Hmm... while the previous comments have their POV's I think a couple missed the point of your blog.  I read it as "Should I leave a voicemail because the person did not answer my call, or should I text/email my message to them?" not "Is calling better than text/email?".  Of course *I* could have missed the point too, lol.

On the call vs. text, I'm pretty much with Mike.  The only time I actually call someone is for a customer service issue.  From getting a replacement drumset for Rockband, to seeing if a certain item is in stock.  Of course if I can get the info I need via chat such as on Bank of America's website, I would rather do that.  When I do call and get a voicemail box, I do not leave a message and will call back later.

Now onto what I thought the post was about... I do not leave voicemails, period.  I am in the group of people you mentioned that do not have their voicemail boxes setup.  And when I do get them, I do not check them until a week or two later.  Why?

Well because 9 times out of 10 the message just says, "Hey there, call me back when you get this." which I do anyway when I see who I missed a call from.  Most of my aunts who call and don't get me on the phone will just send a text which can usually be addressed in a return text.  If it is something like tech support they're needing, I will call them back. 

I will say this which is not meant to offend anyone, but merely an observation but it seems older(er) people (I am 30, so go from there) are the vast majority of voicemail leavers.  Like I was saying earlier, most of my voicemails are, "This is Grandma, call me back when you get this."  haha.  She really cannot text or anything.  In fact she has her 8 speed dials and the names of who is what # on the back of her phone with masking tape.  lol  I love her.  My wife always gets the "Just calling to see what you were doing" voicemails from her mom.

I also stopped listening to them because when I did get a detailed message; not old would I have to sit and listen to it for however long it was, I would have to endue the whole story AGAIN when I would call the person as they would feel the need to re-tell it.  UGH!  That is the same thing as the dumb people who call from their cell phones to a movie rental store to ask what movies came out, then say, "Well I am on my way anyway, I will see what else is out when I get there."  WHAT IS THE POINT!??  *AHEM* But I digress...

I dunno... I guess I have just always like doing things for myself.  I go to the self checkout line at HEB or Wal-Mart.  I will not use a phone book, and in fact have not in quite some time thanks to Google.  I will pass up a gas station if it is not pay at the pump.  I prefer paperless billing from my bank than getting that big envelope in the mail every month.  I get my check direct deposited rather than having to go to the bank to cash/deposit it.  Heck, I got a GPS a couple of days ago so I would never have to ask for directions!  lol  I actually have not had to do that in quite some time thanks to my BlackBerry and Google Maps but it was a great deal so I caved.

I don't even remember my voicemail password so I haven't checked it in 2 years.  My mailbox is full & every now & then I would wonder why my phone would beep showing a new voicemail when I hadn't recieved a call....now I know it's cycling through the messages as they are deleted.  I also don't leave voicemails as I hate the way my recorded voice sounds....if you don't answer I will call back.  I have caller ID & odds are if I don't answer it's cuz I don't want to leaving a message isn't going to change the fact that I don't wish to speak to you at the moment.....if it's important text or call immediately back & I will know I should answer whether I want to or not.

Hey everyone, sorry I didn't respond earlier, I was too busy listening to all my voicemails. Zing! Thanks for all your comments. I also prefer to speak to people in realtime, and just hate having to leave voicemail messages. Main reason is I always ramble on and on forever and end up sounding like a crazy person when I leave a voicemail.

I normally don't have enough time during the day to answer all my office calls, which roll over to my cell, which normally goes unanswered except for about 6 numbers. So yes, voicemail is still very important to me.

If it's really important, everyone knows to send me a text message.

And then there are those of us who are so technilogically challenged that we thank God every day that we have a son who is an IT tech who can fix whatever it is we have broken. Just leave me a voicemail. I do really well with old landline phones!

CJ - Have to qualify my answer here. Like Sugar Magnolia, when dealing with first, doctors(and I am in a flurry of dealing with doctors at the moment), and particularly in a dispute or service issue with any number of utility companies, automotive services, I want a voice, a live voice preferably so I may get my point across. For those folks I will do a voicemail, expecting a living person to return the call to my cell, where I will then have them cornered! Nuff said about that. As far as texting, IMs, and e-mails, well suffice to say if I was convicted of a crime tomorrow, the two worst punishments I could think of for me would be either to lock me away from my computer or cell phone, or hypnotize me and strip my memory of the multitude of passwords I retain in my head. Simply put I couldn't survive without instant messaging(2 accounts) running almost simultaneously), texting, or the wonderful combination - SMS messages. And last but certainly not least is my e-mail. I find myself like a kid anxiously waiting for the mailman sometimes, when logging in to any of my e-mail accounts, expecting something to be there. I am a child of the sixties firmly entrenched in this amazing age of instant data transfer. It is invaluable as a work tool. I chat daily with folks in India, and instantly transfer PDF drawings and photos with them, and it is as if they are in the next office(only dark outside one of our windows at any given time). Texting? There isn't enough room here for me to rave about that. Hate to admit it, but I can drive to work at 5AM, watching the news/traffic on my little TV and texting on the fly. I thought about doing a post on the culture of IM's and texting, right down to the "tone of voice" that can be used with data only! About the only drawback is the hardware for me. I usually have to have my 13 y.o. son figure out a new phone for me.....I tried for days to figure out how to get the mp3 player on my phone to play the 2gig of music I had loaded onto the micro SD disk in it. Wouldn't you know, sitting in a meeting one day, I leaned against a chair with my phone on my belt, and viola! Counting Crows and "Mr. Jones" is now the background music for the meeting until I figure how to stop the dam thing. Well, at least I know how to work the cotton pickin' thing now!.........

Great post Cynthia :-)

 My preference? I prefer talking to REAL people, real voices, in real time, in person. When that is not feasible, phone talk (not phone or voice-mail tag) will do. Thanx for the pic, though. My grandmother was an answering service operator for many years, and she dearly misses the switchboards. My mother was a telecommunications operator (dispatcher) for the police and later sheriff's department and had a blast as well. Miss the info coming off the teletype when I would go visit her at work. I don't feel so much fondness for modern technology. I have never "texted" a day in my life and see no need to at this point.