Tell me this: as phones for homes have changed radically over time, why haven’t work phones?
The phone I use at work is, pretty much, awful. The aesthetics are the first thing I can quibble over: it’s ugly. Uninspiring. Doesn’t make me want to call anyone, ever, because it’s going to be uncomfortable and unpleasant. Great!
But more than that, why can’t anyone design a work phone that does conferencing and transferring without memorization of stupid key sequences? Yes, this Ping stems from the fact that I accidentally disconnected someone last week when trying to transfer a call. Why? Because it wasn’t clear how to do that. There’s a “Transfer” button. But I’d put him on hold and, apparently, that’s a no-no. Go figure. Thanks for helping me, phone.
Other than the confusion around transferring and conferencing (there is no standard on keys to press), there’s the issue of its display. There’s a little LCD next to a lot of the buttons on the phone. When someone calls, for instance, a little triangle flashes on the display next to the button with my extension number on it. Great.
Sometimes, though, the little triangle points to other buttons. If I press “Handsfree/Mute”, the triangle jumps up there. Quick: is the caller on mute or handsfree? Exactly. What happens if I press it again? Unknown. And why, god, why is the button to hang up on someone labeled “Rls”? Come on. (On my boss’s phone, it’s “Goodbye!”)
I think that a lot of frustration in the office could be alleviated if someone just hired a damn designer to create a phone that made sense. This is nonsense, and it’s another instance where badly designed technology gives all technology a bad rep.
Posted in Miscellaneous