A Wall Street Journal article, “The Year of the Voice Message,” offers advice that business communication faculty might want to share with students. The voicemail message is out of favor, but voice notes (or voice memos), which brings their own annoyances, are in.

The article describes dislike for voice notes—both sending and receiving them. Still, they persist for convenience and, in some cases, to preserve tone. Some advice is similar to old voicemail messages: keep them short (less than a minute) and beware that others might hear you. Something new: Send a text to introduce the voice note when your receiver needs encouragement to listen.

Other advice is universal for business communication: consider your audience and choose a medium according to your goals. A very short message is best as a text, and a longer message could be an email. Ask yourself, does my voice make a difference in this message? If you’re sending a voice note just for your own convenience, then reconsider: it may be quicker for the receiver to scan a text than to listen.

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