Video Callers Know No Bounds – Not Even Bathrooms

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The relentless assault of technology on standards of conduct may be enough to make Emily Post, the doyenne of good manners, do somersaults in her grave.  Video calls and conferences are the latest to scale the heights of cringe-worthy behavior, a new survey shows.  Even work-related calls in the bathroom are not off-limits for some cam-crazed souls.

In a survey of 2,207 U.S. adults, 40 percent of them said they have participated in a video call or video conference. But the evolution of video etiquette standardshas not kept up with the growth of the enabling technologies, according to the survey, which was commissioned by video conferencing and telepresence technology provider Radvission.

While common sense would suggest some environments are inherently off-limits for work-related video calls, more than 10 percent of the employed adults indicated that the bathroom is not one of them.

Not surprisingly, Americans 35 and older are significantly more likely than their younger counterparts to deem the bathroom off-limits for video calls, the survey found.

About a third of respondents (35 percent) also believe the swimming pool is an acceptable venue for video calls.

While men use video more than women do, women tend to dress more professionallyfor work-related calls. But more than 20 percent of the working adults polled said they would dress more casually for a work-related video call than an in-person meeting.

"The growth of video calling is not surprising — many companies are looking for alternative cost-effective and efficient ways of doing business," said Rob Romano, Radvission's global marketing vice president.  "At the same time, younger entrants into the work force are familiar with using video for more personal communication. As a result, video call etiquette is still evolving."

Reach BusinessNewsDaily senior writer Ned Smith at nsmith@techmedianetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter @nedbsmith.We're also on Facebook & Google+.