Anyone born after 1996 probably doesn't understand the anxiety of making a phone call: The beating heart, the sweaty palms, the rehearsed conversation—all to ask what time a store opens. Even more foreign to Gen Z is the concept of voicemail—a computerized system for exchanging audio memos that no one checks and has long since been replaced by the text message.
The FCC last year began cracking down on telemarketers leaving ringless voicemails (in which a recording is placed directly into a voicemail inbox without the phone making a sound) without consent. But the said nothing of family and friends going directly to voicemail to avoid a conversation. The next time you need to leave a message for someone you'd rather not talk to for hours, try one of these options.
Ringless Voicemail Apps
Most ringless voicemail apps are aimed at sales reps who handle a high volume of cold calls, many of which never even reach a human. That doesn't mean they can't come in handy, for instance, when you want to say hello to the grandparents but avoid a long conversation about your love life.
(Credit: Slybroadcast)Cost:
Pay As You Go: From 100 deliveries for $10 to 10,000 deliveries for $400
Monthly Delivery: From 100 deliveries for $8/month to 13,000 deliveries for $500/month
Platform: Mobile app (Android, iOS)
Pre-record a message, choose the recipients, schedule your voicemail, et voila! The company promises its mass communication solution is HIPAA-compliant, while also allowing users to customize their caller ID, personalize messages using AI, and reach mobile phones and landlines.
(Credit: Slydial)Cost:
Premium Group Slydial: Send one pre-recorded voicemail to up to 10 numbers at once for $0.10 per call; credits purchased in $5 increments
Premium Plan: Send unlimited live voicemails to one number at a time for $2.99/month or $29.99/year
Platforms: Mobile app (Android, iOS); landline (267-SLYDIAL)
Slydial connects users directly to any US mobile phone number's voicemail with the touch of a button. The basic service, which lets you place unlimited advertising-supported calls, is available for free. You'll have to pony up for a premium subscription to skip the ads and access expanded features, or tap into Group Slydial for sharing pre-recorded messages.
(Credit: TextP2P)Cost:
Starter 500: $21/month
Pro 1,000: $42/month
Business 2,000: $84/month
Pay As You Go: $5/month
Platforms: Mobile app (Android, iOS), web
Send single or bulk voicemails directly to mobile phones without actually making a call. Starting with a 14-day free trial, upload your contact list, record your message, and press send.
Call Through Voicemail
(Credit: Getty Images/Oleksandr Hruts)Visual voicemail has all but eliminated traditional inbox services. If you're still calling an inbox to hear your messages, look for an option to "send a message" in the voicemail menu, allowing, as its name suggests, users to send a voice message straight to another person's inbox.
There is one pretty big caveat: The function can be used only to contact someone on the same network carrier as you. So, Verizon customers can send voice messages to other Verizon customers, Sprint customers can send voice messages to other Sprint customers, and so on.
Just Send a Voice Message
(Credit: Getty Images/vkulieva)Many millennials are still wrapping their heads around recording and sending voice memos through apps like Messengers, Telegram, and WhatsApp. There's no phone number to dial? No panicked wait for someone to answer?
Nope. It's as simple as pressing and holding (or often pulling up on) the microphone icon, speaking, and sending. iPhone users, meanwhile, can do the same from Apple's Messages platform (though only for messaging other iPhones), or re-record to your heart's desire in the Voice Memos app; when you're ready to send, tap the ellipsis > Share. The same goes for the Samsung phone voice recorder application, or most downloadable programs from the app store.
