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* This is completely non-political, but it’s been bugging the absolute heck outta me for quite some time.
The scenario is played out countless times a day. We’ve all experienced it.
You’re talking on your phone and the connection drops, probably because one or both callers has a mobile phone.
You call the person back and get a busy signal or voice mail because that person is calling you at the same time. You hang up and call back again and the same thing happens. This repeats over and over until one side surrenders and the other side makes a connection - or both sides surrender and the conversation is over.
Frustrating beyond belief.
* The Question: What should be the protocol for situations like this? Who, in your opinion, should call back and who should wait? Explain your reasoning, please.
I’ve decided to abide by the majority vote, so there are consequences to today’s QOTD. Thanks.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 11:13 am
Sorry, comments are closed at this time.
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The person who initiated the original call should be the one to call back. Then there’s absolutely no confusion.
Comment by TTL, III Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 11:17 am
I thought that the protocol is always that the person who originated the call should place it again. I thought that was universal. I’ve not had the problem you describe.
Comment by Rarely Posts Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 11:17 am
I always feel that if I made the call, I should make the return call. Seldom works.
Comment by just wondering Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 11:18 am
I always let the other call back. Somebody has to stay in the clear, and most people like yapping on their cell phones more than I do, so I figure they’ll call back.
Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 11:18 am
I always feel the need to call back if I was the listener to the call- it is not always clear to the speaker the call has been dropped. Generally works for me-
Comment by Inish Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 11:21 am
The originating caller should make the second contact. The caller had a reason to call and the dropped connection did not necessarily nullify that reason.
Comment by wizard Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 11:22 am
I agree with those who have stated that he or she who made the call ought to be responsible to reinitiate the dropped call. That does not always occur in practice.
Comment by Jake from Elwood Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 11:23 am
Yet another vote for the original caller being the one to make the call back.
Comment by montrose Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 11:25 am
Upgrade your plan to include call waiting.
Both should continue to call intermittently. Whoever the call was most important to should call back.
If Rich Miller is talking to Mike Murray and the call is dropped; of course Rich should call back to tell Mike that Rich wil be extending his 2 week vacation to a third week.
Or Mike should call RIch back to tell him that he is too hungover or at Best Buy getting a new camera so he wil be late to work (again).
Comment by Wumpus Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 11:25 am
If you are certain the other person’s phone is responsible you should wait for that person to call back. I believe that failed attempt to reconnect is not becaue they are trying to call you but often becaue they still do not have a signal. Great Question.
Comment by Cosmic Charlie Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 11:25 am
Can’t this be made into a drinking game somehow?
Comment by John Bambenek Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 11:34 am
The orginator calls back. I didn’t even think it could be otherwise.
Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 11:35 am
Initiator should call back
Comment by Rubbernecker Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 11:36 am
Call waiting. Works for me.
To answer the question - originator calls back.
Comment by dupage dan Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 11:40 am
My instinct has always been that the originator should, well, keep originating the call.
But we live in a world of hierarchies and personality quirks. Bosses who think that subordinates should call back. People who use cellphones but don’t like them, and so wait for the other, apparently more phone-enamored guy to call back (I’ve had Wordslinger’s notion but haven’t allow myself to act on it).
It will take more than instinct to sort this one out. Thanks Rich, for a great QOTD. Let’s have more techno-civility related surveys in the future.
Comment by Way South of the Border Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 11:40 am
Initiator should call back
Comment by Speaking at Will Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 11:41 am
Originating caller calls back. Unless, of course, I am the originating caller and I don’t realize the call has dropped because I never let the other person talk anyway. In which case, the person on the other line can call back or skip 5 to 10 minutes of rant before I notice I’m talking to dead air.
Comment by soccermom Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 11:45 am
I’ve always thought that it should be the originator as well…. though in circumstances where the original caller is your boss or your parents or your girlfriend/wife (aka - boss), you should probably call back.
Comment by TJ Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 11:46 am
===though in circumstances where the original caller is your boss or your parents or your girlfriend/wife (aka - boss), you should probably call back. ===
And therein lies the rub. What if your boss, who originated the call, is calling you back while you’re calling her back? Your boss gets frustrated and out the door you go. lol
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 11:48 am
Initiator unless I’m pretty sure the drop is my phone co’s fault. This reminds me of when you’re walking down the hall or street and come across someone and you each move to the left/right to try to let the other by and keep getting “stuck.” An episode of the old CBS Radio Mystery Theater called it “That Bizarre Waltz.”
Comment by lake county democrat Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 11:49 am
===And therein lies the rub. What if your boss, who originated the call, is calling you back while you’re calling her back? Your boss gets frustrated and out the door you go. lol ===
I’ll let you know as soon as either my boss, my parents, or my girlfriend does something technology-related faster than me, so that hasn’t been a problem for me yet, haha.
Comment by TJ Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 11:52 am
My family and I dealt with this two years ago, and it works like a charm. The person who placed the call is the one who calls back.
Comment by Collin Hitt Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 11:53 am
I say “Form a committee, give it an official sounding name, fund it by using funds legislated for another completely unrelated project, assign sub committees, and meet once a month over a dinner paid for by the committee funds. After a year or so, dissolve the committee and suggest that a tax be implemented to study the problem further under a bill to which it is attached for studying railroad relocation issues.
Comment by Justice Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 11:57 am
You should walk to the other side of the rotunda and talk with them face-to-face.
Comment by Anon Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 11:59 am
Hey Rich - a big part of your phone being dropped is that you’re likely using the 3G capability on the iPhone. The folks at the Apple store have told me that you need to go into your network options (under settings/general) and disable the 3G network and go back to 2G. AT&T (argh) didn’t anticipate the use on their network and don’t have enough towers to keep up with 3G network demands. So until the build new towers (years from now), your calls are gonna get dropped - over and over.
In the meantime, the initiator calls back.
Comment by iPhoneuser Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 12:13 pm
I would say it depends on who called first. If you called first then you should call back. The other person should wait a period of time and if you didn’t get back through to that person you should wait until they may call you back!
Comment by Levois Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 12:15 pm
Sounds simple enough. Whoever can get voice mail should leave a message; wait for a call back; and if the interruptions due to breaks in service are interfering with subsequent conversations, make other arrangements to get in touch.
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 12:21 pm
For the younger crowd, if you’re in the same room together and hand gestures, reading lips, and facial expressions don’t get the message across, learn Morse code.
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 12:26 pm
Text: Sorry, call dropped.
Wait for response either via text for voice.
Comment by Obamarama Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 12:26 pm
========
The person who initiated the original call should be the one to call back. Then there’s absolutely no confusion.
========
Have you ever been at an intersection with four stop signs?
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 12:29 pm
Call a town hall meeting. Fill half the room with those that support the initiator the other half with those that do not. Let both sides start yelling their opinions and they select the opinion of the side that yells the loudest and the longest.
The originator unless it is a three-party call where it gets a little more confusing.
Comment by Nuance Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 12:30 pm
Excellent question:
The person who initially called has the responsibility for calling back.
Comment by phil Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 12:39 pm
WGN radio was discussing this just yesterday afternoon. Their consensus was the person who initiated the call calls back. That was always what I personally believed as well.
Comment by CC Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 12:56 pm
Agreed. The person who originally placed the call makes the call back after a drop.
Sometimes it just won’t go through though if one or the other is in a dead zone.
Comment by Rob_N Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 1:02 pm
Whoever was using the phone that lost the signal should be the one to re-initiate contact.
Comment by Mountain Man Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 1:02 pm
===Whoever was using the phone that lost the signal should be the one to re-initiate contact. ===
I might agree except that I’m often not sure who lost the connection.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 1:05 pm
LOL! Yes, frustrating. However, I use the 3 minute rule. By then the person on the other end realizes they have been having a one way conversation and will have disconnected on their end. Then! I make a call to continue … and while I listen to ring to the other end, the infamous “beep” letting me know of an incoming call and usually find that person is calling me back! All good.
Comment by SouthernIL Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 1:07 pm
The whole scenario is frustrating.
I work in telecommunications, and I guess what really ought to happen in this scenario is a hijacking of the call out of the Voice Mail and back into a live connection. It shouldn’t require the end users to re-invent packet collision and re-transmit techniques.
Comment by borzoi Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 1:13 pm
Whoever was using the phone that lost the signal
Unless you know you are in an area with bad coverage, you can’t be sure who dropped the call.
The person who MADE the first call should make the call back. I would think this is mostly a problem when one of the phones is a landline, most cell plans have some form of call waiting.
Comment by Pat Collins Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 1:19 pm
Of course, you can always TEXT the person that you will call back, if they are on a cell
Comment by Pat Collins Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 1:20 pm
Just count to 60.
If they haven’t called you back then initiate the call back.
9 times out of 10 they will already have called you back.
Comment by BIG R.PH. Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 1:32 pm
Initiator should place the call but it NEVER works that way in my family. Frustrating to the max!
Comment by Chi Gal Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 1:34 pm
i think that the person who initially made the call should be the person to the other party back when a call is dropped.
Comment by Will County Woman Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 2:03 pm
First, we have the cell phone companies just improve the networks instead of focusing on cool ringtones, MP3 file storage, entertainment crap, etc., etc., etc., and then we won’t have that problem.
The person who initiated the call should always re-call.
Comment by trafficmatt Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 2:17 pm
This scheme works for me:
I never call back.
– MrJM
Comment by MrJM Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 2:24 pm
The AA family made the same pact as the Hitt’s, with the same great results.
Comment by Arthur Andersen Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 2:25 pm
Originator, always!
Comment by Anon14 Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 2:34 pm
The peron who orginated the call they presumably wanted to talk to the other person. The other person had no control over initiating the conversation unless they had caller i.d. or just didn’t answer their phone. In that case the best way to avoid a phone call is to not have a phone
Comment by orlkon Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 3:28 pm
This is a classic game theory problem. Tom Schelling, the nobel laureate, has written on it (albeit before cell phones came into play). The originator should call back.
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 3:33 pm
Another good reason to ban cell phones forever !!!!!
Comment by Fed Up Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 4:08 pm
Family and work rule…If you iniitated the call and it is dropped…You initiate the recall. I’ll be waiting but not calling you back.
Comment by one day at a time Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 5:35 pm
- John Bambenek - Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 11:34 am:
Can’t this be made into a drinking game somehow?
John, are you hanging out in Campustown with Mike Murray?
Comment by Lynn S Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 10:18 pm
Turn off the phone and go play 18. Give you a sense of perspective.
Comment by Bobs yer Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 10:21 pm
You’re right, Unc. That’s very, very good advice to consider every once in a while.
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Aug 26, 09 @ 11:41 pm