Poll: How much do you rely on your phone for work? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How much do you rely on your phone for work?".
View the poll results »
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| Other (between not at all and very little) | Nov 17, 2019 |
I haven’t had a phone call from a client for ages but just by coincidence on Thursday I received a phone call from a potential client: an agency I had signed contract with many moons ago which was trying to contact me with a job using an email address that’s no longer valid.
[Edited at 2019-11-17 16:14 GMT]
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| I'm not chained to my desk! | Nov 17, 2019 |
Part of the freelance lifestyle I appreciate the most is my flexible schedule. I absolutely rely on my phone because I can respond to project offers quickly when I'm away from my desk.
Occasionally PMs will call me, either before we start working together, or because they need an immediate response, and I'm happy to talk, but that is uncommon.
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I use mine more for checking emails when I'm out of the office than making or receiving phone calls - in that sense I couldn't do without it. As a "telephone" it's not so vital.
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I want a written record! I insist on email for all work-related correspondence. That way, I can save it for my own reference or in the event of a misunderstanding.
All that was true before I became hearing-impaired. Now there's also the possibility that I could mis-hear what the client said, and since I'm getting up in years, I could even forget about the message! I wouldn't know about that because it has been many years since I received a request via phone.
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| I did it once but | Nov 18, 2019 |
I do not regularly check emails on my smartphone but lately, I received a job offer which I accepted but later realised I had miscalculated the time. I had a lecture I still wanted to attend so I worked on Memsource Editor on my smartphone on the bus itself and then, since I arrived at university half an hour early, I continued working on my smartphone. However, this was just an incident which I have no intention of repeating as it's difficult working on a small apparatus even if this smartphone... See more I do not regularly check emails on my smartphone but lately, I received a job offer which I accepted but later realised I had miscalculated the time. I had a lecture I still wanted to attend so I worked on Memsource Editor on my smartphone on the bus itself and then, since I arrived at university half an hour early, I continued working on my smartphone. However, this was just an incident which I have no intention of repeating as it's difficult working on a small apparatus even if this smartphone is quite big and using touchscreen is fiddly so it took me twice the time it usually takes me to do the work. I found it useful that one time as I managed to finish most of the work but I would not like to repeat the experiment. You have to go back and forth more times than you would on a normal PC and my eyes were smarting by the time the lecture was due to start. ▲ Collapse
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| What is meant by "phone"? | Nov 18, 2019 |
I get phone calls from clients inquiring about translations, but I don't think that is what the question means.
If it means e-mails or research: usually I use my computer. But I might check messages when I first get up, using the phone instead of the computer which is still starting up. is that what is meant?
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 04:32
Member (2008)
Italian to English
For translating work, I need a fast computer with a big display and numerous applications running at the same time, including a web browser with fast access to bookmarked sites that I use constantly. I could never do that on a phone, or an iPad. So my answer to the question "How much do you rely on your phone for work?" is "I don't rely even slightly on my phone for work".
I do occasionally call my clients about work-related matters, or they call me, but that's for person-to-person... See more For translating work, I need a fast computer with a big display and numerous applications running at the same time, including a web browser with fast access to bookmarked sites that I use constantly. I could never do that on a phone, or an iPad. So my answer to the question "How much do you rely on your phone for work?" is "I don't rely even slightly on my phone for work".
I do occasionally call my clients about work-related matters, or they call me, but that's for person-to-person conversation, not for working on documents.
[Edited at 2019-11-18 12:20 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Mario Freitas 
Brazil
Local time: 00:32
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
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| Phones are communication tools, period. | Nov 19, 2019 |
In our profession, the phone (be it a mobile or a fixed phone) is a communication tool. You can use it to talk to clients or to read messages and emails when you're not at home. Working in a phone is highly unadvisable. And even regarding communications, negotiations and confirmations shall always be done by e-mail, never by messaging. I've had several occasions, including a lawsuit, where, if I didn't have a written record to evidence the terms, I'd have lost money or other important things. So... See more In our profession, the phone (be it a mobile or a fixed phone) is a communication tool. You can use it to talk to clients or to read messages and emails when you're not at home. Working in a phone is highly unadvisable. And even regarding communications, negotiations and confirmations shall always be done by e-mail, never by messaging. I've had several occasions, including a lawsuit, where, if I didn't have a written record to evidence the terms, I'd have lost money or other important things. So I'm with Muriel here.
[Edited at 2019-11-19 13:08 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Kay Denney
France
Local time: 05:32
French to English
I love being able to check my emails while out and about. Just yesterday I got a job from one of my favourite clients, while out shopping. I negotiated the deadline in the fitting booths (no there wasn't a queue) and was able to get cracking on it as soon as I got back. Knowing a job was waiting for me, I walked home at a good brisk pace so that was good exercise too!
I did a translation once on the phone. I had builders in, they had to cut the power off, and a client urgently neede... See more I love being able to check my emails while out and about. Just yesterday I got a job from one of my favourite clients, while out shopping. I negotiated the deadline in the fitting booths (no there wasn't a queue) and was able to get cracking on it as soon as I got back. Knowing a job was waiting for me, I walked home at a good brisk pace so that was good exercise too!
I did a translation once on the phone. I had builders in, they had to cut the power off, and a client urgently needed a snappy title to describe an event. So it involved typing all of three words on the phone. If I'd had a larger emergency I would have gone to squat a friend's place. ▲ Collapse
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 04:32
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Kay Denney wrote:
I love being able to check my emails while out and about. Just yesterday I got a job from one of my favourite clients, while out shopping. I negotiated the deadline in the fitting booths (no there wasn't a queue) and was able to get cracking on it as soon as I got back. Knowing a job was waiting for me, I walked home at a good brisk pace so that was good exercise too!
I did a translation once on the phone. I had builders in, they had to cut the power off, and a client urgently needed a snappy title to describe an event. So it involved typing all of three words on the phone. If I'd had a larger emergency I would have gone to squat a friend's place.
No thanks: I don't use email on my phone because I don't want my phone buzzing at all hours of the day and night with email messages, only some of which might be from clients. I have considered using it so that clients can contact me, but how could I possibly read through a large document, maybe a spreadsheet or a powerpoint presentation, do a word count, and respond to the client? I don't think that would be possible, with the type of work I do.
[Edited at 2019-11-19 14:23 GMT]
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