Have you ever received spam calls. Of course you have. If you are like me you don’t answer the phone anymore unless you recognize the number or the name of the caller. When I don’t recognize the caller I simply wait to see if they leave a message. If they don’t, I don’t care. If they do, I listen to it and call them back if I want to. Here is the thing. I am not the only one that does this. I believe most people do it now. However, large business and government agencies don’t get it! They have menus with recorded messages saying that you should leave a message and they will get back to you. If you are lucky enough to be talking to a phone representative they will also tell you that someone will get back to you. However, because you don’t know the number they will be calling you back from, you will not answer the call. Then, If they do leave a message, they never leave a phone number that allows you to call them back directly. Now you have to call the main number and start all over again.
This is my solution. Give all the reps that might call someone back, a dedicated phone number. You can get one from a MVNO cell phone company for 20 bucks a month and they many times will give you a phone for free. Its totally secure for employees because it cannot be traced back to any employee directly. It instead, would be registered to the company or government agency you are contacting. Now when the company or government agency wants you to leave a message you can do so. Then, when the employee calls you back and leaves a message they can then leave a phone number that is a direct line to them without any danger to themselves. After you screen the message you simply pick up the phone and call them back.