ATLANTA (July 2024) – Nearly 80 percent (79%) of people disapprove of people talking loudly on their phones when in a public place, and 72 percent find the use of speakerphone in a shared environment to be inappropriate. YouGov research being shared by VoiceNation, a company that has spent decades handling calls, tracks with anecdotal evidence that suggests how ease of technology like mobile speakerphone has caused many to fall off their manners.

Seventy percent reported that shifting focus from a call to interact with someone else without informing the person on the phone to be rude, and that two-thirds of us (66%) find skipping greetings on a call unacceptable, even though many are doing it. VoiceNation provides receptionist and PA services to thousands of businesses across the U.S., perfecting the art of being friendly yet efficient on the phone. Their unique perspective means they can spot the latest trends in what is or is not acceptable in modern phone manners, trends which were reinforced with the survey* of 1,216 adults by YouGov, which also showed certain phone behaviors are more acceptable for some generations than others.

Younger adults are more relaxed about timings of calls
Almost half (45%) of 18 to 34s think late night phone calls are acceptable, a sentiment shared with only 9% of over 55s. The same trend is observed in feelings towards early morning calls, with more than half (51%) of the younger group deeming these acceptable compared to just 20% of the older cohort.

Younger age groups less likely to mind calls without a “hi” or “bye”
Over a third (35%) of 18 to 24s find it acceptable to start or end a call without a “hi” or “goodbye”, while only 25% of 35 to 54s and 18% of over 55s feel the same way.

Eating or chewing loudly on calls is more of a problem for women than men
The survey shows clear gender differences in attitudes towards manners during calls, with 86% of U.S. women finding it unacceptable to eat or chew loudly during a call, while fewer men (75%) felt the same way. Similarly, 84% of women think talking loudly on a phone in a public place is unacceptable, compared with 74% of men who felt the same way.

Richard Culberson, Chief Executive Officer North America for VoiceNation comments: “This survey backs up what we’ve been noticing during our call handling – young people are much less likely to say ‘hello’ or ‘goodbye’ and we wonder if this is due to ‘telephobia’ among the younger generations who are less confident or practiced in handling calls compared to older generations. We advise anyone using the phone, whether to call a friend, family member, or company, to use basic courtesy such as greetings, giving the person at the end of the phone their full attention, and lowering their tone when in a public place.”
 

Notes to editors:

This study was conducted by YouGov online on 5-8 April 2024, with a nationally representative sample of 1,216 adults (aged 18+ years) in the US, using a questionnaire designed by YouGov. Data figures have been weighted by age, race, gender, education, and region to be representative of all adults in the US (18 years or older), and reflect the latest population estimates from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.

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About VoiceNation

VoiceNation is a leading virtual receptionist & phone answering provider.  VoiceNation specializes in custom-scripted call answering, with bilingual receptionists available to take calls 24 hours a day. VoiceNation is part of Moneypenny, a leading 24/7 provider of personalized answering services, live chat and customer contact solutions.

Collectively, the Moneypenny Group employs over 1,000 people handling over 20 million calls and chats for thousands of businesses of all shapes and sizes – from sole traders right up to multinational corporations. More information is available at www.voicenation.com

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