Why do people answer phones at ring's end?

Why do many people, when answering a land line, stand there waiting for it to ring once more so they can answer it at the end of a ring? Do they think that is the way you have to use a phone? Are they trying to impress the caller with the neatness of segueing immediately from a full ring into the greeting? (Do they not realise that the ringing and the ringback are not generally in phase?)

I'd like to understand. I've wondered for years. It particularly annoys me when I see employees behaving this way when taking calls from customers. It seems to me a waste of time all around.

Comments

[Sridhar]

I can think of three reasons for this.

1. When telephones were introduced, people interacted with them based on a mixture of auditory and visual cues. Maybe, it was considered then, to wait till you heard the second ring to make sure that you were getting a call, because a complete ring would mean that somebody was definitely calling you (that was the normal association, as opposed to a partial ring). It had a finality/ decisiveness to it.
2. Also, it might have been the case that, people thought that if interrupted, the call might not come through.
3. Finally, a matter of etiquette, unnatural abrupt tone "cutting", unpleasant.

All these could just have continued, because of no reinforcement to act otherwise. A saving of 4-5 seconds, even over a large population might not warrant the cognitive change required to change the behavior. There are much worse things out there that result in delays.