Telephone Courtesy

The short film Telephone Courtesy instructs viewers on proper telephone etiquette. This film was sponsored by the American Telephone and Telephone Co Bell System. The film is set in business, and appears to be targeted towards other businesses and their telephone habits. It first shows the issues that many business may run across while using the phone, such as rudeness, letting the phone ring repeatedly, and not fully paying attention to the costumer on the other line. The business man, then goes into detail on how to correct these bad habits and behaviors. Overall, the film depict the proper etiquette and instructs users of the telephone to best utilize the machine and how to use it effectively for business.

This film is useful to students of our modern information and communication infrastructure because this film not only depicts important technology that has helped society advance, but many of the phone etiquettes have been lost in our modern society. Many of the technologies depicted in this film, such as rotary phones and switchboards, where vital to communication, especially in the area of business. One could even argue that the operator herself was like a technology because of her significant role in conducting and transferring telephone conversations. In today’s society, there is a growing trend of poor manners while talking on the phone. This may partially be to blame because many young adults often send text messages rather than calling another person. One piece of advice for proper etiquette while talking on the phone is to speak clearly and in a conversational tone. Another tip for proper etiquette includes giving a person’s full attention to whoever is on the phone. It can be rather rude talking to someone and having to constantly repeat parts of a conversation because they are distracted by something, like watching TV. The other bit of advice is to give a polite goodbye instead of just hanging up the phone, while the other person may still be talking. This vintage film depicting proper etiquette of the telephone may seem dated, due to the technology, the concepts and reasons behind the film are still relevant to many people in today’s society.