How is it possible that nearly every company I call has a recording saying, "Please listen carefully as our menu has recently changed"? Whatever happened to call answering receptionists? Back in the day you could dial a company and get a real person to connect you to the individual or department that was appropriate for the assistance required. Now a cultured recording orders me to listen up and then rattles off nine options. By the time the disembodied voice gets done, I have forgotten what the first ones were.  And then, there is this choice, "To reach the person you wish, use the key pad to spell the first or last name and then enter the # key." Suppose I don't know Harriet's last name and there are three of them? Or maybe I always spoke with Gramps, how would I know his name was Wilbur? In the Last Resort Department, at the very end, I get to dial "O" if  I have become totally baffled and that usually rings and rings.  Finally a recording will say, "The party you are trying to reach is not available, if you wish to leave a message in the General Mailbox, you may do so after the tone."  Arrgh!  That is the Dead Letter receptacle, no one ever goes there, knowing full well that if a message is important they will call back.

       For that matter, whatever happened to company receptionists?  A sign of the economy, I guess.  I would take a rough guess and say that 70% of the offices I visit have no one sitting behind the desk in the entry foyer. People answering the phone or the door in a polite, informed, intelligent manner are the front-line face of the company. A good impression sets the tone for the rest of the transaction.    

        At Gamka we try to make sure that every call is answered by the third ring by a real person. Maybe we are not keeping up with current practice.  So what if we are not with the spirit of the times, it works for us.