Your debtor is no longer here…Stop calling!

After buying a house a couple of years ago, I had to turn on the various utilities, including a home phone. With this home phone came a brand new phone number. It was great for about a week. Then the phone calls started.

Apparently, my number had been in use before. I was receiving roughly 15 collection calls each day and 90% were IC calls/Blast Messages. For each left message, I had to call them back and explain that the number was no longer in use for whoever it was they wanted to talk to. That took roughly 10 minutes for each incorrect call because I had to go through their phone tree to reach a collector who could remove the number.

I wish that they had all used right party messages, which are not just for getting the debtor on the phone; you can also gather information.

A right party message generally has 4 options:

1. “If you are this person press 1 to hear the message.” This option allows a message to be left for the debtor, so they know what you would like them to do. Then the dialer gives you back a result that says a message has been left for the right party. So you now know you have reached the person you are looking for at this number.
2. “If this person is home and can come to the phone, press 2.” The dialer waits for that person to come to the phone then plays the message you want the debtor to hear. Again, the dialer will tell you a message has been left for the right party. You were able to reach the correct person at this number.
3. “If this person is not home, press 3.” This option allows a different message to be left so that the person who answered the phone can pass along any information you provide. This tells you that a message was left, but not with the right party. So you know that person can be reached at this number, but probably not likely at the time you called.
4. “If we have reached the wrong number for this person, press 4.” This is the option I would have loved to have… If you select this option the dialer plays a message that says, “I’m sorry for any inconvenience, we will correct our records.” Then the dialer gives you a result that tells you it was the wrong number for the person you were trying to contact. Now you know you need to find other numbers to contact the right party.

Right party messages can be set up to do various things, like transfer the call when the right party has been reached so that you can start a discussion. For me, I just wanted to let people know that it was my number now and to stop calling it!

IC calls/Blast Messages, right party messaging