(WSNN) – The old-school phone call is making a comeback amid the coronavirus pandemic. Difficult times call for … more phone calls.
“Those first few weeks we saw an average 800 million voice calls a day,” Verizon spokesperson, Kate Jay, said.
Jay says that’s twice as much as what they see on a typical mother’s day, which is normally their busiest day the year in voice calls.
AT&T also sees an uptick in phone calls.
“Our customers are making more calls from their home phones, smartphones and via Wi-Fi,” AT&T’s spokesperson, Kelly Layne Starling, said. “What we’ve seen during this difficult time is that when face-to-face communication isn’t possible, staying connected with loved ones is more important than ever.”
“Staying connected isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity,” Psychologist Dr. Angelo Domingo, Psy.D.
Dr. Domingo says staying connected has always been very important. Humans thrive in social networks.
People are reaching out to family, friends, and coworkers.
Bradenton resident, Kristen Hogentogler, says she’s having so many work calls, she has to make a plan.
But when it comes to personal calls, she’s making zoom calls to her family.
“You can’t really see people face-to-face as much, so I have a lot of family reaching out and trying to just schedule, once-a-week, a zoom,” Hogentogler said.
She says she relies more on phone calls than text messages.
“If anything, the only reason I text people is to say ‘hey, do you have a quick minute for us to get on a phone call?'” Hogentogler said.
As we start to get into a routine of this “new normal,” some people are trying to limit those phone calls. That’s how it is for Sarasota resident, Quina Miller.
“Too many phone calls coming from banks, accountants, teachers, part of my team, friends, family,” Miller said. “It’s just too much. So, I shut it down.”
Jay says Verizon provides frequent updates. And the latest update from Wednesday, shows things are normalizing.
“Those first few weeks, significant increases in voice, text, and data usage, but this week, is really when we started to decrease,” Jay said.
Telecommunications companies like Verizon and AT&T are working to ensure connectivity is available to all their customers.
Jay says as of Wednesday, Verizon is offering new discounts to nurses and teachers. It’s a plan going towards their entire family.