Shhhhhh! How's your cell-phone etiquette?

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Nov 17, 2000

WACO, Texas (Cox) -- More than 15 years after cell phones were first put on the U.S. market, their ringers still pierce the quiet of movie theaters and libraries.

At McLennan Community College last month, classical guitarist Adam Holzman was in the middle of an intimate recital when a cell phone came calling from the audience. Forget Holzman's stirring -- and unamplified -- interpretation of G.P. Telemann's Fantasia. Here came a high-pitched ring.

"For the most part, people remember to turn them off," MCC music instructor Clark Nauert said. "But sometimes one person will forget and it goes right off in the middle of a performance."

Even the most sacred places aren't free of ringing cell phones.

"They go off everywhere -- even church," said author Bill Boggs, who is putting the final touches on his new book, Manners In the Digital Age. "And when they do, people sometimes answer and start talking. That's totally wrong. Outdoors you can leave the ringer on, but there are certain situations when you definitely don't want it to ring. That's when I put it on vibrator mode."

Since they were first sold in the United States in 1983, wireless phones have multiplied like fire ants. From a few thousand the first year to more than 100 million today, cell phones are here to stay. The bad news for those fed up with ringers disturbing the peace is that, according to the telecommunications industry, only 30 percent of the market has been penetrated.

Not only are the number of cell phones growing, the piercing sounds of their ringers seem to be increasing as well, with louder and more elaborate tones available, said Amy Wu, who writes for Wired News. Even though most of today's phones have volume controls, many people leave them set on high no matter what the situation. And instead of just ringing, phones can be programmed to play Bach, Mozart, the James Bond theme or Jingle Bells.

While you might be happy when Beethoven lets you know someone's calling, millions of Americans aren't pleased at all. They're fed up with hearing your phone go off.

"Cell phones have become part of the urban landscape, but the behavioral battles rage on," Wu said. "Some businesses and public places have devised ways to deal with the phenomenon. But cell phone rage may very well become the social controversy of the next decade."

Industry leaders won't say an all-out cell war is on the horizon, pitting the wireless haves against the wireless have nots, but some admit there's a continued lack of cell-phone etiquette. That gives cell phones a bad name.

"Cell phones are a fairly new technology and a sense of etiquette maybe has not evolved as fast as the phones have penetrated the market," said Travis Larson, spokesman for the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association of America.

"They've been adapted so quickly by so many people, a general sense of etiquette has not developed yet."

Cell phone rage is a big enough problem that some manufacturers have started sensitivity training for wireless users. Boggs is teaming with Nokia, one of the world's largest cell phone makers, to put an end to unwanted ringing.

Their first campaign began in San Diego, Calif., earlier this year. Signs in museums, announcements over intercoms and advertisements outside buildings gently remind people to turn down their cell phones in "quiet zones." The campaign's theme is "minding your mobile manners."

"I think people just forget to turn off their phones," Nokia spokeswoman Lauren Butler said. "Sometimes they start talking and don't realize what's going on around them. They're wrapped up in their conversation."

Even with an assist from Nokia, it's unlikely everyone will remember to turn their cell phones off in these "quite zones," said Mary Beth Griffin, executive vice president of North Carolina-based BlueLinx. Her company designs and builds ringer regulators. The nodes, as they're called, are mounted on movie theater or church walls and emit a signal that automatically turns down cell phone ringers. Some phone ringers are switched to the vibrate mode.

"Right now, courtesy is based on people's memories," Griffin said. "And the bottom line is that phones are so small and light that people forget they have them. When it goes off, you weren't aware it was there, and then you're in a panic attack. It's not that people are being rude."

For the system to work, though, each cell phone must be equipped with a piece of software that interfaces with the regulator. Manufacturers are beginning to embrace the idea, but don't expect theaters or museums to go ringer quiet any time soon.

Some businesses aren't waiting for the BlueLinx system to take over. They use illegal devices called "jammers" to flood airwaves with white noise, rendering cell phones useless. The method is used mostly outside the U.S., but some domestic restaurants and theaters are secretly turning cell phones off, experts say.

"Cell phones used to be just for safety. That was the big reason for having them," said Katie Wasserman, director of marketing for AudioVox Communications. "You didn't see them everywhere. Now, it's different. That's why it's become an issue."