Should you use the email or phone when you’re at the office?

As an entrepreneur, you know how important it is to efficiently and effectively use productivity tools in your work.

And there’s a good chance you regularly use two underrated productivity tools in your daily work, that of ever-present email and the humble telephone.

You may think these tools are created equally.

But that’s not necessarily the case. Each tool has its own merits and demerits.

The only question is: are you using the right tool at the right moment in your work?

Here are eight tips to help you determine whether you should use email or the telephone to productively communicate with others.

When to Use Email

Use email to document information.

Email can be thought of as a digital equivalent of a paper trail.

This tool is extremely helpful if you need to document or record information.

This can be handy in your professional work and business especially when it comes to finances, clients, and customers, and project records.

If you need to summarize the findings of a report, capture an expense, or present a proposal to someone, email is a smart way to go.

Use email to confirm information.

Another way to use email is to use it as a written confirmation for communications.

This is somewhat similar to documenting information, but in this situation, you’re specifically writing a message to someone in order receive a timely response.

You can use email to confirm travel arrangements, meeting attendance, or a final decision.

Use email to share information.

Email is a convenient sharing medium.

Portable and convenient, email acts as a temporary digital inbox or holding container for text, links, PDFs, images, and the like.

You can process, read, review, or study information that is sent via email.

Use email to manage schedules.

Email can be especially useful if you are working with those located in a different time zone.

Because of the time difference, a recipient can review your message and get back to you on their own schedule.

Again, the idea here is to not necessarily have an immediate response, but to provide a situation where communication can naturally unfold between two parties in a well-managed fashion.

When to Use the Phone

Use the phone to acquire information.

You can hop on the phone at almost any place and time to secure information.

You can make updates to accounts, change passwords, and gather account, or status updates.

What’s more, if you need assistance with your query, there’s a fairly good chance you can receive real-time support with your query.

Use the phone to build rapport with another person.

Nothing replaces building a relationship with someone in real time.

You can hear the other person’s voice, intonation, expression, cadence, and rhythm.

That’s a much different way of communicating with others than email.

Thankfully, we can quickly understand and express what is being said on a person-to-person phone call.

Use the phone to change your workflow.

A phone call requires you stay active throughout the whole session.

You must listen to what someone is saying and then to respond to them in kind.

There’s a whole different flow to experiencing your work.

What’s more, you can take calls in different places, you can walk and talk or stay still, all while staying focused and present in the moment.

Use the phone for sensitive conversations.

Sometimes it’s better to have a phone conversation than to email.

You may want to float ideas, thoughts, decisions, or brainstorm with others, but you don’t necessarily want to leave a trail in the form of an email or text.

A good old fashioned phone call is a quick and convenient way to communicate and get things done.

How about you? How are you going to use the phone and email for your work? Join the conversation and leave a comment below!

This post originally appeared on Inc.com.