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| Look, I'll call you in the morning or this Times piece will explain | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 06:13 pm EST 12/16/17 | |
| In reply to: What actually was a service? - Singapore/Fling 09:54 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| Linked Times article from September 2016 about The Belles Receptionists & Answering Service. Sondheim is still among their clients, or at least he was at the time the article appeared. In case this wasn't clear from the responses below — and this relates back to the OP's post — the better (or more expensive) answering services would convey messages to callers. While most people probably primarily used answering services so that people could leave messages for them, which they would call in to receive, some services were willing to take messages from clients and pass them on to people who called for that client, including probably very specific messages for specific people. So that (I presume) someone who wasn't a client could call the service and say something like, "This is Rhoda Morgenstern. Did Mary Richards leave a message for me?" |
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| Link | Celebrity Answering Service Endures |
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| re: Look, I'll call you in the morning or this Times piece will explain | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 12:19 pm EST 12/17/17 | |
| In reply to: Look, I'll call you in the morning or this Times piece will explain - AlanScott 06:13 pm EST 12/16/17 | |
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| Thanks for the link! And thanks to everyone who replied... I need to hunt down a copy of "Bells Are Ringing". | |
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| re: Look, I'll call you in the morning or this Times piece will explain | |
| Last Edit: RelaxnNYC 11:12 am EST 12/18/17 | |
| Posted by: RelaxnNYC 11:09 am EST 12/18/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Look, I'll call you in the morning or this Times piece will explain - Singapore/Fling 12:19 pm EST 12/17/17 | |
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| For another glimpse into life before cell phones - I was an actor in NYC starting in the late 80s. Cell phones didn't exist, at least not for "regular" people. Up until then everyone in "the biz" had a "service number." You actually listed it on your resume instead of a home/cell phone number because even answering machines weren't very prolific and you didn't want to leave your home phone number laying around all over town anyway. It was basically like how voicemail on your cell phone works now. You recorded a message that could be changed/updated however you wanted, but it wasn't connected to your home phone number. Since you'd be out all day at auditions or work, you'd have to call from a ... wait for it ... pay phone on the street (!!!) to check your messages to see if you had a gotten a callback or if your agent had gotten you an audition. We used it sort of how people use texts now. If the person you were meeting for dinner was already 15 minutes late, you'd find the nearest pay phone (every restaurant and corner had one) and check your service to see if they had left a message. Likewise, if you were running late, you'd call your friend's service to let them know and hoped that they would check it. I always carried a pocket full of change just to check my service when I was out and about. I also toured in the early 90s (bus-and-truck) and NO ONE had a cell or a lap top. We'd read (actual books LOL - usually a library was kept under the bus so you could swap books), listen to music, watch movies on the VCR (we'd vote as a group if we would watch something and on what we would watch). When we'd have a lunch stop at a mall or downtown area, everyone would line up at the pay phones to check their service. And yes, I find that the cell phone/texting age has made people much less committed to keeping appointments and showing up on time for social occasions (and even professional ones) because they can just text you in real time with an excuse. When it took some effort and a third party to excuse your lateness, you tried very hard not to be late. |
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| re: Look, I'll call you in the morning or this Times piece will explain | |
| Posted by: garyd 10:40 pm EST 12/16/17 | |
| In reply to: Look, I'll call you in the morning or this Times piece will explain - AlanScott 06:13 pm EST 12/16/17 | |
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| We still have an answering service though we don't use it much. This whole thread answers a lot of questions about the site. Guess I don't belong here. | |
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