Thursday, December 20, 2007

work phone not so hot

I have a work cell phone. It's a hand me down from my predecessor so I'm not really sure how old it is, but I would never recommend it to anyone. It's a Samsung SGH-D357 and has less useful functionality than the first cell phone I ever purchased five years ago. My fundamental gripe with the phone is it's ease of use, or lack thereof. It takes too many button pushes to navigate through the menus. Perhaps I am unfamiliar with the Samsung operating system since I am now on my third Motorola phone for personal use but it is just so damn frustrating to use. The next fundemental gripe that I have is that it has only one marginally normal ringtone. I generally loathe novelty and music-derived ringtones. In fact, I don't care for wind chimes, computer beeps, steel drum beats, or any of that junk. I want a phone to sound like a phone. And I want there to be several options for making the phone sound like a phone. And they should be standard on the phone. Otherwise, if I pick the one half normal ringtone, it sounds like everyone else's half normal ringtone. The final strike on the phone is seen on the Samsung customer support page. Read the question and then read the answer. Take special note of this line:

Note: There are no configurable options available for setting an audible alert for missed calls.

Huh? So if I'm in the shower or other room and don't hear the phone ring then I have to look at the phone and check the screen to see if I missed a call? Yes, that's very little work on my part. But, it's still work on my part. This is a very fundamental design issue. Not everyone who calls leaves a message. They might assume that you'll see the missed call and call back. But if you don't notice the missed call, then where are you? Nowhere! This gets me riled up because I have missed business calls and not noticed for quite some time.

In case you're wondering, I carry my personal cell phone with me at all times as well. Since I have a fancy case and clip for it, I clip it to my pocket while the work phone sits inside my pocket. And my personal cell number has not changed, nor will it change in the near future.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Here's the fix for your damnable work phone. Since you keep the phone in your pocket, cut out the bottom of said pocket and let the phone drop into a puddle/sink/toilet. Waa-la! Instant need for a new phone. Clever, eh?