Handset, left or right?

[Devansphones]

I've always had a problem with phones that are not hung up the right way... if the phone is hung up backwards with the cord that goes to the handset on the right, it really bugs me... does anyone else have this problem??? kind of goofy but it bugs me... and was there any way you were suposed to properly hang it up??? just wondering (below are pics... on the left is fine and on the right is what bothers me.) and I did use the second phone pic from the forum, please don't kill me for pointing out the backwards handset , just an example.

[Adam]

Of course it bugs you, because you're probably right-handed, which means you pick up the phone with your left hand (which leaves your important hand free to do other important things, like dial the phone, and write notes.)

So, the proper orientation of a desk phone for a right-handed person who picks up the phone with their left hand is with the handset cord emanating from the handset on the left.  If it's the other way around, that forces you to pick up the phone with your right hand and then change hands.

This is also why most business phones that have a vertically-oriented handset (like the Call Director) have the receiver placed on the left side of the phone, so right-handed people can easily pick up the receiver with their left hand.

[bingster]

It bugs the heck out of me when the handset is on backward.   Not so much because it's "not the way it goes," but because the handset isn't symmetrical.  Being so used to seeing the handset placed one way, seeing it the other way just makes the phone look terribly strange.

[LM Ericsson]

I know you can't really reverse the hanset on a socotel because the handset cord is made of a very thick material, which makes the handset come off the hook very easily. The way the cradle is on a socotel is made does not seem to secure the handset very well. Especially if it is one of the models with the lower switchhook plunger. One slight movement of the phone can make the handset come off the hook.

[Doug Rose]

Sorry lefties, Janet is one of your group. Handset should be hung up with the cord exiting the handset on the left side as you face it. as Darrin pointed out, it is symmetrical.

But would you rather be a left handed pitcher or a righty? Hummmmm....Doug

[Devansphones]

You see, I'm a lefty for wrighting but I do EVERYTHING else with my right... (Dial the phone, shoot a gun, throw a ball) that makes it wierd for me, because, I see the phone backwards and it looks wrong and for the life of me if it were backwards or if I had something like a call director and I tried to pick the phone up with my left, it would feel wierd... I can wright with my right to if my left hand was already in use, it is just a bit goofy but the quality of the writing is better with my right hand because I takemore time to wright.

[deedubya3800]

I write left-handed, eat left-handed, and brush my teeth left-handed, but I can't use a mouse or dial a telephone left-handed for fudge. A telephone dial is just made for the right finger, and that's how I've always done it. Besides, I listen better on my left side anyway (though my hearing is good on both sides), so that's where I usually hold the handset.

But I'll agree: Even on models where the handset cord comes out the back rather than the left side, a handset hung up to the right just looks weird. My aunt keeps her E1 hung up "backwards" on her D1 mount, but it sits on the right-hand side of a table, and the cord does look better hanging freely rather than sprawled out on the tabletop.

[GG]

Yep, me too, it looks weird. 

Mostly because we're used to seeing it in a certain position.   This is partially an artifact of WE 302 and 500 with their cord exits on the left side of the set. 

However English, Dutch, and some other European phones, with handset cord exits at the rear, were more conducive to hanging up in either direction.

I'm a leftie, but I pick up the handset with my left hand and use my left ear, and dial with my right hand.  For handwriting, I'll hold the transmitter with my right hand or balance the handset on my shoulder.  For keyboard writing, I'll balance the handset on my shoulder or use a binaural headset. 

Generally the verbal center in the brain is on the opposite side from the hand you write and listen with.  For dyslexics (incl. yours truly) it appears there are four smaller verbal centers at the four corners of the brain (when seen in plan view) rather than one large one on one side, so in theory we can use either ear.  However I find that I have a harder time understanding speech via my right ear, possibly only due to habitual acclimatization to "phone audio" on my left ear. 

Oh, and I use a mouse preferentially with my left hand, and a trackpad or trackball preferentially with my right hand.  Though I often use a mouse right-handed on the adjacent computer, e.g. writing notes on the Mac on the left (left mouse), and programming a PBX on the Windows PC on the right (it has its mouse to the left of its keyboard but I can use it with my right hand).