# Can you damage someone's hearing by blowing an air horn into a phone? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 17, 2012, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-damage-someones-hearing-by-blowing-an-air-horn-into-a-phone/634950 "2012-09-17T07:07:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-damage-someones-hearing-by-blowing-an-air-horn-into-a-phone/634950/1 "2012-09-17T07:07:38Z")
In the [telemarketer pit thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=665542), someone suggested blasting telemarketers with an horn, but this was challenged as possibly harming the telemarketer and resulting in lawsuits and possibly jail. Is that true? Can you actually send a loud enough sound that it would harm the other party? I know you can’t transmit any pitch and have it heard at the other end; is there any limitation on loudness? Obviously what the other person hears depends some (or a lot) on how they’re listening, since it would be easier to hurt someone who was listening with an earpiece than with a speaker phone across the room, but will my phone even register all 120db of an air horn blast? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-damage-someones-hearing-by-blowing-an-air-horn-into-a-phone/634950/2 "2012-09-17T07:35:51Z")
It’s nonsense. It would be annoying, but unless the phone audio on the receiving end is turned up to blasting audio levels (and there are usually limits to how loud this can be for headsets) all that will happen is a loud annoying noise on the receivers end. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-damage-someones-hearing-by-blowing-an-air-horn-into-a-phone/634950/3 "2012-09-17T07:45:09Z")
keeping in mind that many telemarketers or other phone workers wear headsets, the volume can be pretty damaging. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-damage-someones-hearing-by-blowing-an-air-horn-into-a-phone/634950/4 "2012-09-17T11:31:38Z")
Better still, will such a loud noise (or anything else I can transmit) damage the calling party’s headset or earphone or any other part of their telemarketing equipment? I want to have some button I can push on my phone (like \*69 or something) that will incinerate the caller’s phone equipment. In the case of telemarketers, I wouldn’t object too terribly badly if it incidentally incinerated the caller’s head too. Hey, I can fantasize, can’t I? ---
**Author:** ![Dioptre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/278dde/32.png) [@Dioptre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dioptre)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-damage-someones-hearing-by-blowing-an-air-horn-into-a-phone/634950/5 "2012-09-17T12:38:24Z")
Even if you transmitted a raw signal that the receiving set amplified, the amplitude at the receiver would be limited (note, the AMPLITUDE, not the AMPLIFICATION). Hence the design of the receiver prevents you doing anything nasty. With modern phones (think at least the last 30 years) you’re really only transmitting a signal which indicates relative amplitude of the signal - ie, your phone says “80%”, the receiver translates that into 80% of whatever its maximum is. It’s very easy to cause ear damage by a poorly designed or used receiver, but there’s nothing the sender can do to influence that. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-damage-someones-hearing-by-blowing-an-air-horn-into-a-phone/634950/6 "2012-09-17T12:39:17Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I want to have some button I can push on my phone (like \*69 or something) that will incinerate the caller’s phone equipment. In the case of telemarketers, I wouldn’t object too terribly badly if it incidentally incinerated the caller’s head too. Hey, I can fantasize, can’t I? No, you can’t. If there was no other job available, you would probably take it. They do that for a living, not just to annoy you, and it’s probably not their dream job. I just cut short the speech of the telemarketers, tell them politely but firmly that I won’t buy anything from them and that we’re both wasting our time, and hang up. That’s sufficient. ETA : Now, if your apparatus incinerated their boss and destroyed all the datas of their company, we could talk. It might make a killing . You’d just need to spread the word, hire telem…OK forget about it… ---
**Author:** ![Dioptre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/278dde/32.png) [@Dioptre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dioptre)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-damage-someones-hearing-by-blowing-an-air-horn-into-a-phone/634950/7 "2012-09-17T12:41:23Z")
Since the question has been answered, can I mention that you can achieve the desired effect, but not using amplitude of the signal. A bit of Black-Eyed Peas or similar band should work. As already mentioned though, please be humane to the poor telemarketer. They have to listen to themselves making those damn calls all day. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-damage-someones-hearing-by-blowing-an-air-horn-into-a-phone/634950/8 "2012-09-17T12:46:46Z")
Did anybody else read the title and immediately think “Looks like **Diamonds02** is at it again!”? ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-damage-someones-hearing-by-blowing-an-air-horn-into-a-phone/634950/9 "2012-09-17T14:09:34Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > No, you can’t. If there was no other job available, you would probably take it. They do that for a living, not just to annoy you, and it’s probably not their dream job. I just cut short the speech of the telemarketers, tell them politely but firmly that I won’t buy anything from them and that we’re both wasting our time, and hang up. That’s sufficient. [snip].. So if I hired somebody to come over to your house and bang on your door while you were sleeping, or eating, or relaxing, or working, or praying etc and had them do that every day, sometimes four or five times a day. It’s OK? You’d be just fine with the interruption and you’d go to the door and tell them that you’re not in the mood to transact business in your home? But it’s OK because that’s their job? That’s interesting. I would think that you might eventually get angry. But you say that you would be fine with all of the interruptions. Sufficient. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-damage-someones-hearing-by-blowing-an-air-horn-into-a-phone/634950/10 "2012-09-17T14:20:40Z")
Jerry had the right idea: [seinfeld telemarketing.avi - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpm-leztWco&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-damage-someones-hearing-by-blowing-an-air-horn-into-a-phone/634950/11 "2012-09-17T15:07:10Z")
I find that whistling into the phone makes a sound loud enough to be heard even if the handset is on the table. It works better if you whistle by inhaling, that way you don’t get the wind sound. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-damage-someones-hearing-by-blowing-an-air-horn-into-a-phone/634950/12 "2012-09-17T16:29:02Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > No, you can’t. If there was no other job available, you would probably take it. Here is the [post in context](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=15494257#post15494257). Note that it referred to someone calling from “Cardholder Services”. I’ve done some things on the job that could be described as dishonest but I would go on welfare before I took a job phishing credit card numbers from senior citizens and I bet you would too. For the record, I politely tell (not obviously phishing) telemarketers “no thank you”. The overwhelming majority thank me for my time and hang up but a small minority try to continue after I’ve done that. That’s when I get impolite but for me impolite means hanging up. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-damage-someones-hearing-by-blowing-an-air-horn-into-a-phone/634950/13 "2012-09-17T17:01:29Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > Note that it referred to someone calling from “Cardholder Services”. I’ve done some things on the job that could be described as dishonest but I would go on welfare before I took a job phishing credit card numbers from senior citizens and I bet you would too. I got two calls from them and I didn’t whistle or anything, I just hung up. And then filed a complaint against them with the FCC for violating the Do Not Call list. (I don’t know if what they are doing as a business model is otherwise illegal.) That gave me more satisfaction than just making a noise into the phone, although may not be as effective in the short run. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-damage-someones-hearing-by-blowing-an-air-horn-into-a-phone/634950/14 "2012-09-17T19:41:53Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > ETA : Now, if your apparatus incinerated their boss and destroyed all the datas of their company, we could talk. It might make a killing . You’d just need to spread the word, hire telem…OK forget about it… Okay, I’m fine with that. ETA: And, to be sure, it’s mostly robocalls too. So yeah, incinerate the higher-ups and their equipment. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-damage-someones-hearing-by-blowing-an-air-horn-into-a-phone/634950/15 "2012-09-17T19:56:31Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I got two calls from them and I didn’t whistle or anything, I just hung up. And then filed a complaint against them with the FCC for violating the Do Not Call list. (I don’t know if what they are doing as a business model is otherwise illegal.) That gave me more satisfaction than just making a noise into the phone, although may not be as effective in the short run. BURNING QUESTION!!! How in the blazes to you file a complaint when the vast majority of those calls give you neither their company name (other than just some generic “Card Services”), and no Caller ID phone number, or a bogus one??? Now for some discussion: I saw an article yesterday (and the [same article seems to be all over](http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Complaints-about-automated-calls-up-sharply-3869203.php) the on-line news sites today, 9/17/2012) indicating that complaints are sharply up lately. I want to know: How do they get a good read on the complaint level when _you can’t even file a complaint against most of them?_ Or, just how _do_ you file a complaint, when you don’t know the Caller ID or company name? Well, I tried. I went to [www.ftc.gov](http://www.ftc.gov) then to their “Contact Us” link and, with enough hunting around the pages there, found a way to write an actual letter to somebody there about it. My main thesis was that they must be seeing only the tip of the iceberg because of this, and what more are they going to do about it? Most of the complaint forms there are just pages full of check-boxes and short answers you can give – you have to dig to find the form where you can actually write them a letter. (Hint: Get into the section for filing a complaint, and answer “Other” to everything.) ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-damage-someones-hearing-by-blowing-an-air-horn-into-a-phone/634950/16 "2012-09-17T23:15:13Z")
One of the nice things about the old BellCo POTS was you didn’t break the handset when you banged it on the desk several times before slamming it back into the cradle. This made a very loud, obnoxious noise at the other end. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-damage-someones-hearing-by-blowing-an-air-horn-into-a-phone/634950/17 "2012-09-18T00:13:35Z")
I know a guy who will tell a telemarketer, “Ooo, good, I’m glad you called. I really want to talk/answer your questions/buy your product, let me just turn off the burner on the stove.” He’ll put the phone down and walk away. When he comes back in ten minutes, the caller has almost always hung up.