The well-known corporation General Electric (GE) claims to have saved approximately $1,100 per employee simply by implementing a voicemail system.

GE was one of the first to use voicemail when the invention emerged in the late 70’s and early 80’s, and implemented the service in its offices around the world. A number of other corporations followed, mainly companies with a large number of employees. With the ability to leave messages for business clients and have others leave messages in return, employees could work more efficiently, spend less time playing phone tag, and reduce the cost of repeatedly calling an individual until they finally were able to come to the phone.

In those days, usually when one phoned into a corporation, the call would be received by a receptionist, who would then check to see if the needed staff member was available, and if so, they would put the call on hold and page the employee via the intercom. If the person was not available, either the caller had to keep trying or leave a message with the receptionist for the person to call back — that is, if they were still at their desk by the time the call was returned or weren’t on the phone with someone else.

With voicemail, even if a person is away or on another line, a message can still be left for the individual to listen to when they return. In fact, many voicemail messages don’t necessitate speaking to the person live; they simply involve the transmittal of information. Voicemail helps to to ensure that the message was delivered properly and that the identity of the caller is known. How many receptionists have left half-completed messages for staff members, or versions of what they thought they heard the person’s name was, which wasn’t quite right…

Voicemail can still help save businesses money today — both big and small — especially through the use of a hosted voicemail service. For more information on perks and features, visit https://www.voicemailoffice.com