I was doing a Morning Training session for a bank in Jordan , for an Hour and a half My Mobile didn’t ring ( I put it on silent mode during Training ) , It was strange though and the same happened next training session too ! I was advised to go outside the facility to be able to call My office! and that’s when I learned that this bank has installed Mobile Phone jammers in The Training Dept. ( at any given time ….there is No less than One hundred trainees and 12 staff at that training facility ) .

Signs that requires Mobile Phones Off or silent are every where there , How ever it seems Not every one abides by that , so the bank chose to use those Jammers to do the right Job .


Do you have any thing like that in USA ?

it is illegal to jam a cell phone in the US...

Happy,

Can you tell me the cite for that?

It hasn't been that long ago that cell phone jamming equipment was being marketed to churches, theaters and hospitals. I have encountered it a few times.

It's in the Communications Act of 1934 (amended). The basic premise is that the cell phone companies have purchased the right to use the bandwidth and any jamming of those bandwides infringes on the rights that have been purchased.

I wonder if the cell phone industry will be suing the tin roof industry any time soon?

My parents got a tin roof and their cells stopped working inside the house the same day.

Passive jamming is still allowed. Lead lined wall panels, etc. An actual jamming device that interferes with the signal is not. I think the tin roof companies are safe.

I wish we had passive jamming capability in our training area. I've witnessed senior officers reading and sending email with a Blackberry during training.
Yes - occasionally you do have that important client whose call you can't miss, but more often it's about the officer's inflated sense of his/her own importance.

So I can continue to wear my aluminum foil hat?

you are Absolutely Right .
So this ego thing is not only in the MENA Region (Middle East & North Africa) , Human nature overcomes / Beats any thing else!

There is a trick I use these days while training bankers!


The second slide in my presentation is bout Mobile phones stating that they should be silent! then I let them know verbally that if any Mobile phone rings,I will fine them 5 Dinars ( around 7 US Dollars ) for each time the Phone rings and I am dead serious a Bout it !

Needless to say These days it works perfectly with me .

Good trick to try...

A person I worked had a BlackJack...the vibrate on the phone was louder than any ringtone I had ever heard. Every meeting I was in with him the darn thing went off every few minutes. I guess he had personal and business email sent to it (personally owned device, so it was allowed). I went on Ebay or Craigslist and found a BlackJack that was in bad shape - I think the person said it went through the washing machine. I took it and a hammer into my next meeting with this person and as soon as it went off, I snatched it away, did a quick switch-a-roo and proceeded to smash the look-a-like phone into a zillion pieces with the hammer. I then calmly looked back at him and said "I told you that thing was going to drive me nuts." The look on his face (and every other person) was worth the $10 for the phone...I don't recommend trying this unless you have a very good relationship with the "victim."

Milby : what was The Meeting a Bout ? " Anger Management " Maybe?

If I am doing Training for senior Bankers …I usually Hold my Mobile in my hand and click some Buttons saying loudly - but friendly with a smile – "and here goes off my Mobile to Silent mode, so not to loose concentration and Keep Focused"…this serves more like as friendly reminder to senior bankers and usually they end up silencing their Mobiles too.

My trick comes from a management training session I atteneded almost ten years ago. I place a basket at the door as you enter the room. All cells must be placed in the basket and can be retrived only during breaks, mine included. The truth is no one should be 911 and if your staff/clients can't live without you for a few hours, shame on YOU. True emergnecys can call the training room phone number and a message can be delivered.

We had a staff meeting come to a grinding halt and all waited as we watched the poor sap whose phone just rang try to stop it. The guy running the meeting (our CEO) said, "Go ahead and answer it. We'll wait." And we did, much to this guy's embarassment.

The point was made.

Not related to training, but an amusing cell phone anecdote nonetheless:

Just last week, our bank president called all the officers (about 12 of us) into an afternoon meeting. The purpose of this meeting was to let us know that we would be merging with another local community bank. Needless to say, many of us were in shock, and the room was quiet as the president gave us the "pep talk". At some point, he said something to the effect of "This merger will be beneficial to everyone, and I know the transition will be easy for both banks." The room was silent for about 5 seconds, and at that point, one of our lending VP's cell phone began to ring. The ring tone? The theme from "Mission Impossible".

He immediately turned his phone off, but not before we all laughed heartily. Talk about needing to break the tension.

I had heard Wells also had a "fine" for those whose phones rang. The funds went into a pot for the class somehow. I don't know if it is really true.

I recall years ago being in a fairly intense meeting and a SVPs phone rang. My first thought was "why didn't she turn it off or on silent like everyone else. Then she answered it! No, a branch wasn't on fire, her mom wasn't critically ill, it was just a standard question about an SOP. The entire meeting stopped as she had her call.

That would have been worth a big fine IMHO.

10 people, a six minute call, is an hour lost.

My dad had an interesting way of handling cell phone calls during classes he taught. The caller had to stay in the room, and the class would halt (meaning that all could hear the conversation.) Then, the amount of time (rounded to the full minute) would be tacked-on to closing, and the new dismiss time written on the board. Getting adults to spend additional time in class (or lose their certificate of attendance) created a lot of peer pressure.

To go back to the original post, I believe any device that "jams" another electronic device via radio waves is prohibited in the U.S. by FCC rules. Blocking reception by non-electronic means may be allowed using other methods previously mentioned.