Communication is Key

Tonight, I have a quick Public Service Announcement for those of you who are employers.

If you hire a (super-fabulous) new girl and she happens to begin work on...say...August 9th, as you're showing her the ins and outs of the various office machinery, you might want to spend a few minutes on the phone system.  This is especially pertinent if she is to be the main voice of your place of business.

Some functions are basic: transfers and voice mail transfers.  Some are a little more tricky:  "all calls."  She may be quite anxiously looking forward to the first time that she will need to make an all call, it may sound like a lot of fun.  She might also wish that her best friend lived across the street so that she could sneak code words into said all calls and see if her friend hears them.  But I digress.  Most basic phone functions can be picked up with minimal effort and in time, she will undoubtedly memorize all 45 extensions.

You may, however, want to take a moment and discuss the red light.  It's not blinking or doing anything annoying; it's more of a soft, continual back light.  You know, it just looks like a normal part of the phone.  So, imagine the surprise of said new girl if on...say...September 5th, you casually mention, "...you are checking your voice mail regularly, aren't you?" 

If this happens, be prepared for her to give you a deer-in-the-headlights look and voice a mild, yet emphatic  exclamation about not having any idea that she had her own voice mail to monitor.  She might not be aware that the pretty red light is in fact an indicator of voice mail and not just a little bit of Christmas cheer each and every day.

In closing, please remember that in between discussions about amazingly fancy copy machines and electric three-hole punchers (so cool!), you should probably mention the phone.  It'll make her feel like much less of an idiot a month later, and she won't have to spend a half hour listening through and deciphering a zillion messages.

This ends tonight's PSA; you may now carry on with your regularly scheduled evening.