Fast Busy

A fast busy is a survey disposition that is specific to telephone surveys. It occurs when an interviewer dials a number in the sampling pool and hears a very rapid busy signal. Fast busy signals are sometimes used by telephone companies to identify nonworking telephone numbers, but they occasionally occur when heavy call volumes fill all of the local telephone circuits. Telephone numbers in the sampling pool that result in a fast busy disposition usually are considered ineligible. As a result, fast busy case dispositions are considered final dispositions and typically are not redialed by an interviewer, although in some cases they may be dialed again in case the fast busy condition is only temporary.

From a telephone interviewing standpoint, the practical difference between a fast busy signal and a normal busy signal is that the pace of the fast busy signal is noticeably faster than that of a normal busy signal. It is important to note that the disposition of fast busies is different from that of busies, and thus fast busies need to have a survey disposition code that is different from the code used for normal busies. As a result, telephone interviewers need to understand the difference between busies and fast busy signals, along with the different dispositions of cases that reach normal busies and fast busy signals. This knowledge will ensure that interviewers code the fast [Page 271]busy cases appropriately and will prevent interviewers from making unnecessary additional call attempts on these cases.

If cases with a fast busy disposition are redialed later in the field period of a survey, it is possible that a small proportion of these numbers may no longer have a fast busy signal on the line. This may occur when a telephone company assigns the number to a new customer or puts the number (back) into service.