Keep ringtone to yourself
By Cynthia Hubert, The Sacramento Bee

Jacqueline Whitmore, a business consultant and "wireless etiquette spokesperson" for Sprint, says that despite efforts to spread the word about cell phone abuse, she still sees a lot of it. In restaurants. At concerts. And, of course, in the office.

Whitmore agrees that it's unreasonable to expect people whose phones are practically appendages to leave them at home during work hours.

But like certain small children, those personal cells should be seen and not heard.

Even in large, noisy offices, Pachter and others observe, something about the trill of cell phones is particularly irritating to many people.

"They just seem to cut through the general white noise of the office environment," says Sean Cooley, who works for Vision Service Plan, which has large offices in Rancho Cordova, Calif.

The key is the ringtone, Pachter says.

"When I'm working, I really don't need to hear Beethoven's Fifth all of a sudden, or the doorbell, or barking dogs or some shrill music or lyrics that I'm not comfortable with," Pachter says. "It's distracting. It breaks concentration."

It also alerts everyone around you that you are about to engage in some personal business, so keep the conversation clean and keep your voice down, Pachter says.

"If people using cell phones talked in a normal conversational tone, it would be fine, but most don't," she says. Those eensy-weensy phones "don't cover the whole mouth," says Pachter, "so your voice really carries. It's best to drop your chin and speak softly." Or walk into the hallway to finish the call.

Whitmore advises companies to put their cell phone policies in writing, preferably in employee manuals. While few if any businesses have banned personal cell phone use in the workplace, she says, some are starting to restrict it. Many have "check your gadgets at the door" rules during meetings, for example.