"Which mode of communication to choose in today's overstuffed communication channels."
Better more uncomplicated Title:
"Do I call or text?"
Abstract
How do I talk to him or her?
Do I text?
Do I call?
Do I WhatsApp call?
Do I WhatsApp text?
Do I leave a WhatsApp voice note?
Do I skype?
Do I email?
How about Instagram direct message?
Let's not forget twitter direct message?
Did you really seriously forget facebook messenger ... message?
We have all been here and we are still here today in 2018.
I remember back in like 1997, communication channels were mostly 2 or 3:
Do I call? Do I text? Do I email?
The answer to the above 3 channels is pretty simple and straight-forward.
Remember, the way you choose to communicate should be approached like a business would. Necessary protocols/ respect should be followed. What do I mean? See "Text" below.
Text
Text should be used for short bursts of information dissemination, or notification.
For example,
"Hey, I will be at Starbucks in 15 minutes, okay?" or
"Remember to bring my bag please".
You can also use Text message to let someone know that you are about to call:
"Hey, can I call you in 15 mins", or
"When will you be free to talk"
When you use text messages to notify before a call, you would avoid conflict after "missed calls"
This way, you will not have plenty of missed calls. Some unintentional conflict can arise when Jack does not pick up Jill's phone call. Jill might feel like something is wrong. When in fact, Jack was probably just plainly doing some other thing or talking to someone else.
Call
For more long-form conversation. For conversations that require a more "call & response" or "live back and forth". Make a phone call for conversations that require immediate response. Or you have more to say than you can in text or would be inefficient to keep typing and typing. Calling might be a way to save time thereby will increase efficiency.
A text message is favorable to the recipient because they can read it as fast or slow as they want. They can also read it in loud environments; which is a disadvantage for calls and voice notes.
For folk like me that prefer recording voice notes, to achieve a win-win scenario, use Voice-to-Text on your smartphone to convert your voice to text messages. Apple and Google have this feature. It is the microphone icon on your smartphone keyboard.
Is a letter that most likely will never be deleted. Permanent letter delivered electronically, which means instantaneous delivery.
It will be sent immediately, however, make sure you take your time to write it. Once gone, you cannot change it.
It is unlike this blog post. I can go back tomorrow and fix a mistake.
When you are writing an email, take your mind or memory back decades ago when you would write a letter on paper to a loved one, to be put into the mailbox, to be sent. We didn't used to hurry to write that paper letter, we took our time.
Apply the same 'carefulness' to email. Yes, I meant carefulness, not care. I chose this word on purpose.
Also, English & Grammar
You need 'tools' to allow your brilliant thoughts to be expressed properly. Make sure that English class that you are forced to take, take it seriously. It would help you to sound smart or wise, as you know you are smart or wise in your head.
Mobile Internet calling & text
There are a lot, wechat, WhatsApp, line, Viber.
For this one, I will focus on WhatsApp.
Why?
Except for WeChat which is extremely popular in China, Whatsapp is the most popular for the people that I know, and a billion others that I do not know.
Data communication is already cheaper than normal phone calls.
Check your WhatsApp data usage, it would be something like 50MB or less, per person. That is over the last many months or year. That is incredibly small especially since you have done a lot of WhatsApp calls, or written so many WhatsApp messages, and lots of WhatsApp video calls, and left so many voice notes.
I'm glad I mentioned all various WhatsApp modes of communications. Remember back in 2012/ 2013 when it was only WhatsApp text?
Whatsapp Text
Is essentially a better and more advanced form of regular phone text
Also, you can send photos and video
1. Easily & Easier
2. More conveniently
3. Using less $ per message/picture/video
than regular text and picture message text
Whatsapp voice call
When you want to have a phone call between people in different countries, do WhatsApp voice call instead of buying phone cards and stuff.
It's just cheaper. Not just that, it is more convenient. On your phone, scroll to your contact's name, press the dial button, done.
Now, 'WhatsApp voice call' does not entirely replace the regular 'call' button.
Depending on your geographical location, your telecommunications plan, and the mobile/technical relationships that you have with your contact, "To normal call, or to whatsapp call" decision could vary.
I would say, in countries where they pay the telecom providers per call, use WhatsApp call more.
In countries that more than often have "unlimited minutes" or close to that, you will regular call, than WhatsApp call.
Whatsapp voice notes
Voice notes are fantastic for recording and then sending a spoken voice message. They are great because you would not interrupt the recipient with a phone call. Phone calls can be uncomfortable because you are just barging in on someone unannounced. It would be like showing up at a person's house without telling them beforehand.
This is where voice notes are perfect. Leave a message by getting straight to the point. When the recipient plays it in their own time, they can respond the same way.
Here is David Pierce of the Wall Street Journal talking about that
Data strength
The strength of your 'mobile data' or your wifi could also be a determining factor.
If your data is not strong enough, you may hear delays and our weak signals.
When you hear yourself saying, "Sorry, that wasn't clear"
or
"Why are you not answering me immediately?"
It's not your friend, it's the data and the technical delay.
This is an area that regular phone calls still shines over calls over data, or...to get all technical, VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol, which most just say Voice Over IP)
Whatsapp Video Call
Basic upgrade to Whatsapp voice calling. From audio to video.
With text, you only get written words.
With audio, you get intent, and voice inflections.
With video, now you get facial expressions to get the full picture of the call.
Data usage: WhatsApp has done a fantastic job of keeping its data usage, even on video calls down to a bare minimum.
Skype
After text and regular calling, Skype became the godfather of internet calling. The OG VOIP. Originally on desktops and laptops only, years before the iPhone was invented.
Skype is used for both video and audio calling. It has a more official feeling to it so plenty of businesses and companies use Skype. It's also on mobile too. It's just much easier and straightforward to WhatsApp call or WhatsApp video call.
The one feature that Skype has over Whatsapp voice call is Skype can dial any phone number in the world (paid feature). But Whatsapp can only call people who have installed WhatsApp on their phones and only mobile devices. Skype can call both landlines (mostly businesses) and any other phone.
The one feature that Skype has over Whatsapp voice call is Skype can dial any phone number in the world (paid feature). But Whatsapp can only call people who have installed WhatsApp on their phones and only mobile devices. Skype can call both landlines (mostly businesses) and any other phone.
What's next for WhatsApp?
I predict that for WhatsApp groups, there would appear a call button that would be a single button for conference calling. So 5 people in a WhatsApp group could do a conference call with the push of a single button. Compare that to all 5-10 steps involved in doing a phone conference today, especially in a non-business environment i.e. with friends/family.
It would make a lot of sense for WhatsApp to do that next.
It would make a lot of sense for WhatsApp to do that next.
5 comments:
So, my prediction was correct. Whatsapp did implement group calling.
My next prediction: voice notes as status updates.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on an obvious yet confusing topic "Do I call or Do I text?". As an Avid texter, I would like to add my 2 cents around the hidden benefits of using text over voice.
I prefer Texting, whether conventional SMS or a messaging platform such as Whatsapp, as my primary mode of communication for personal interaction. With the smartphones getting smarter, these communication tools have gotten smarter too. For ex, Whatsapp has an inbuilt universal search indexer that can search across all the chats you had with any number of contacts. It comes really handy if you are looking for some information in a chat that you had a couple of months (even years) ago. The point is every interaction you had is there for you to revisit whenever you need. Unlike voice calls where the interaction is not stored at all for future reference, unless you are recording it. Voice notes are a good way to communicate and the recordings are archived just like chats. But the fundamental drawback lies in the inability to search through the voice communication. If it's a 10 minute long voice note and you need one key piece of information you will have to go through that whole 10 minute long note to get it, which is really inefficient.
Speaking of efficiency, many messaging platform - Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram etc, even conventional SMS now support desktop clients. This gives the speed and convenience of using a Desktop Keyboard to type your response, greatly enhancing your typing abilities and saving time. This also gives the power to use powerful formatting such as bulleting, if someone is writing a long text.
Lastly, the ability to quote a specific chat message, gives the precision to answer that exact question, avoiding confusion if multiple messages are being exchanged.
I would like to end this by sharing my opinion on should I call or text. In my experience it totally depends on whom you are communicating to. If someone prefers texting it's better to communicate via text, if it's a regular call then call the person.
Hello Chitwan,
I really truly, magnificently appreciate leaving your well-composed, and brilliant thought on my article.
Thank you for taking the time to do that.
My next prediction, is WhatsApp may add the ability to record live data calls. If they do this, it would help with podcasting, meetings and other calls that both caller and receiver(s) may need to document for further review.
Thanks,
Folarin
The guy that invented/created Groupon has created a way to search through audio files/podcasts or something of that nature. Andrew Mason (from memory 👍🏽)
Great Article Folarin!
It is the world of customization that has left everyone spoilt for choice.
I love the way you have organized your thoughts and highlighted the benefits of one media over the other.
I really liked Chitwan's take on the search functionality. It reminded me about how often I use it to reiterate my point during a whatsapp conversation.
I don't have the option to reiterate my point out here. But I would still stick to the point that I made to you in person (& over whatsapp) earlier. The choice of communication medium boils down to the preferences of the opposite person. If we are able to gauge (if not ask) for the opposite person's preferred mode(s) of communication, then half the battle is won right there.
The remaining half involves reaching consensus on the mode of communication that works best for both parties.
Cheers!
Post a Comment