People who call back from caller ID

dudara

I currently work as a temp and some of my assignments have involved switchboard/receptionist duties. I frequently receive calls from people wanting to know did I ring them. They've obviously seen a missed call on their caller ID (be it on mobile or landline) and they then ring. However, because the calls go through a switchboard, it's the main number that appears. This really annoys me, as it wastes my time, and I'm surprised at the huge numbers of people who waste their time and money doing this.

Question: Do you do this? Do you ring back missed numbers, or would you work under the assumption that if they wanted to speak to you, that they'll ring again.

Let me just add, that I never ring back. If people want to talk to me, they can try again or leave a voicemail.

Sarky

Only if it's a number I recognise. I have a deep-seated mistrust of strange phone numbers.

Dave!

If it's a mobile number I'll ring it back, but if it's a landline I won't, cos it could be a friend, and their mother who I don't know answers (and she doesn't know me), so I'll be like "I got a missed call, this is DaveMcG", and she'll be like "I don't know any DaveMcG, I'm calling the police, leave us alone!"

So yeh, mobiles yes, landlines no.

mepink

you are right dudara - if they want to speak to you they will ring back.

This is the same for those people who race to the phone in case they miss a call - leave it, if it is important they will leave a message or call back.:p

Morlar

I think it depends on who you think it might be - if say, your waiting on a delivery and had to pop out - then get back to a missed call you'd probably ring it - that sort of thing. If I am not expecting any reasonably important calls then I wouldnt bother.

Kiera

I wait for them to ring back. Like you said if its that important they’ll ring back or leave a voice mail.

Darragh29

dudara wrote:

Let me just add, that I never ring back. If people want to talk to me, they can try again or leave a voicemail.

Simple question is why don't you just answer your phone when it rings the first time??? I can't understand why people are terrified to answer their phone when they don't recognise the number!?!?!.

Firstly, if you do answer the phone, you are not paying for the call, the other party is. Secondly, if it is bad news of any sort, do you think it will get any better when you ring them back, costing you money!?!?! Same is true for voicemail and test messages, do you think the actual message is going to change because the caller leaves a voicemail or text message instead of getting to talk to you??? Can someone please explain to me why people are terrified of taking unknown/private calls???

TerrorFirmer

I get that on the switchboard in work a bit too, can be annoying alright....but if I ever miss a call, I usually only call it back if its a friend, or if Im actually expecting a call....I dunno really, I never actually miss calls so I couldn't say for definate!

dudara

Darragh29 wrote:

Simple question is why don't you just answer your phone when it rings the first time???

because I might be working, training or otherwise occupied.

Can someone please explain to me why people are terrified of taking unknown/private calls???

that's not my issue. I used the phrase "missed" calls, not avoided/dodged calls.

Gordon

dudara, baby, if you want my phone number you should just ask me.

Giblet

I keep getting calls and missed calls from some spanish lad trying to ring someone. I'm on the verge of strangling him because he can't ****ing put the right number in his ****ing phone!

Adam

Sarky wrote:

Only if it's a number I recognise. I have a deep-seated mistrust of strange phone numbers.

Me too. If I get a phone call from a number I dont know I just stare at my phone until it goes away....

I usually win.

dudara

Gordon wrote:

dudara, baby, if you want my phone number you should just ask me.

Then I'll finally be able to get that barring order

monkeyfudge

I got one of these on Sunday... I didn't call back though.

Strangely it was a from landline number that was in the close vacinity of where I live.

I generally assume it's from someone who doesn't know how to operate a phone correctly.

I had some Italain girl ring my number by mistake on my office phone yesterday and for 5 minutes tried to tell me in broken English that she wouldn't be home for dinner...

Kolodny

fade_to_grey wrote:

Me too. If I get a phone call from a number I dont know I just stare at my phone until it goes away....

I usually win.

I find that usually works for me too. I'd never bother ringing back if I don't know the number and no message is left. I'm just not that curious.

Gordon

D'oh!

I got a new phone recently and it came with a sim card and some free credit. So I used the credit one night speaking to a mate in order to return to my old sim card. The strange thing was that my phone rang some time after I spoke to my mate - from an undisclosed number. I answered it and nobody was there. It wasn't my friend either.

dudara, have you been alerting the Greek police as to my whereabouts?!

dudara

Gordon wrote:

dudara, have you been alerting the Greek police as to my whereabouts?!

Interpol more like!!

Ruu_Old

I rarely call back people, if they want to contact me again, they can call me back again or leave a message. Its only if I recognise the number I might call it back. I get larf out of the people who call asking for "person x" and seem in total shock that they called the incorrect number and dialled me instead.

Femelade

oh god i hate that too, i work for a radio station , and sometimes i do the switch...poeple ring and they say "someone called me on this number" and i say "do you know anyone here who might have tried calling you" but they rarely do, so what can i say? I just tell them that there is no way of me knowing if they dont know themselves, so i ask them to just hang up and whoever will get back to them if its important. Very annoying though, but working where i work, those calls are the least of my worries tbh.

jester77

I never call back, especially with the scams going round. They give you a quick buzz and hang up. When you ring the number back you are calling a premium number. Already had 2 of these calls this year from strange looking numbers. Little bit of googling led me to details of the scam, can't remember the site but if you type in the start of the dodgy number you'll find it!

Vinnie69

I only phone back two types of numbers received on caller-display

1. My no. is similar to taxi company and when I get some drunk ringing demanding a taxk at 4am and don't say sorry when they are informed that they have the wrong no, I will ring them back at an unsocial hour and f*** them out of it

2. When some twat (normally a solictor's office) sets up a fax machine to continually dial my no. until the fax is received or as long as my answering machine has tape to record:mad:

netwhizkid

I usually only ring back blocked and withheld numbers, and of course numbers I recognise.

Kiera

netwhizkid wrote:

I usually only ring back blocked and withheld numbers, and of course numbers I recognise.

Are you messsing? How can you ring back a withheld number??

Ruu_Old

Kiera wrote:

Are you messsing? How can you ring back a withheld number??

You cant, he lies!

Kiera

Ruu wrote:

You cant, he lies!

I actually I thought maybe he was a wizkid. Silly me, should have known better.

6ix

Yeah I don't understand people who do this - 'I got a missed call from this number'.

So fcukin what, did you think you missed a phone call which was about to explain the meaning of life? I can understand if someone is waiting on a delivery or some other call. I really don't know why people do it otherwise.

WhiteWashMan

dudara wrote:

I currently work as a temp and some of my assignments have involved switchboard/receptionist duties. I frequently receive calls from people wanting to know did I ring them. They've obviously seen a missed call on their caller ID (be it on mobile or landline) and they then ring. However, because the calls go through a switchboard, it's the main number that appears. This really annoys me, as it wastes my time, and I'm surprised at the huge numbers of people who waste their time and money doing this.

Question: Do you do this? Do you ring back missed numbers, or would you work under the assumption that if they wanted to speak to you, that they'll ring again.

Let me just add, that I never ring back. If people want to talk to me, they can try again or leave a voicemail.

perhpas you could ask people that phone out of your company to leave a message so that they know who called them?

why shouldnt people ring back?

cargrouch

WhiteWashMan wrote:

why shouldnt people ring back?

Exactly! It's hardly their fault if they were expecting a call? Some people are juggling a lot of stuff! Got a missed call yesterday about a job in Limerick. Rang it back because I expect a calls from Limerick area codes to be about a job. Call went to receptionist, "Hi, this is recruitment agency X"

When I said I'd had a missed call did she:
A) Throw a hissy fit?
Do her job and connect me to the relevant department for my industry?

dudara wrote:

I currently work as a temp and some of my assignments have involved switchboard/receptionist duties.

I think your issues are with the job rather than the people. Surely these calls are part and parcel of switchboard/receptionist duties?

6ix wrote:

Yeah I don't understand people who do this - 'I got a missed call from this number'.

So fcukin what, did you think you missed a phone call which was about to explain the meaning of life? I can understand if someone is waiting on a delivery or some other call. I really don't know why people do it otherwise.

How do you know they weren't?

dudara

cargrouch wrote:

I think your issues are with the job rather than the people. Surely these calls are part and parcel of switchboard/receptionist duties?

Not when they are personal calls made by staff members on the floor or offices. Its not my job to track these down. Anyone making a call on a professional basis will (or should) leave a voicemail as standard procedure.

Mossy Monk

i would call back only if it was someone i recognised. idont care about any other numbers. if its important enough they will call back

the_syco

If I know the place is a recruitment company, or a job I've applied to, I ring back. Usually I have a name, or if not, I give a name "...uh.... John something, I think?":D

parsi

Assuming the end user has voicemail. Of course if the company has DDI it should explore the possibility of handing out the appropriate number rather than the main switch in their CLI.

6ix

cargrouch wrote:

How do you know they weren't?

Because I'm with them when they do find their missed call.

Them: "Oh I missed a call - it's from a number in Cork"
Me "Do you know anyone in Cork?"
Them: "No"
Me: "Oh, probably wrong number"
Them: "No I'll ring it to see who it is"

Cue it being a marketing company, who wanted a survey done, or some randomer who mis dialled.

nesf

Someone called Jessica has a mobile number similar to mine. I've been bugged by her family and friends for years.

cargrouch

dudara wrote:

Not when they are personal calls made by staff members on the floor or offices. Its not my job to track these down.

I agree with you that business callers should leave a message (in my case there was a network related foul up that meant the caller didn't/couldn't). I agree with you that personal calls aren't your responsibility to track down.

But as a receptionist you should be able to deal with these things in a professional manner when they do come up, rather making people out to be morons who "waste their time and money" and your time doing this.

Anyone who can't fathom why people ring back missed calls has never waited for an important delivery, news on a job application, or tried to sell a car.

6ix, OK - that's a different situation, I thought you were looking at things from the same perspective as dudara.:o

the_syco

nesf wrote:

Someone called Jessica has a mobile number similar to mine. I've been bugged by her family and friends for years.

Answer. Make groaning noises, then say "yes, yes, OH GAWD YES!!!" Then turn off the phone:D

Ruu_Old

nesf wrote:

Someone called Jessica has a mobile number similar to mine. I've been bugged by her family and friends for years.

Next time answer "hold on shes asleep beside me, I'll get her now"

Ponster

It probably won't work but you could always let your boss know about the problem and ask if the number of the caller is sent on the network and not the main number of the switchboard. Shouldn't take more than a couple of seconds to change it.

dudara

cargrouch wrote:

But as a receptionist you should be able to deal with these things in a professional manner when they do come up, rather making people out to be morons who "waste their time and money" and your time doing this.

Of course I deal with them in a professional manner. I'm not incompetant at my job. Then I come here to grouch about it

cargrouch

dudara wrote:

Of course I deal with them in a professional manner. I'm not incompetant at my job. Then I come here to grouch about it

Fair enough . Grouching I can relate to. TBH, being a natural grouch I'm glad I don't deal with the public!

netwhizkid

Kiera wrote:

Are you messsing? How can you ring back a withheld number??

You can get the service here if you live in the states, it will show up all blocked numbers on your ordinary caller ID. Or you can buy a simple little gadget like a Caller ID, that will show up all numbers no matter how encrypted they are, (which is what I use) it uses much or less the same technology you see in those thriller FBI movies. I got it two years ago in New Jersey for $70 and works here perfectly. It's a real treat. Surprising they don't sell them here, must be some stupid regulation stopping them like the way the Itrip for the iPod and long range (over a mile+) cordless phones are banned.

red_fox

I got a call back from someone who I had sent a text message to by accidently typing the number worng, they were asking me who I was and why I text them even after I had explained. And the message was only 'Yes, I'll be there in a minute', hardly threatening!

Ruu_Old

netwhizkid wrote:

You can get the service here if you live in the states, it will show up all blocked numbers on your ordinary caller ID. Or you can buy a simple little gadget like a Caller ID, that will show up all numbers no matter how encrypted they are, (which is what I use) it uses much or less the same technology you see in those thriller FBI movies. I got it two years ago in New Jersey for $70 and works here perfectly. It's a real treat. Surprising they don't sell them here, must be some stupid regulation stopping them like the way the Itrip for the iPod and long range (over a mile+) cordless phones are banned.

A Caller ID will not show up blocked numbers, all it says is "unknown caller" or "number witheld".

Kiera

netwhizkid wrote:

You can get the service here if you live in the states, it will show up all blocked numbers on your ordinary caller ID. Or you can buy a simple little gadget like a Caller ID, that will show up all numbers no matter how encrypted they are, (which is what I use) it uses much or less the same technology you see in those thriller FBI movies. I got it two years ago in New Jersey for $70 and works here perfectly. It's a real treat. Surprising they don't sell them here, must be some stupid regulation stopping them like the way the Itrip for the iPod and long range (over a mile+) cordless phones are banned.

You do know that most of us here are in Ireland??? What good is something like that over here. Ruu was right!

emeraldstar

i ring back only if I know the number OR if i'm expecting an important call I'll call back, like if I've applied for a job and I'm waiting to hear from them, then I'll call back any missed number, just in case!!

the_syco

netwhizkid wrote:

You do know that most of us here are in Ireland??? What good is something like that over here. Ruu was right!

tbh

You can get the service here if you live in the states, it will show up all blocked numbers on your ordinary caller ID. Or you can buy a simple little gadget like a Caller ID, that will show up all numbers no matter how encrypted they are, (which is what I use) it uses much or less the same technology you see in those thriller FBI movies. I got it two years ago in New Jersey for $70 and works here perfectly. It's a real treat. Surprising they don't sell them here, must be some stupid regulation stopping them like the way the Itrip for the iPod and long range (over a mile+) cordless phones are banned.

You see the way "here" in both cases are Ireland, don't you?

=-=

Oh, and netwhizkid: whats the gadget called? Sounds like something I wouldn't mind having, and I can think of one or two shops which may have it. Always easier to buy something if you know what its called, tho

dave101

just wanted to know if there is a type of software to show other mobile ids on my mobile?
i read there was .but you know the net full of loose talk. etc etc lol

jrey1981

I occasionally screen my mobile calls by setting it to divert if not answered within so many seconds, but sometimes I forget to set the divert, so if a missed call shows up, and they have not been able to leave a message, I will call back.

Have a had a few instances of getting through to a switchboard and more often than not I figure out who it was and why they called.

Brian Capture

Not ringing people back is bad form.

Brian Capture

When someone calls my phone by mistake (i.e. dials a wrong number) I always pretend to be the person they're looking for (if it's a male they are seeking).

It's funny for a few minutes until they realise.

parsi

wetpisskid wrote:

You can get the service here if you live in the states, it will show up all blocked numbers on your ordinary caller ID. Or you can buy a simple little gadget like a Caller ID, that will show up all numbers no matter how encrypted they are, (which is what I use) it uses much or less the same technology you see in those thriller FBI movies. I got it two years ago in New Jersey for $70 and works here perfectly. It's a real treat. Surprising they don't sell them here, must be some stupid regulation stopping them like the way the Itrip for the iPod and long range (over a mile+) cordless phones are banned.

Hmm.. the link you give is to a service which acts as "man in the middle" and costs a bit.I doubt its the same as the 70 dollar thingy which you and my mother in law have and which just shows normal caller-id (much like any modern phone does now). This link seems to be what those companiesare offering http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_Number_Identification

Any chance of a model number or pic of your device ? Seeing as its super duper will it pick up caller id from UK calls especially those that use carriers who don't hand on caller id ?