile to call back. 

[Mark]

We do, as different people pick up the calls each day - although Sally does 3 days (poor woman  )

We seem to get so many "dropped" calls. People that hang up when they realise it is a machine. There is no way we can call them back if they don't leave a message as its too expensive/time consuming etc. I cleared the last calls 1/2 hour ago and just checked and had 5 more  - A lot of the time, the same person keeps ringing back over and over thinking that someone will pick up in the end - even though the message says clearly that the cals are picked up throughout the day by volunteers.

Its just irritating when it says "you have 14 calls" and you panic wondering how many are real calls and you have to go through them and delete one at a time. Maybe we just have a crappy phone system  - Maybe other ones don't register dropped calls?