Voice mail is a royal pain, it's clumsy, annoying, and wastes time. I'm not alone in my feeling, according to USA Today.

With the rise of texting, instant chat and transcription apps, more people are ditching the venerable tool that once revolutionized the telephone business,

In data prepared for USA TODAY, Vonage, an Internet phone company, says the number of voice-mail messages left on user accounts was down 8% in July from a year ago.

Checking one’s voice mail seems to be considered an even a bigger chore than leaving a voice message. Retrieved voice mail fell 14% among Vonage users in the same period.

“They hate the whole voice-mail introduction, prompts, having to listen to them in chronological order,” says Michael Tempora, senior vice president of product management at Vonage.

As with most declining technology, the exodus is led by younger, more impatient users who are quicker to embrace alternatives. Time is money, and in business, you can't afford to waste either.

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