Man breaks world record for longest phone call
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted Sep 20th 2007 1:05PM
posted Sep 20th 2007 1:05PM
Much to the chagrin of teenage girls everywhere, a menacing looking, middle-aged man named Tony Wright has broken the world record for the longest phone call. According to reports, the man talked on an IP phone for 40 hours, and was apparently still deeply involved in the conversation (with a woman named Jenny Barnard) when reporters started showing up. The previous record was held by two anti-social folks from neutrality-loving Switzerland named Sandra Kobel and Stephen Hafner, having chatted away for 39 hours, 18 minutes, and 24 seconds. When asked what he had talked about for over 40 hours, Tony said (while twirling his hair), "Well, I heard that Bobby had dumped Lisa, and I was like, No way! And then Jenny said that everyone knew that Bobby was a dirtbag from the start, and I just thought..."[Via textually]
And the next day all societies explode...
My goodness.... longest call I've ever had was 90 minutes.
I've had longer calls with Microsoft support back in the day. This guy is a lightweight.
Ever call the IRS? You'll be on for at least a week.
I don't think it counts when MS leaves you on hold for 40 hours.
Or the IRS for that matter!
And now you see why the US sent all the call centers overseas. The US call centers were expensive, and quite frankly terrible. They spoke worse English than those in India, too.
did ya hear that rice bag that fell over?
one way to get money for a post ;))
My ears would explode.
I hope they were using speaker phones.
Listen, you can hear the sound of 6.7 billion people not giving a shit...
That would equal the time I spend on my phone in about a year.
Its a sign to lay off World of Warcraft
That is like an entire work week. Get a job
People should strive to be more like that guy.
Con...gratu...lations???
He can't have been with AT&T - there's no way the call would have stayed connected that long.
yea i can barely get 10 minutes on some days
by IP Phone. he must have had 1) corded phone, 2) been using the PC. gotta love skype No way any phone is going to last that long on batt power. Unless he has one of the new Nuke Powerd iPhone iv been hearing so much about... To bad his Nuke iPhone only had edge.
Also how the heck is this gadget news.. it has been a slow week hu lol.
forgot to add.. can you confirm if kid rock was really talking to Tommy Lee and Jenny was just his code name.
I think it's a bit harsh that he gets the record, surely it should be held jointly with Miss Barnard.
Well, after reading the link, it seems that he talked to quite a few people during the 40 hours, they just took turns..
WOW..this guy just wasted 40hrs of his life..on a phone.. in Switzerland..that'll show 'em..You go Europeans you go!
At least 3 of those hours were:
"You hang up first"
"No.\, you hang up first!"
"No, YOU hang up first!"
Isn't this the same guy who stayed awake for 11 days or so for another record?
Yeah, it is. But i wonder if there should be another entry in the record books under 'Longest IP-phone call' rather than 'Longest phone call'.
I ausume the 11 days awake record is for someone without a sleep disorder. I have a sleep disorder and have been awake considerably longer then that several times. Just short of 14 once.
I swear I've been on support calls longer than that :)
Wow! My longest phone call was for 5 hours.
How did reporters know to show up? Are skype calls monitored?
Shouldn't he be tied with the person on the other end of the call for the world record?
I was thinking the same thing....
Interesting thought, but someone had to hang up first. I'm not sure if it would count that way if the other person had hung up but maybe.
According to the post on the link he was only on the phone to that woman at that time. He had spoken to other people during the call
He spoke to several different people, i think for an hour at a time, and they took it in turns.
Congrats Kid Rock on explaining to Pam why you hit Tommy at the VMA's for 40 hours straight.
"having chatted away for 39 hours, 18 minutes, and 24 seconds. When asked what he had talked about for over 40 hours"
39:18.24 < 40
Scratch my last comment... that was for the previous record. My bad.
I had a 4 hour call with my old ISP Persona :(
Does being on hold whyle trying to call BT techincal suport count?
yea, but the real question is, can he play doom?
LOL
i almost spit out my water reading this...
Gee... and it just so happened to coincide with the launch of Tesco's internet phone. What a way to get attention to a product for "free".
"“Luckily, I do not have to worry about a huge phone bill because we are using Tesco internet phones, meaning that this mammoth call is free,” said Mr Wright.
The world record celebrates the launch of new low-cost monthly call plans from Tesco internet phone."
Smart company...
Really? Where abouts is Tesco only just releasing that? Its been in the UK for years...
It was part of the original article that the blog was referring to... the article is in The Sun and describes the man as a "Cornishman".
Read the article... I don't think it actually tells one where he called from...
I think my longest was a 5-hour marathon back when I was doing tech support, but I suppressed most of those memories years ago.
You can reach Jenny at:
867-5309
*applause*
Doesn't this make this Jenny break the record too?
Nah, she slept through half of it.
This doesn't seem right. I recall reading in an old Guinness Book of World Records that the longest phone call was between the men's and women's dorms at some college where a call was made at the beginning of the semester and both phones were left off-hook for the rest of the semester -- a more than 12-week telephone call.
At first glance of his picture I thought it was Ozzy Ozborn! Can you picture it in your minds eye... Ozzy on the phone - "and then Jenny said to Sally that those shoes..." Ha ha ha ha!!!!!