Mystery on the phones

My, the phones and I are not getting on well.

 

It's a good year now, and I still haven't figured out how to get voicemail on my mobile phone.  I almost had it once, but something went wrong with it, and now I don't.

 

This creates the awkward predicament of needing to answer my phone when it rings.  Sounds normal, but when I'm in an important internal meeting or training, and waiting for a client or sales call, then I do have to answer my phone.  Not having voicemail is very normal here.  It's part of the reason why most people will always answer their phone, no matter what situation they are in.

 

I think it's an evolution - people start of revelling in being in-contact all the time.  But at some point they realise the intrusion, and begin choosing when they want to be available - i.e. when their mobile phone becomes a mobile answering service.

 

I was caught in an awkward foreigner-situation a couple of weeks ago.  I received a call while I was in an informal internal meeting.  The caller introduced themselves in Chinese, and I had no idea who he was.  A classmate of mine apparently, but I had to ask several times who he was and why he was calling, and in the end gave up.  He kept telling me his name, as if I should instantly recognise him.  Sorry pal, but there are just too many classmates in my MBA, and too many chinese names.  It was already inconvenient enough, so I asked him to call back later - which he never did. 

 

I think next time this happens, I'll have to take a number from the mystery caller - poor chap must have been offended as well as confused.  I must try again to get voicemail as well, although it's still proving not easy.  I think I found the right part of the service menu when I called China Mobile or whoever it was, but it wanted me to input my 6 digit password, and I haven't a clue what that might be.  Crap.