As most people know by now, cellphone voicemail systems offer "guidance" to callers on how to leave a message. You do it "after the tone," you see, and sometimes you can even learn how to "send a numeric page." It's all explained to eat up the caller's phone minutes, and each carrier seems to have their own magic button one must hit to skip straight to leaving a message.
Gina compressed those magic buttons into a single "One-Star-Pound algorithm, although it's one that requires a good bit of active work on the caller's part. Pogue learned that Sprint customers could join iPhone owners in having those instructions entirely eliminated:
Access your voice mail box. Press 3, for personal options. Press 2, for greetings. Press 1, to change your personal greeting. Press 3, to add or remove the caller instructions. Follow the prompts to turn instructions on or off.
Pogue's readers suggested those who can't turn off their voicemail "instructions" or "prompts" to record a personal greeting that includes the magic button, as in, "You've reached Kevin, hit star to leave a message." That can come off a bit rushed and informal with the wrong recording, but it's not a bad idea, and can definitely be construed as a courtesy by busy callers.
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