Longer-winded - length of business calls related to other factors, such as economic conditions

American Demographics, Dec, 1997 by Matthew Cravatta

When times are good, do our vocal cords follow?

The length of the average business phone call has edged up steadily since 1994, according to information gathered by Sprint Business. After several years of declines, average business calls lengthened to 3.17 minutes in 1996, up from 3.02 minutes the previous year and 2.96 minutes in 1994, roughly when the economy began its slow yet healthy expansion.

Most long-distance business calls (68 percent), however, still do not last more than five minutes, and a whopping 40 percent dont make it past the one-minute mark (lots of voicemail-message phone tag going on). Another 21 percent of calls never even get answered.

The seasons play a role in where we call, driven largely by the geography of tourism. Cape Cod, Massachusetts, received an average daily influx of 25,925 long-distance callers last July; in January, when cold ocean gales turn pristine beaches into a ghost coast, average incoming calls were down nearly 30 percent, to 18,000. In contrast, Honolulu sees a summer lull. In tropical July, when pre-dawn temperatures fall to a stifling 75 degrees, the city received about 41,000 business calls a day in 1996; come January, the total was 142,000 daily calls, no doubt due to the flurry of vacation arrangements being made for hotels, car rentals, and deep-sea-fishing cruises. Year-round vacation spots like Lake Tahoe and Las Vegas see less seasonal variation in business calls.

Peak calling hours vary from place to place, too. New York City, Denver, and Seattle phone busy-ness peaks around 9:00 a.m. local times, while Los Angeles, Dallas, and Washington, D.C. business lines start getting hot around 2 p.m. Bostons chitter-chatter doesnt peak until 3:00 p.m., the latest time for major metros. Maybe theyre waiting for Hawaii to wake up.

For more information, make a business call (preferably at nonpeak time) to Leah Cave at Meltzer & Martin Public Relations, The Quadrangle, 2828 Routh Street, Suite 680, Dallas, TX 75201; telephone (214) 953-0808. Matthew Cravatta