Indians Yet To Learn Cell Phone Etiquette

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http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/843332.cms

NEW DELHI: Be it talking loudly in cinema halls and hospitals or setting the ring tone to ear-splitting decibels, Indians are yet to learn the basic cell phone etiquettes, industry experts say.

Consumers in western nations are educated on the same by cellular service providers at the time of purchase.

"There is a low level of awareness among Indians on basic cell phone manners," says TV Ramachandran, director general, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).

"There may be socio-cultural factors behind it, or it may be simply due to the novelty of the gadget that has not yet worn off and to them it is still something to show-off," he says.

"The Indian cellular market is a new and inexperienced one, compared to the United States and they have a lot to learn still about the gadget," says a senior official of Airtel cellular service provider.

"The Indian consumers have voice dependency to a great extent. They require to be connected at all times. Whereas in the older and more vast markets like that of US and UK, where mobile phones have been around for some time, the voice dependency is not as great," he says.

People here willingly defy the basic ground rules like switching off the phone in public halls, condolence meetings lectures, theatres and hospitals, experts say.

There is no available literature provided to the customer on this issue when he buys a phone and there have been very little efforts made till date to educate people in cell phone etiquettes, he says.

"Counselling customers on the basic cell phone manners has never been conceptualised on a professional level in this country," says Sunil Widge, manager, marketing and communications, Idea Cellular.

"Indian consumers would tend to be offended if cellular service providers or mobile phone companies start giving them lessons in etiquettes," Widge says adding that "the idea holds no value from the marketeer's point of view."

While most service providers conceded that the manual that they provide at the time of setting up connections has no separate section dedicated to 'cell phone etiquettes', or the 'beginner's do's and dont's', they claimed that they sometimes verbally try to counsel at the time of purchase.

However, most experts in the industry feel that there should be mandatory laws in this regard, to stop the violation of public comfort by a loud and unruly cell phone user.

"Just like the provision of law banning talking on cell phone while driving, there should be laws in this regard," says the Airtel official.

There is also precious little material available on the internet, especially in the Indian cellular websites.

The 'Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited Telecom' site on the web lists few pointers on cell phone manners for the subscribers, however popular sites like www.coai.com do not have any such literature.

"It is time that we really did something about this, considering the three crore plus consumers we have in this country, maybe we will take this issue up with our core group in the next board meeting," Ramachandran says.

July, 2004 was the National Wireless Phone Courtesy Month in the United States, and the Founder of the programme, Jacqueline Whitmore, a prominent figure in the American etiquette industry tried to educate people in the polite and considerate usage of their cell phones. The few basic guidelines that she listed and experts world over corroborated were "knowing when to switch off the phone, or vibrate it in meetings, movies, places of worship, and seminars."

Experts on cell phone manners advice users to be brief and ask for the companion's permission before attending a call.

Being polite, speaking in a lower-than-normal voice, and not distracting others present, are also high on priority.

Talking while driving is not recommended, besides being unlawful in this country.

Providing people with a personal space while taking a call in a public place like a bus terminus or railway station is also adviced. The call should be attended atleast 10-20 feet away from the nearest person.

Crowded rooms, lines and tight hallways are not good places to carry on phone conversations, experts say. The ring tone should be set at a low level with gentle tune, especially in a crowded place.

While approaching a counter to work through a problem for eg with an airline ticket, it is adviceable to turn off the phone to get the maximum attention of the attending person.

It is also not polite to fire or chastise employees, argue with a boss or fight with a spouse or teenager on mobile phones in public settings, experts say.