RIP voicemails?

It has been brought to my attention that apparently I am the ONLY person on the face of the earth that leaves voicemails anymore. And, that the only reason my friends leave me voicemails is because they know how much I hate when people don't leave them. This is very true and I will happily tell you why:

1. Many times, especially in DC, there is poor reception. Therefore, if you do not leave a message, my phone privies me from knowing I missed your very special call.

*Places with little to no coverage: metro (roughly 40 minutes a day), elevator (roughly 5 minutes a day) and my apartment (roughly 13 hours a day).
*Average total time spent in these places = 13 hours and 45 minutes a day.

2. With no message, I am unaware of the urgency and nature of your call. Are you calling to tell me about an abnormal discharge or to tell me about a cute puppy you saw? Do you need my advice on how to break up with your boyfriend who beat you or on whether you should watch Chopped or Law and Order? Please do not think that I believe any of these calls are unworthy of a call back. Au contraire, I love your calls, but it is not always possible for me to call back immediately. Thus, the importance of knowing the urgency of your ring, ring!
 

My oh-so-wise friends Alejandro and Ashley said that they solve these "issues" by following up with a text if the person does not answer. Which I suppose is a decent alternative, except I have two minor issues with this too:
 
1. Doesn't it take more time to hang up and type the reason for your call, rather than just saying it after the beep? What if you wanted to say something funny or tell a longish story? It's hard to do that in a text. What if you are driving or crossing the street and it's dangerous to text?
 
2. I do not have unlimited texts. I have 250 a month and even though it sounds like a lot, sometimes I definitely make it to the undesirable "red zone". Especially when it takes 17 messages back and forth to agree on when and where to meet for dinner. Your text limit gets a bite taken out (CHOMP) every time you send OR receive a text.
 
If you want me to get really old-school on your asses, I could say that this is another example of us getting lost in technology. I won't...But, now I'm made fun of for leaving a few snippets of my voice on a friend's answering machine.
 
If you hate it so much, get rid of it. Then, you will NEVER have to hear anyone's voice again, for as long as you live. Sound good?
 
I'm not upset at all. I'm fine. No, I didn't deprive my friend of his favorite cupcakes yesterday, as a result of this fight, discussion, argument, conversation.

P.S: Hilarious article that Matt sent me today, definitely worth reading: NY Times Wedding Section - Women's Sport Section