Using an interactional sociolinguistic perspective, this quantitative study analyses factors (age, gender, purpose of call and rules of mirrored form) that affect German and Australian telephone openings. Additionally, it explores differences in how members of these two cultures answer the phone. Comparative findings demonstrate that overall Germans tend to self-identify more frequently than Australians and Australian callees are more likely to include a salutation than Germans. Mirroring of self-identification occurs in both Australian and German calls.