Nice paper in french about how people give their location during phone calls:Relieu, M. (2992). Ouvrir la boîte noire. Identification et localisation dans les conversations mobiles, Réseaux Vol.20, N°112-113.

He used a vocal server to store mobile phone conversation. The study aimed at studying what mobile phone changed in phone conversation, especially with respect to location information. His point is that by allowing people to call from lots of places, the likelihood of talking about space increases.

He explains that asking the other's whereabout is a common social norm and focus on two "location events": - asking or giving one's location at the begining of the phone interaation - giving one's location at the end of the phone interaation - conversations dedicated to location

Relieu has also a nice take on using mobile phone when people are in the vicinity or very close. It could be used to improve coordination ot to make it more accurate, especially in problem solving activities (like finding a person in a city) -> cell phone for mutual guiding -> adjusting people's location in order to allow the meeting. People who communicate give their respective location while keep moving in the city. The phone call allow them to identify those location based on a shared geographical/topological knwoledge of the city.

He also argues that we should not attribute functions (like availability of the called person, coordination or social control) to localization per se. Those localization must be situated in the on-going activity (which is true: if you know that a nurse is in a surgery room, there is 90% that she is involved in a surgery act and hence unavailable to talk).

I just have a quick note: the author says that no studies focuses on what occur before and after the call. This is not true, as attested by Mizuko Ito's study about cell phones and the appropriation of space.

This piece of work should be related to Eric Laurier's study