Chapter 9

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Negotiating Mobile Communication in Customer-Facing Work

There appear to be formal and informal rules associated with using mobile devices in view of customers. In this chapter, I examine many types of customer-facing workers including wait staff, child-care workers, teachers, telephone fundraisers, retail associates, and fast-food staff. I find that many customer-facing workers have limited reachability during their work day because they’re accessible only during windows of time that correspond to their breaks. Quite often their friends and family don’t understand the limits on their reachability, and this proves so frustrating that some workers quit their jobs. Other employees hide, often in the bathroom, to respond to those necessary text messages. Managers of these workers have a direct connection with them through their mobile devices. Roommates often work for the same company, and if someone is late for work, his managers not only text him, but they bug his friends as well.

Changing communities by capitalizing on research in communication technologies.