To the editor:

In today’s modern age, we have all sorts of wonderful, modern communication tools to make our lives easier. I received a phone message on my machine today from some doctor’s office which I did not recognize. There was no mention of my name, the caller mumbled a doctor’s name I did not recognize and could not find in the directory. The caller had information regarding a medication check for someone and mentioned a name of a pharmacy which I also could not find in the directory. There was no phone number left.

This sort of sloppy and incomplete messaging service, especially for a professional office, is pretty disconcerting, and, in my mind, could be very dangerous. If it is your responsibility to communicate important information by whatever means to customers or patients, you need to keep in mind that not all of us have caller ID. Mine is (and always has been) to lift the phone handset and say “Hello.” It is cheap and always works.

You need to supply your customer/patient with clearly stated names, phone numbers for return calls, and not expect your customer/patient to immediately recognize who you are. This is (and always has been) just good business practice and should be practiced by everyone.

Fred Whitehead Jr.
Lawrence