Do you use the text messaging function on your cell phone?

[jaylectricity]

It seems that most of my contractor colleagues (including electrician friends) don't have a full grasp on how to use their cell phones.

Text messaging can be an extremely useful tool. You can send a text to an inspector as to what time you'll be ready for an inspection. It spares each of you time to talk on the phone. Something like, "This is John Smith working at 222 Any St. and we'll be ready for inspection anytime after 2PM."

Or, "We need 45' of #4 THHN for this sub-panel," as a message you can send to an employee that will be going to the supply house at some point during the day.

How many of you use this function on your phones?

I'm also really surprised when my colleagues don't have a picture phone...they only cost about $50. It seems pretty useful to be able to take a picture with your phone and send it to your boss/employee/inspector for reference.

If I was an inspector I would make sure that any electrician in my town knew that they could send me pictures of their job when they had a question. It's only $10 a month to have unlimited data sent over the airwaves.

What are your objections to this practice?

 

[480sparky]

I don't use TM at all. If I need to contact someone, I do it the old fashioned way. I call them.

Most inspectors in my area guard their numbers carefully. They need to be inspecting, not looking like some newbie walking around with their nose in their phone all day. Next thing you know, they'll want to wear their pants halfway down to their knees, too.

 

[220/221]

It takes me forEVER to compose a text. Also, my old eyes have trouble reading the display.

The text is nice if it's an address or other info that I need to refer to. If it's a "where should we have lunch" text, it's a waste of time, just call me.

I am in a huge metro area so occaisionally there is a gridlocked traffic situation. Anyone who gets hung up in it can group text everyone to avoid the area.

The other guys all have the Blackberry things which have the weeks scheduled work list among other things. All our phones are camera phones. They come in handy trying to look up/down a wall cavity

PS. Don't text while driving. That is just dumb.

 

[jaylectricity]

I don't use TM at all. If I need to contact someone, I do it the old fashioned way. I call them.

Most inspectors in my area guard their numbers carefully.

Sure, but when you know the inspector, you know his number. Especially if he/she is also running their own electrical contracting business it would be nice if you could give them the message without obligating them to take time away from their own customers to answer the phone for you.

They need to be inspecting, not looking like some newbie walking around with their nose in their phone all day.

Define newbie...are we talking about somebody that just got their license? Or just somebody that hasn't worked in that town yet? Or maybe you're referring to anonymous users that signed up for a Mike Holt Forums account. In which case, we're not talking about real life.

Next thing you know, they'll want to wear their pants halfway down to their knees, too.

So people who know how to use the latest technology are just thugs in your eyes? Interesting observation.

 

[Cow]

I don't use TM at all. If I need to contact someone, I do it the old fashioned way. I call them.

I agree. If I need parts, I call them. We also have camera phones in case we need to take pics too, but I haven't needed to use that function yet.

Most inspectors in my area guard their numbers carefully.

That's weird. Why?

 

[jaylectricity]

It takes me forEVER to compose a text.

Why? Because you can't figure out how to spell using your phone?

Also, my old eyes have trouble reading the display.

OK...well that makes sense. It looks like we have another classic case of, "I've been doing things this way for 'x amount of years' and I don't need to change now.

The text is nice if it's an address or other info that I need to refer to. If it's a "where should we have lunch" text, it's a waste of time, just call me.

How about a, "Meet me at (lunch place)," text where you don't have to call them and say, "Hey, how are you, so where do you want to have lunch? Oh OK...well, I'll see you then...OK bye...yeah hahaha...ok, well I'll see you later."

Believe me, sometimes text messaging is more trouble than it's worth...but sometimes it is so much faster and easier to send somebody a quick message instead of bothering with a bunch of ingenious pleasantries just to get through a phone call.

Heck, you can even send this message while listening to your favorite talk radio show and not have to miss a word.

 

[Pierre C Belarge]

I use the texting all the time.
I especially like the picture functions, we all know that pictures are worth a thousand words.

A contractor or electrician sends me a picture, and most times, I can understand the situation a lot better. Think of all the time and miles on my car it saves...priceless

 

[walkerj]

Most of my communication with the office is via e-mail or text.

Typing a ten word statement is easier than:
"Hey"
Hey, what's up?"
"Oh nothing. Look I need some #4"
"For what?"
"Oh, for this subpanel over here on any street"
"Ok, how much?"
"Uh, let me measure it again hold on.......about 45'"
":Ok is that it?"
"Yea, I think so"
"Are you sure?"
"Yea"
"Alright I will get it out there"
"Ok thanks"
"Ok, cya later"
"You too. bye."
"bye"

All of that instead of " I need 45' of #4 for this subpanel"

 

[realolman]

I use text all the time .

I, and the person I am texting can do it when it suits.. We don't have to drop everything and talk, but the message gets across in short order. I don't have to be able to hear.

The typing is a bit of a pain, but you get better at it, and you don't need to write an epic.:smile:

I'd like to get a full keyboard if I could find one under a lid so I can carry it in my pocket.

 

[electricmanscott]

. They need to be inspecting, not looking like some newbie walking around with their nose in their phone all day. Next thing you know, they'll want to wear their pants halfway down to their knees, too.

That doesn't even make sense. How old are you.


I find it more usefull to embrace, use, and benefit from technology.

I text and email with my phone as much if not more than making calls. I can take pictures and email right from a kitchen job to a designer if there is a question. I can look up appliance specs etc. Just another tool.

I'd love to have this level of comminucation with the inspectors but sadly most have the attitude displayed in the quote above.

 

[cirving]

I have all my service calls texted to me from the office computer, then I can extract the number from the text and make phone calls without writing anything down. I keep all the calls on my phone until they are complete.

As far as inspections, I know its an inspector when I get "Private Number" on my screen, so there is no texting them

 

[jrannis]

Texting has become the preferred information format for our office. We can contact 100 people with the on call information for the week. Individually we send everyone on service their calls for the next morning.
The customer information and scope of work can be referenced at anytime. The contact information and work order is right in there too.
Couldn't be easier.
I hope our competition stays in the telephone age.

 

[billdozier]

we r constantly txeing Its a lot quicker then talking on the phone. If you can spell using the t9 mode on the phone is simple. You just hit the corresponding number/letter once. It will spell the word out for you. Easier then using the A format where you have to bring up each individual letter. Pictures make life easier as well. Hey boss I need this light because this one is cracked and send them a picture. Definitely the way of the future.

 

[Rewire]

I don't text ,I am old school I can talk faster than I can text. The younger guys text with the office and I get them from the office.WE supply cell phones to our men and the office manager is trying to drag me into the 22nd century but it is slow going.For those of you who use texting do you supply the cell phones?

 

[Dnkldorf]

My thumbs are too fat for them little buttons.

 

[ishium 80439]

Texting has its place but I think it is lacking as a primary communication tool. It is definately a generational thing. I'm surprised when my 18 yo niece knows how to use the voice feature of her phone. Texting one line instructions or change of plans is very useful. Having a conversation via text makes absolutely no sense to me. We as a society worked long and hard to get away from the telegraph. It seems silly to go back there again.

Small example. There is an RW that I have been using sporadically to help us catch up as several jobs all broke at the same time. I needed him to work the next day and forgot to call him until about 9PM. I knew he had a sick infant in the house so I didn't want to call him that late and have an extended conversation w/ him. Sent him a text w/ the time and address and he was there the next day. On the other hand an old friend texted me to wish me a Happy St Pat's the last week. I responded to him and then it became obvious he wanted to converse that way. My next message was to call me if wanted to talk and I ignored the rest of his texts.

There is only one jurisdiction around here that I know of where you even have a prayer of getting the inspectors cell #. Maybe it's a geographical thing.

 

[Fulthrotl]

There is only one jurisdiction around here that I know of where you even have a prayer of getting the inspectors cell #. Maybe it's a geographical thing.

it's not. i only have two inspectors cell numbers. one of them is the head
inspector for a nearby city, and if i bothered him on his cellphone, it would
not be in my best advantage. i only got his after he assured me i would get
inspection one day, and i sat there 10 hours waiting for him..... oops. he
forgot, and no showed me.

as for text messaging, it has it's place. i use it sparingly. it's more a age thing
than anything else. young people use it more than older people.

 

[George Stolz]

Texting can be very useful when signal is weak - present, but weak. A couple weeks ago I had one bar, and texted my buddy "Off". He knew to stop turning the breaker on and off, which he was doing so I could find the run with my tick tracer, and wait. When I was done, I remained in place and texted "energize and check".

Once you get used to using the t9 function, it's pretty quick. If you can train the people who bother you during your workday to text, then it's less interruptive, you reply when you get time.

My thumbs are too fat for them little buttons.

I can get my whole arm through a 3 5/8" hole drilled through 1" of concrete, too.

 

[electricmanscott]

Any of you guys using those newfangled computer thingys? Me, I like my typewritter just fine, but these kids today.......:grin:

 

[cowboyjwc]

Texting does have it's place, my son use to be notorious for only calling me when I was in a meeting or training, now if can send me a text and I reply when I can or I can send one when I know he's in class. Of course he has the $300 phone with the full key board and I have the same phone I've had for six years.:smile:

Work, we do not give out our numbers, our cells are for inspector to inspector or office to inspector. A few of our inspectors have gotten into trouble because their cell phones rang when we were all in a meeting. Mostly it's about cost, in fact we lost our direct connect function because they could get a better deal. I know, I know we all have unlimited everything for the whole family for hardly anything, but here we used to get charged for the incoming and the outgoing calls, so add the price of a text message to that and wow. Of course you have to remember that we have 100's of cell phones so you can imagin our phone bill.

As for pictures, my personal phone seems to work ok, but on my work phone they seem to come out to dark and of course they didn't give us the cables to download them to our computers.

We have office hours from 7-8 in the morning and 4-4:30 in the afternoon and I have email, not really that hard to get hold of as long at you get out of bed in the morning.:grin::grin: