Tips for Being a Good Cell Phone Citizen

My mother was visiting last weekend and I took her to dinner at a favorite restaurant of mine in Berkeley, CA, and as usual, it was crowded and loud. After sitting down to dinner, Mom realized that she hadn’t checked in with her husband, so she checked her voice mail. After doing so, she explained to me that she had a worried message from her husband and that she had to call him immediately. So not to disturb others in the restaurant, I asked her to go outside to make the call, but she refused. Mom had difficulty in hearing his voice in the noisy restaurant, which caused her to raise her voice while speaking to him. Several glares were shot our way from the surrounding patrons.

This got me thinking about what standards there are for cell phone etiquette. Similar to a restaurant, planes are places where you’re in close proximity to other people. Wired referenced TripAdvisor’s recent survey where 78% of international travelers believe that cell phone usage shouldn’t be permitted on plane trips. Companies like Qantas are currently testing in-flight cell phone usage and may make this possible soon (personally I hope not because I am against cell phone use on planes as well). Regardless of whether you’re in a restaurant or in the air, here are a few tips on cell phone etiquette.

1.      Silence is golden – Turn your phone to vibrate or silent, or better yet off, in movie theaters, school, business meetings, church or any place you know a ringing device will get annoyed stares from others. If you really need to talk on your phone in a public space, try text messaging or mobile Instant Messaging.

2.      Use your “indoor voice” – You don’t have to shout for the person on the other end to hear you. Talk in your normal tone but if the person can’t hear, be considerate to those around you and call back later.

3.      Look ma, no hands! – Buy a headset so if you have to answer your phone in the car, your attention is still kept on the road. It used to be funny steering without your hands when you learned to ride a bike, but it’s not so cool when you’re driving…remember, safety comes first.

4.      Short and sweet – Keep phone conversations brief when you’re with other people; they’ll appreciate it.   

5.      Pay attention – E-mailing and text messaging from your mobile device are great ways to distract yourself – like when you are standing in the check-out line at the grocery store or making a deposit at the bank. But keep it to a minimum so people aren’t stuck in already long lines even longer because you aren’t paying attention.

What do you think? I’d love to hear your ideas for being a good cell phone citizen.

- Maureen Keating, Manager, Planning & Research

Check out these other opinions on the web:

Mind your cell phone manners

Decoding Cell Phone Etiquette

You know the guy in the movie theater whose phone is ringing? Don't be THAT person.

The Basic Rules of Cellphone Etiquette

Comments

[Simon Dick]

It seems that in Europe (well, the UK at least) it's pretty standard to be quite quiet or go outside if on a mobile call, no idea why it would vary though (personally I dislike talking on my mobile where others can overhear me, even if it's not particularly private)

[eric]

enough with these "fluff" entries... when are we going to real information about future products, future plans, etc. I have a Palm T/X and I'm anxious to upgrade... but there is no new compelling Palm PDA's. Lets see some entries about that... some entries about how the new OS is progressing... thats what users want to read about!

[Brian]

As a cell phone company, you are in a unique position to fix this problem, because it is technical. People who talk too loud on the phone do so because they cannot hear *themselves* talking, not the other person. Cell phones habitually have the sidetone volume set too low, which results in people yelling into the phone. Increase the sidetone volume, and people will stop talking so loud.

[Donald C. Kirker]

I agree with Maureen.

The only reason that I would want to see cellular coverage on a plane would be for data. Though, I fear that the cellular companies would see "air cells" as a great opportunity to charge 3x per minute. I would hate to listen to people talk on their phones for the entire trip. It is bad enough that you are crammed in a 2x3 foot space with no mobility (that alone gives me headaches).

Who knows, things may turn out like they did on trains. Then again, on a train (well, trains like Amtrak's CoastStarlight) one has the luxury or going downstairs or to an empty car.

Either way, I prefer not to have others over hear my conversations.

@Brian: Unfortunatly Palm does not have the ability to determine where users can and cannot use their cell phones. A great deal of my generation has poor judgement of where cell phones are not ok to use. Using a cell phone while interacting with another human (unless the cell phone conversation is involved in the human-to-human interaction) is quite rude. As is talking in a restaurant, opr other public location where others would want a quite atmosphere, if it is anything more than a few brief words.

Though, the sidetone volume level would help to eliminate a good portion of the problem.

[RichC]

Not that I condone using a cell phone in a restaurant, but like most of use, I've done it before. If you must talk in a loud environment consider adding noise reduction technology to handsets. If Jawbone can put it in their bluetooth headsets, I'm sure Palm can add it to their Treo and Centro phones? (see right sidebar http://blog.myarchive.us/?p=806 for examples)

[Josh Barrow]

I have a friend who, when he comes over, texts on his cell phone constantly. Very annoying, almost to the point of being rude.

[Saul]

Here's an unoriginal idea for mobile phone etiquette. Treat it like you were using a payphone. In restaurants, payphones used to be located near the restrooms. Get up and walk to that area and make your phone call. If you receive a phone call, ask the caller to hold on while you get up from the table and walk to the restrooms.

[go_free]

in my country ppl look proud if they use cell phone,especially when they use expensive one

[Eric Clark]

I could not agree more, Cell Phones are annoying. Im out fishing and no need to turn the radio on, I can just listen to the tunes of my buddies cell phone ring 100 times as his wife wants a up to the min update on when he is to return.

[Sathya]

Really good article. I have been following your blog for last 3 months. You have good knowledge
on Mobile(cell phone) Industry and happenings. Please continue the good work. Thank you.