Tops Carbonless Phone Message Pad Review

Overall 5.00 of 5 (by 1 user)

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Writer

SpokaneMan
Spokane, WA

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An excellent phone pad for a busy office or the home.

a home office user, an every day computer user, budget conscious, always buying new office supplies, impressed with this product, Practical

Pros

easy to use, easy to read text, provides duplicate copies, not too expensive, clean

MAY

2008

One of the items that remains on my desk at all times is my phone message book. Sitting right next to the phone (and sometimes under it), this is an important tool when you are answering phones on a frequent basis. It comes into play more often than you think, and it has been very useful to me for quite a while now. The message book that I use is called The Tops Important Message Book, and has been my brand of choice since I started using it. I wouldn't say that it is anything flashy, but it is a stable choice that can be relied upon in the crunch.

The book was bought at Staple's for a little over $4.00, and it was one of the cleaner-cut options that they had. It is set up like a notebook, with spiral binding that goes down the duration of the left side of the pad. The pages measure out to about 8 inches by 11 inches, so it is also on the large side, but not too l large to become a hassle with space. On the inside cover of the phone pad, there is a list of many different area codes that may come in handy within the United States. It is limited to some of the larger cities though, and as of now, I still haven't sought any information from this listing. I don't even know if it could benefit anyone, because if you are receiving a call, most of the time people will leave you an area code if they are calling long distance.

Within the message book, there are 50 pages of the message slips, with there being 4 to each page. They are split into columns going 2x2, and allow you plenty of options with which to take your message or leave notes. In between the message slips are perforated edges that will allow you to tear off each message very easily. Each of them also has a copy that the top one "duplicates" on to when you are writing out the message. By pressing down on the top copy, it imprints on the second one. This comes into play, when you tear out the top copy of the message to pass on to someone. You now have a copy that will remain in the book, and can be referenced at any time in the future. To differentiate, the top of the messages are pink, and the copies are yellow.

There is a lot of information that each one of the messages can take down for you and include who it is for, date, time, phone number, reason for calling, and then a lot of room for the message. At the bottom of the message is a place to sign saying that you were the person that took the message/phone call. In addition, on the back of the message are more lines to leave an extended notation of what the phone call had entailed. One other thing on the front is a set of check boxes where you can denote what the intent of the message was that lists these options: Telephoned, Came To See You, Wants To See You, Returned Your Call, Please Call, Will Call Again, Rush, and Will Fax You. So, as you can see this is more than just a phone message pad, but a general message pad that could be helpful to any office that has a lot of traffic coming through.

I have found the pad very useful when taking down messages for various people. The one thing that I have needed to make sure that I do, is to press down hard when I am writing a message. If you don't use pen, and don't do the "press down", it doesn't imprint on the copy. They do provide a nice little piece of cardboard to put in between sheets so that you don't imprint on more than one set of the message slips. With the bold writing on the slips, the different colors to denote which was the original and which was the copy, and a nice spiral notebook holding them together, I have found this to be a very concise message keeping system in the office. Sometimes a message will get lost, but that is why you have the copy in the pad to always refer back to. I have been very pleased with my use of the Tops Carbonless Phone Message Book with the 200 Count of Messages, and I think that many other people could benefit from having one as well. I highly recommend it.