Man breaks world record for longest phone call

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]

[Kaemon @ Sep 20th 2007 1:14PM]

And the next day all societies explode...

My goodness.... longest call I've ever had was 90 minutes.

[ch0rx @ Sep 20th 2007 1:54PM]

I've had longer calls with Microsoft support back in the day. This guy is a lightweight.

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Sep 20th 2007 3:25PM]

Ever call the IRS? You'll be on for at least a week.

[Calviin @ Sep 20th 2007 4:50PM]

I don't think it counts when MS leaves you on hold for 40 hours.

[andrews @ Sep 20th 2007 4:58PM]

Or the IRS for that matter!

[Brad @ Sep 20th 2007 8:33PM]

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.

[Blackster @ Sep 20th 2007 1:15PM]

did ya hear that rice bag that fell over?
one way to get money for a post ;))

[Javi0084 @ Sep 20th 2007 1:26PM]

My ears would explode.

I hope they were using speaker phones.

[Rat Bastard @ Sep 20th 2007 1:32PM]

Listen, you can hear the sound of 6.7 billion people not giving a shit...

[spass @ Sep 20th 2007 1:31PM]

That would equal the time I spend on my phone in about a year.

[garver @ Sep 20th 2007 4:56PM]

Its a sign to lay off World of Warcraft

[3rdsun @ Sep 20th 2007 6:28PM]

That is like an entire work week. Get a job

[eEZER @ Sep 20th 2007 1:33PM]

People should strive to be more like that guy.

[Mike @ Sep 20th 2007 1:33PM]

Con...gratu...lations???

[Brad @ Sep 20th 2007 1:35PM]

He can't have been with AT&T - there's no way the call would have stayed connected that long.

[Beamey @ Sep 20th 2007 7:43PM]

yea i can barely get 10 minutes on some days

[mike @ Sep 20th 2007 1:36PM]

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.

[mike @ Sep 20th 2007 1:38PM]

forgot to add.. can you confirm if kid rock was really talking to Tommy Lee and Jenny was just his code name.

[Wolfticket @ Sep 20th 2007 1:37PM]

I think it's a bit harsh that he gets the record, surely it should be held jointly with Miss Barnard.

[byaah @ Sep 20th 2007 1:43PM]

Well, after reading the link, it seems that he talked to quite a few people during the 40 hours, they just took turns..

[Jim Halpert @ Sep 20th 2007 1:38PM]

WOW..this guy just wasted 40hrs of his life..on a phone.. in Switzerland..that'll show 'em..You go Europeans you go!

[g.Park @ Sep 20th 2007 1:43PM]

At least 3 of those hours were:
"You hang up first"
"No.\, you hang up first!"
"No, YOU hang up first!"

[Stapleballs @ Sep 20th 2007 1:50PM]

Isn't this the same guy who stayed awake for 11 days or so for another record?

[Simon @ Sep 20th 2007 1:54PM]

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'.

[skonofvulcan @ Sep 21st 2007 10:11PM]

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.

[joel @ Sep 20th 2007 1:45PM]

I swear I've been on support calls longer than that :)

[Nando @ Sep 20th 2007 1:45PM]

Wow! My longest phone call was for 5 hours.

[Evan Brom @ Sep 20th 2007 1:48PM]

How did reporters know to show up? Are skype calls monitored?

[plyx @ Sep 20th 2007 2:09PM]

Shouldn't he be tied with the person on the other end of the call for the world record?

[xj @ Sep 20th 2007 2:35PM]

I was thinking the same thing....

[SuperDave @ Sep 20th 2007 5:01PM]

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.

[Joe_Templeman @ Sep 20th 2007 7:03PM]

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

[Simon @ Sep 20th 2007 7:57PM]

He spoke to several different people, i think for an hour at a time, and they took it in turns.

[Joe @ Sep 20th 2007 4:38PM]

Congrats Kid Rock on explaining to Pam why you hit Tommy at the VMA's for 40 hours straight.

[Kennyb123 @ Sep 20th 2007 2:24PM]

"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

[Kennyb123 @ Sep 20th 2007 2:29PM]

Scratch my last comment... that was for the previous record. My bad.

[phish @ Sep 20th 2007 2:44PM]

I had a 4 hour call with my old ISP Persona :(

[Paul @ Sep 20th 2007 3:12PM]

Does being on hold whyle trying to call BT techincal suport count?

[mlody11 @ Sep 20th 2007 3:16PM]

yea, but the real question is, can he play doom?

[Mario Mejia @ Sep 20th 2007 4:50PM]

LOL

i almost spit out my water reading this...

[Michael Schmitt @ Sep 20th 2007 3:17PM]

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...

[Joe_Templeman @ Sep 20th 2007 7:03PM]

Really? Where abouts is Tesco only just releasing that? Its been in the UK for years...

[Michael Schmitt @ Sep 20th 2007 11:29PM]

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...

[Vexorg @ Sep 20th 2007 3:49PM]

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.

[Waruwaru @ Sep 20th 2007 3:55PM]

You can reach Jenny at:
867-5309

[Rich Mackin @ Sep 20th 2007 5:03PM]

*applause*

[genexk @ Sep 20th 2007 3:57PM]

Doesn't this make this Jenny break the record too?

[bruss147 @ Sep 20th 2007 4:15PM]

Nah, she slept through half of it.

[Robert in Texas @ Sep 20th 2007 6:35PM]

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.

[skonofvulcan @ Sep 21st 2007 10:25PM]

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!!!!!