Under Construction

General:
Hours to call - 8:30 AM to 9 PM (except 5:30-7:30)
    Some say 8 AM to 10 PM

Number of rings:
Answering:
Whenever possible answer before the 3rd ring.
Set your answering machine or service to go to voice mail after only 1 ring when you are out for an extended period.

Calling:
Let the phone ring at least 5 times before hanging up.
(10 rings for TTY (teletypewriter) service used by hard-of-hearing persons.)
I get upset when I rush upstairs from the basement to answer the phone or take a few seconds to wash my hands when in the middle of preparing a meal only to have the caller hang up after 3 rings.
Studies have shown most people hang up after the third ring when calling a business and the fifth ring when calling a home.

Telephone Etiquette Guide at Cal State U. Fullerton
Telephone Etiquette and Safety at U. Miami Med. School
Voice Mail / Telephone Etiquette at Manitoba Canada Intermediate School curriculum
Business Telephone Etiquette at: buzzle.com and AllBusiness.com

Cell Phone:
  Yahoo, MonsterBlog

Some of the main points in the above:
Turn your phone off in Theaters, restaurants, church, meetings, ....
If you have a very important call at least put it on vibrate and tell the people you are with you are expecting an important call.

Avoid annoying ring tones; "Ooh, baby, baby" may be funny to your friends, but it's a credibility wrecker at the office.

Have some decency to not answer the phone when you are having a face to face conversation with someone. If you are with a close friend or in a long conversation, it may be acceptable to say "excuse me" and take a call.

RTFM (Read The F___ Manual); Do not fumble trying to unlock the keyguard in public.

Cool and Funny Ringtones


Links:
Abbreviations for use in SMS (Short message Service) on cell phones or twitter.
Return to Etiquette

last updated 4 Oct 2007