Call waiting was once heralded as a great thing because it let you receive calls while you were in the middle of another call. That was a good thing for those who were dealing with emergencies or multiple urgent situations that required picking up phone calls immediately. It was also great for families that had maybe one phone line that was constantly tied up. But now that voicemail is everywhere and office phones have features that let you know if someone is trying to call in on another line, is call waiting a feature you need?

Those Beeps Are Annoying

Those who have used call waiting know about those beeps. Those neverending beeps that interrupt your current call, and if the current call is urgent, there's no way to turn off the beeps until the other person calling in hangs up. That can be annoying and result in lost or misheard information. Plus, think about how often you've actually tried to answer that incoming call in the past few years versus letting it go to voicemail. Chances are the voicemail won, for the most part.

Off Function

Call waiting is often included in basic calling services on phone systems, but now you can turn the feature off if you want. You may have to dial a specific number starting with a pound sign or press a certain series of buttons on your office phone, but you do have the ability to turn it on and off. If you are one of those who never use the function, turning the call waiting off and leaving it off may be your best move. Always double-check this with your phone company as some make the off function temporary only, resetting it to on whenever you end your current call.

That Just-in-Case Moment

Still, leaving the call waiting on could be a good idea if you tend to spend a lot of time on long calls. You never know when someone will try to reach you with urgent news. If the beeps truly annoy you, you could post a sign reminding yourself to turn call waiting back on after each call during which it was off.

Your phone system, be it a multi-line office system or a single landline, is a connection to people far away. That doesn't mean you always need to jump to answer their calls. Talk to your phone company about how to turn off and on the call waiting feature. For more information, visit websites like http://www.gardenstatecommunications.com.