I’m recycling some old questions from the early years of my blog. You know, back when I only had 2 or 3 readers (Hello to my sisters!). 
Today’s “Question of the Day” is all about telephone etiquette. With so many people carrying cell phones and being “available” with it 24×7, I think some people’s views of what’s acceptable with phones has changed. I know a lot of people have disconnected their home telephone and just use their cell. I know I see people, every single day, talking in every imaginable place in public – in their car, in the store, at a table in a restaurant, etc. So…
What time of day is too late to telephone someone? Or too early? Do you have a set time that you don’t usually telephone others before or after, or that you prefer that others don’t call you? Say, 8 AM and 10 PM? 6 AM and 11 PM? Or are you always open, always available? What if you’re at dinner with your family, do you still answer the phone? In the middle of a movie? What guidelines do you use for yourself and your family as far as the telephone goes? Leave me a comment and let me know!
Excellent question!!!
I am not a gabber on the phone. I do have my cell phone on at work in case my son needs to call me. I keep it very low or on vibrate.
As far as in public, I will answer while in stores or restaurants but it’s brief and I usually walk out to a lobby area. Again, this is usually only my son calling.
I won’t call anyone before 9 a.m. or after 9 p.m. unless they tell me to. I don’t appreciate getting phone calls before 9 a.m. My mom constantly has people calling early and it drives us nuts.
As far as dinner goes, I usually check the caller id to see if it’s important enough (dr. or son). I don’t usually answer.
Hey! I was around back then too ya know! 😉 Although I noticed I did not comment on this question at the time (yes, I looked, LOL) so I will now.
Don’t call me after 10pm or before 8am, unless I know about it in advance or it’s an emergency. And I will afford you the same courtesy. It really bothers me when people think I am always available. Just because I have a cell phone does not mean that there are not times when I will opt not to answer. If I have company or am out to dinner or doing a specific activity, my phone is on vibrate only, and I most likely won’t answer. When I am absolutely unavailable (during church, at the movie theatre, etc), I turn my phone off. Actually, when I go to church, I also leave it in the car. I would be mortified if it ever made a noise in church!
Hey there sis! Good one and so many questions, let’s see if I can get them all!
We get phone calls at all hours because of Don’s work and employees so I’m sorta used to it but don’t always like it. In the busy season farmers call here very early and he also makes calls early and late, it’s the only sure time to catch him or them to catch him. Although that was probably pre cell phone days. I try not to call anyone before 8 unless I know for sure they don’t care and are up; likewise I try not to call after 10 unless I know same thing about them. Sometimes it depends on the person and I might not call after 9!
I don’t always answer the phone during dinner and don’t think I ever have at a movie….I keep it on silent for movie or church but don’t always have it at church. If I’m in a check out line I might answer (I did yesterday) but asked the person to hold on until I finished checking out….I sorta hate to be on the phone the whole time someone is checking me out and making change or signing receipt or whatever, it seems a little rude or odd to me!
I still don’t have caller id at the house (argh) but of course you can tell on the cell who’s calling if I’m on with someone else and I try not to get off with one person to answer the other unless it’s something I think is really important. I figure I can call them back most times.
8:30 or 9pm is my cutoff, unless it’s close family or friends, or unless someone tells me it’s okay with them. I don’t mind calls later than that myself, because I’m usually up late. My best friend & I will call each other as late as 10:30 or 11pm, but that’s only b/c we know each other is up and those are our best times to talk uninterrupted (our kids are the same age & are in bed).
I don’t like calls before 9am. But Philip gets work calls starting at 8 or 8:30am, so I have to deal with it.
We solve any problems with early phone calls by leaving our ringer off & the answering machine turned down when we go to bed at night.
We don’t usually answer during dinner unless it sounds important on the answering machine. As you can tell, we screen our calls!
My preference is between 9am and 9pm, although I’d rather you call me later in the night than earlier in the morning 🙂
I (heart) caller id, and I use it, too. If I know the conversation is going to be lengthy, I’ll let the machine get it if I’m in the middle of homeschooling or a meal.
I make it a point to ask the person I’m calling if they have a few minutes and is this a good time to talk, or do I need to call them back. I think people appreciate that b/c they can tell me the truth. Then we can either get into the details, or sum it up quickly.
Good QOTD!
I would rather people not call our home before 7am…but they do. But I really dont like phone calls after 9pm….my kids are settled for bed and I dont want anything getting them roused up. Occasionally we will get work calling Scott. You know he works for the phone company…so we have a phone her at the house…and 2 cell phones….keeping it going with the phones.
I go with 9 am to 9 pm. The other day I got a phone call at 8:30 am, and I was shocked. It was just the doctor’s office setting up an appointment, so it was fine, but i was still surprised.
I might possibly call someone after 9 pm if they are expecting me to call and I know they stay up late.
We have such a problem with people calling us between 7:30 and 8:30 pm though. All these people know that we are BUSY TRYING to get our son in bed during that time, but they don’t think and call us anyhow. So I would say for people with little kids, maybe the times need to be adjusted.
Good question!
I hate the phone. I don’t appreciate anyone calling before 9am or after 9pm, but since everyone I know understands that I hate the phone, our home phone doesn’t ring very often. I don’t answer my cell phone when I’m at home at all, and I don’t answer it during a meal or a movie unless I’m waiting for some important information (like when my realtor called in the middle of a movie to tell us there was an offer on our house).
I like email. I can read it and respond to it at my convenience, and so can the recipient.
We usually don’t get calls earlier than 8 or 8:30 in the morning, or after 9 at night – unless Shelby is out somewhere. Then it’s OK for her to call at any time. I want her to know that I’m always available for her if she needs help.
We use caller ID a lot, especially if it’s Dom’s work calling on his days off. Then I just don’t answer and let the answering machine pick it up.
I was in a store the other day and heard this woman carrying on a cell phone conversation. She was looking at clothes, then went into the dressing room, still talking. And talking loud. I don’t think others should be able to hear your conversation – if they can you’re talking too loud. I hate – HATE – cell phones in restaurants. And I especially HATE call waiting!
Great topic! I don’t like calls before 8 a.m (on weekdays) and my rule with the kids is no calls before 9 a.m. on weekends — meaning my kids aren’t allowed to call their friends before then, and the kids that know our family know better than to call before 9 a.m.! In the evenings, I try not to call people after 8:00, and definitely no later than 9. I also have a “thing” about calling people (other than family) on Sunday mornings. That’s family time or church time, and it just bugs me when kids call then. Call me a grouch!
Cell phones. Unless it’s a family member or friend, I try not to call people on their cell phones. It feels like such an intrusion, if I catch them in the middle of something. My family and friends know that they can just let it go to VM if necessary and call me back. I’m the same with them. I don’t use my cell in restaurants, or if I’m shopping, and won’t answer if I’m in the middle of checking out.
We don’t answer our home phone during dinner. Gee, with all my rules for the home phone, it’s a wonder anyone calls us at all!
Good question.
We don’t allow the kids to make or receive calls after 9 p.m. I really don’t like the phone to ring before 9 a.m. on Saturdays… but otherwise I don’t think about it. All the kid’s cellphones ring constantly but they usually put them on silent after 9. With caller ID we can decide whether or not to take a call during dinner. If it’s just a kid or some solicitor we do not. Matt’s more of a stickler about the phone rules than me.
I mostly get text messages from the kids so I can read them wherever I am without being annoying… but I have been known to walk around the stores with my ear piece in… there’s only so many moments of quiet I can visit you know 🙂
I turn my ringer on when I’m up and going and turn it off when I go to bed. If Jeff’s home my phone stays in my car and I just take for granted no one will call.
Jeff’s is a constant. It stays in the car for dinner out, movies or other “quiet” places.
Great question. I hate the phone, LOL. With that said, I don’t make calls before 10 AM and after 9 PM. That’s just my standard rule tht I wish people would use when calling me, LOL. I screen my calls, so I may refuse to answer, at any given time. I don’t answer the phone when it rings during meals, but my husband feels the need to for some odd reason. He would sit and talk during the whole meal and that bugs me, LOL.
I wouldn’t call anyone but a very close friend or family member after 9 pm, and then only if it was absolutely necessary. And I probably wouldn’t call before 8 a.m. For me, I prefer not to get calls before 9 am., but I’m much more open to them calling late… no later than 11 p.m. though. The only reason I don’t answer the phone is if I can telling by the caller ID that it’s somebody wanting my money or to ask me some survey questions or something. Otherwise, there’s nothing I’m doing, short of taking a shower, that I wouldn’t answer the phone, IF I know who it is and want to talk to them. 😉
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