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The mobile phone is a fundamental part of our everyday life as a
crucial tool for business, communications and, practically, every other
facet of interpersonal interaction. Someone dials your phone number and
you are connected within seconds to communicate.
But what happens when you are not available to take the call?
Research shows that in the corporate space, roughly 80 per cent of all
communications take place over the phone, and about 85 per cent of
people whose calls are not answered will not call back. It can be a
major setback when a person misses an important call. However, some
steps can be taken so as not to “miss” a call.
Some of these steps are:
(1) Install a missed call and voicemail app
There are apps that help you keep track of all your incoming calls,
especially those calls that go unanswered. These apps also serve as a
voicemail service for you. A very good example of such an app is
Kirusa’s InstaVoice app. InstaVoice notifies you of all missed calls as
well as allows your callers to leave you voicemails when you are
unavailable to take the call for any reason.
The best part is that even when your phone is turned off, and calls
are attempted to your mobile number, the app will notify of such calls
immediately you turn on your phone, and you can easily call back such
contacts or numbers that tried calling you. Additionally, it has a chat
platform where you can have conversations via text, voice notes, and
pictures. It can be downloaded on Google Play app store, Apple Store,
BlackBerry World, and Amazon Alexa. With apps like these, the agony of
missing calls from clients, friends, family, colleagues, business
partners, etc, and its inherent opportunities are eliminated.
(2) Don’t leave your phone in silent mode
Never leave your mobile phone in silent mode when expecting
important calls. Silent mode is a mobile phone sound configuration that
shuts down all sound on the phone, including ringer and notification
sounds. What this means is that when the silent mode is activated, you
will not hear any call come in except if you happen to look at the phone
by chance. To remove this setting, go to Settings > Sound
Profile/Sound Settings, then change from ‘Silent’ to ‘General’ setting.
Or just press down the ‘Volume’ up button on your phone.
(3) Use notification flash
Your phone’s back camera light can do more than just make your
pictures look great. It can also alert you when you get calls by
flashing on and off repeatedly. This feature would definitely come in
handy when phone goes on silent mode or is far from your reach but
within sight. It is also very valuable to people with auditory
impairment.
(4) Keep your phone charged
A major cause of inability to receive calls is a dead phone
battery. Calls will not go through when the battery of the receiver is
flat. Keeping phones charged at all times in an environment with
epileptic electricity supply can be very challenging. In situations
where you find yourself with a low battery and no electricity supply to
charge the phone, having a power bank and solar-powered lanterns with
charging ports might prove quite invaluable.
(5) Take your phone everywhere
Yes, obvious but just as important. If you get calls regularly, you
don’t want to miss the calls and even having to call back with your own
credit. Take your phone everywhere with you, don’t leave it on the
couch, in your bedroom, or anywhere you are not present. Keep the phone
in your pocket, hand bag, or hold it in your hands. Low battery might
tempt you to want to drop it to charge while you go somewhere else, but a
viable solution to that would be to get a power bank as suggested
earlier.
(6) Stay in areas with good telecommunication network
If you are in a place where there is low network coverage, chances
are whoever may be trying to call you will be unable to reach you.
Either the call will not go through at all, or the call so inaudible
both you and the caller are stuck in an endless “please say that again; I
can’t hear you clearly” situation. It is best to stay in locations
where your network operator is strongest. Now this doesn’t necessarily
mean you go climbing your network carrier’s telecom pole to make calls;
they cover very vast areas of land. All you need do is to always stay
within area with full network bars and you are good to make and receive
calls as they come.
(7) Get a Bluetooth call earphones
For those whose regular schedule requires that they move about
within a specific space, it might be too cumbersome to carry your phone
around, or keeping running back to your desk when the phone rings.
A way you can avoid missing most of your calls will be to get a
Bluetooth call earpiece. So when your phone rings, all you have to do is
just tap a button on the earpiece and you are on to the call…just like
that.
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
