I work in an open plan office. While it's always a joy to look around the room and marvel at everyone hunched over laptop computers, there is a down side.
Mobile phones. When you put 200 people in a (large) room, each with a mobile device loaded with some of the most heinous tunes known to man, all during a working day, the odds are against you.
Mobile phones. When you put 200 people in a (large) room, each with a mobile device loaded with some of the most heinous tunes known to man, all during a working day, the odds are against you.
If your phone is ringing - everyone knows about it.
When I first started at this job, everyone had the same phone issued to them. Each phone had a staggering number of ring-tone options - 3.
I work at a technology company, however most employees can't read small text (i.e. a mobile screen)by virtue of the fact that they have burnt out their retinas by staring at screens all day.
The net result was that 90% of employees left the default ring tone on their phone.
Every time someones phone went off, at least 3 people in close proximity would scramble for their phone. Now you can't pay for this type of entertainment.
But those were the good days. Things have changed, people have moved on, technology waits for no man.
Somewhere along the way, people figured out that they could load their own music or ringtones onto their phones. And like small children everyone updated their phones with these new, hip, slamming tunes.
Now we have Coldplay going off every 10 minutes, TV Show themes being blasted from every angle, The Red Hot Chili Peppers gracing the airwaves, not to mention all forms of techno and house music. It's like being at the big day out, except you're inside, and there are no queues for the girls toilets.
The very worst thing that has happened is this. Someone has loaded a soundclip of them saying their name, which repeats painfully until the phone is answered (or smashed into pieces by fellow employees). "Jane, Jane, Jane, Jane, Jane, Jane... Hello this is Jane". In the words of my teenage companions - OMG.
I personally have opted for the office friendly traditional phone ring, no techno, no pop music, no mind-bending sound clips, just plain, tried and true ringing.
Agreed - ring, ring is the way I role. Although that new temper trap song is tempting me...
ReplyDeleteI totally agree G...especially seeing some people have their ringing volumes on the maximum level possible!
ReplyDeleteIn terms of tunes, I currently have a funky nokia ring, but my favourite has always been the subtle birdsong of the Tui bird, that used to be on Andy Jones' phone...