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Information technology has gone through a customer-service oriented change in the last 10 years.  IT consultants are not attractive to IT recruiters if they only have pristine resumes.  IT staffing agencies are now seeking IT contractors who are socially adept and will be great a communicating with their IT managers or co-workers.  This means that IT professionals have a bit of a quandary on their hands when it comes to answering their office phones. 

While text messages have brought about a general distaste for the phone, it has only compounded the fact that many people at the office tend to want to avoid their office line.  But is this ok when they are expected to be great communicators?  There is, of course, no straight answer to this.  Office policies, official and unofficial, are the best guides here.  The quickest way to get a good idea of how IT professionals should act towards phone calls is to check out how people in other departments do.  If people in departments with heavy emphasis on communication always pick up their phones, it’s better to follow suit.  Even if IT is different, communication skills are key.  Displaying a lack of them, even if it doesn’t affect your work, is a terrible idea.