Life On Hold? – Telecommunications – iPhones, Smart Phones, land lines, handies

Have you noticed how one of the changes of the 21st century is that the amount of time people spend on hold has increased?  There are multiple reasons for this.  One is that so many people are on the Internet and mechanized service responses have grown…Which means people call in and a machine sorts the call and then people wait.  What is so great about this is when people wait around at home rather than in traffic jams.  What is not so great about this is dealing with being on hold.

Often being on hold is like a miniature review session about how time is perceived.  Even though we can spend hours doing what we love, especially if we have ‘zoned into’ what we are doing, being on hold for even 5 seconds can make us feel like prisoners being treated unjustly, or like demons ready to destroy the low-lifes on the other end who have done this to us.

In reality, online and telephone technical services have improved over the years.  Never before has being able to explain how to do something in words when not able to see been such a valuable skill.  Most customer service agents do not earn a lot of money themselves, but some get more or less.  Despite that, the ability to analyze and solve problems over the phone is more valuable as a marketable skill than ever before in history.

How to cope with time spent on hold?  That depends a  lot on which type of device you are using and what your context is.

If you are in a social context, I highly recommend exchange some polite or friendly body language or even speech with those around you in body but not in social media.  If not, one must choose carefully.  Needless to say, one does not wish to put down or pull away from the phone to do something while on hold only to end up sobbing because one missed the call and has to start over.