A phone ring broke my morning peace. 

 

Hello? (1 second silence) "Hello, my name is ___ and I am a firefighter in your neighborhood. I am calling to encourage you to vote YES for referendum ___." That's when I hung up. Was I rude? What's there to be rude to a machine? If you care enough about an issue, at least call me in person. Don't send me a recorded message. 

 

Here's a better one. Phone rings, and I pick it up. (1 second silence and then click). "Hello, please HOLD until the next agent is available." Then I become very confused. Did I make the call or did I just answer the phone? Then I come to realization of what's happened and hang up promptly. Why should I wait for your telemarketing message? What kind of marketing tactic is that?

 

Technology is only a tool. If used properly, it can improve efficiency and effectiveness. If used improperly, it can bring undesired outcome. Telemarketers better come to realize this... before people start using phone technology to detect calls coming from a machine rather than human dialing-in (does such technology exist already?). Then we get into "tech - war" with neither side winning, and people attributing all shortfalls to technology. That's a discussion for another day.