Quiet calls: talking silently on mobile phones

Quiet Calls is a technology allowing mobile telephone users to respond to telephone conversations without talking aloud. QC-Hold, a Quiet Calls prototype, combines three buttons for responding to calls with a PDA/mobile phone unit to silently send pre-recorded audio directly into the phone. This permits a mixed-mode communication where callers in public settings use a quiet means of communication, and other callers experience a voice telephone call. An evaluation of QC-Hold shows that it is easily used and suggests ways in which Quiet Calls offers a new form of communication, extending the choices offered by synchronous phone calling and asynchronous voicemail. Keywords Interaction design; telecommunication; hand-held devices; computer mediated communication; mobile computing.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2001
• Where: CHI
• Authors: Sara A. Bly, Tomas Sokoler, Les Nelson
• Keywords: CHI 2001, Human Computer Interaction, Quiet Calls, Quiet Means, Synchronous Phone Calling