It’s Not A Phone. It’s A Human Connect

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read or heard that “email is dead,” even though 247 billion emails are still sent every day. Likewise, the phone is proclaimed “dead” over and over – most recently via articles in Vanity Fair and The Atlantic.

The Atlantic article argues that “the ‘phone’ part of a smartphone is turning vestigial as communication evolves, willingly or not, into data-oriented formats like text messaging and chat apps.” Now, no one can deny the meteoric rise of texting and messaging apps like Snapchat and Whatsapp. I have teenage kids…trust me, I know.

When it comes to coordinating with friends or ordering take-out food, circumventing a conversation makes sense. However, what’s lost in the rhetoric about the phone being dead is that there’s an incredible number of circumstances where the need for human interaction is alive and well. When was the last time you texted your insurance broker?

Phone Calls Are Skyrocketing

Calls to businesses from mobile devices will reach 162 billion by 2019 according to BIA/Kelsey. This is more than double the roughly 77 billion calls generated last year from mobile devices. What this means is that despite all the communications technology advances that have been made in the past 20 years (email, social, SMS, etc.) ultimately, we are all still humans. And humans, by nature, crave actual live interaction with other humans.

Why?

A conversation makes us feel more confident about a purchase. A conversation reassures us in tricky business situations. A conversation helps us decide who to do business with. It is the tipping point in so many situations. Often, just getting off email and picking up the phone can help you make important decisions more quickly.

Do Millennials Really Hate Talking?

And this need for human connection is not limited to a certain age group. Just because millennials are addicted to Snapchat doesn’t mean that they don’t want to have a conversation. Heck, WhatsApp expanded beyond a messaging app to a fully loaded communication tool for phone conversations and Facebook is now giving users more information about who’s calling with its Hello app.

Millennials are talking. Yet, the Atlantic article claims that the “improvisational nature of ordinary, live conversation can feel like an unfamiliar burden [to the millennial generation].” Let’s give young people more credit.

Humans talk when it’s important. Buyers talk when the purchase is meaningful and expensive. As millennials mature and buy meaningful things, they will talk even more. What’s more, if you think about how the human need for interpersonal connection intersects with the power of today’s mobile technology, it’s no surprise that phone calls to businesses will increase to 162 billion in the next few years.

I’m confident that human conversations won’t lose their place as technology advances into every part of our lives. The qualities that make us human are more valuable today than ever before.

It’s Not A Phone. It’s A Human Connect