Mobile Phone Etiquette

I don’t know if you saw the news last week about the checkout operator in Sainsbury’s who refused to serve a customer until they had finished their phone call?  It was a great story, which resulted in the supermarket apologising to the customer and insisting that it wasn’t company policy after all.

This made me think that we all live day by day on our mobiles and that its actually really easy to get carried away and that we can all stay within our own little bubble and forget ourselves, so here’s our guide to mobile phone etiquette!

The ways in which this indispensable little gadget can cause offence are legion.

Remember, above all, that you are not joined at the hip to this useful device. It is important to be aware at all times of good mobile phone etiquette.

• Think about what your ringtone says about you: head-banging rocker, fashion-conscious teenager, gamer, sci-fi nerd, smooth seducer, tv addict, If you’re embarrassed by your ringtone in certain situations (trains, office, when you’re visiting your mother) it’s almost certainly the wrong choice. Try again.
• Monitor the volume of your ringtone; if it blares out and heads turn it’s too loud.
• Remember there’s always vibrate. It may surprise your companions when you lurch – seemingly unprompted – to answer an invisible, silent phone, but at least they’ll be spared the ringtone.
• Ensure that your mobile phone conversation is not disturbing other people. Intimate conversations are never appropriate in front of others – try and respect your own, and other people’s, privacy.
• Don’t use foul language, have full-blooded rows, or talk about money, sex or bodily functions in front of witnesses.
• Don’t use your phone in ‘quiet zones’ on trains. Even if you’re not in a designated zone, be aware that your voice will distract a peaceful carriage of newspaper-reading commuters. If the line is bad and conversations inaudible, explain that there’s a problem and hang up.
• Your mobile phone is not a megaphone, so don’t shout…
• If you lose reception, live with it. Refrain from shouting into a dead device, and ring the other person back as soon as you regain it, even if it’s only to say goodbye.
• People in the flesh deserve more attention than a gadget, so wherever possible turn off your phone in social situations.
• Don’t put your phone on the dining table, or glance at it longingly mid-conversation.
• Don’t carry on mobile phone calls while transacting other business – in banks, shops, on buses and so on. It is insulting not to give people who are serving you your full attention.
• Don’t make calls to people from inappropriate venues; a call from a bathroom is deeply off-putting.
• Switch off your phone, or turn it on to vibrate, when you are going into meetings, theatres, cinemas and so on.
• Bluetooth headsets are fine in the car (in fact they’re safe and legal).
• If you are awaiting an important call when meeting someone socially, explain at the outset that you will have to take the call, and apologise in advance. Otherwise, excuse yourself and withdraw somewhere private to make or receive calls. Do not have a mobile phone conversation in front of your friends. It is the height of bad manners!
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