How to Decide Whether to Call Someone

Reviewed by Seth Hall

Last Updated: June 26, 2017

Does it ever happen to you to just stand in front of the phone, unsure of whether to call someone up or not? Here's some advice to help you decide.

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1
Know on what terms you are with the person you want to call. Your relationship with that person is very important in order to make up your mind.
- If you don't get along too well with the person, probably you would feel less tempted to call that person up, while they wouldn't really enjoy hearing from you. Don't call them, unless you have something important to talk about with them. Calling them just to chat or to find out something you can find out from tens of other people is inappropriate.
- If you're just acquaintances, a phone call wouldn't make any harm, would it? However, in case the person is somehow superior to you (older than you, in a more important function than you or otherwise superior), be respectful and polite.
- If you're bosom buddies, you can call them anywhere, anytime! Or at least you're supposed to be able to; some people don't accept this even from their closest friends.
2
Decide on the reason you want to call them up for. If you're thinking about calling them up, you must have a reason.
- When calling just to chat, there are a few phone etiquette rules you must know. It is impolite to call someone up before 08:00 in the morning (although this hour depends on the person's daily routine) and after 21:00 in the evening- unless it's something urgent, which is not the case. Also, it would pay to be aware of the person's agenda- know when they are at home and when they aren't. Make sure that the person isn't in the middle of something important when calling them just to chat, otherwise it may be very annoying. Leave a message if you're not sure of that. Also make sure you don't call that person just to chat if you're not on friendly terms with them.
- When you have to tell someone a relatively important issue, but one that can wait, just call or leave a message; unlike when calling someone just to chat, it doesn't matter on what terms you are with that person.
- When calling to make an invitation, prepare a little speech before, so that you don't forget to mention any important things about the time and place you want to meet that person. Especially if you want to call someone that usually makes you feel a bit nervous, like your crush or your boss, a speech is important.
- If you have to tell that person something urgent, ignore all rules- phone etiquette doesn't matter now. Just do it.
- If you're angry and just want to call that person to insult them, to make them feel bad or to fight with them, hold it right there. Don't. Take a deep breath, calm down, count up to 10, then think about it again. Would your phone call be productive for your relationship with that person? Probably not.
- If you have the bad habit of calling someone up just to talk, talk, and talk until you drive them crazy, put the phone down and do something else. Some of us often feel tempted to call people up just to talk out every little thing that happened to us, but remember this is often very annoying for the "victim", unless the person you want to call is someone who enjoys listening as much as you enjoy talking.
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If you think too much about it, you may give up and come to the conclusion you'd better not call them up. If you can't find any logical reasons for not calling them, you may miss an interesting conversation. Who knows?

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Is it okay to call a friend daily?

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Sure, many friends talk to each other on the phone daily. Of course, if your friend tells you that the daily phone calls are too frequent and they need some space, you should scale back and call them less often.

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I was dumped twice by a female acquaintance and chose not communicate with her anymore. She recently tried calling twice but I did not answer, should I call her back?

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You should call her back to see why she was calling but do not get your hopes up. If she dumped you twice she may only want to be friends. If you like her, then talk to her and be her friend.

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Put yourself in the other person's shoes. Would you like to receive the same phone call from someone, under the same circumstances?

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Remember phone etiquette every time you call someone.

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Warnings

If you're thinking about prank calling, put the phone down right now . It's a waste of time and money, not to mention it's extremely annoying.

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