Why people say HELLO first when they pick the phone??

because they want to know who isit speaking?

You should ask Mr.Graham Bell..

In Ukraine they say "Privet" or "Allo" In Turkey they say "Merhaba" or "Efendim"

because it`s a salut .... or... they are trying to see if the phone works :D

i used to say hello, but it started to sound pretty stupid. so i say "yea"? to mostly everyone when they call me on my cellular phone or home phone. i also say "hey" or "wasup" to my friends when they call. if it is someone i dont know or dont know the number on my caller id, i say "who's this"? is it rude for me to do all this? or is it normal?

Dont know,

So that you know somebody is on the line. One of my pet peeves is after I say hello and they say hello there is just silence. So say something...you called me, remember?

Well that is a way to ask who is this! You are the one who picks up the phone so its onto you to reply first And instead of asking WHo are you, Hello is used

well some people say "yello, yeah" it depends on how you greet, it just happened that hello is a universal greeting word so people got used to it.

I think you should come up with something all your own...like caramel apples. something like that

It has now become moreof a greeting kind of thing and to know who called.

itz wishing

Hello is the most common word that every knows.. now a days i see ppl saying hi too.. you know hello is the not only the word that any one says in phone but also when in person.. when ever you want to greet a person you say hello.. the same when you want to greet a person in phone we start saying hello.. but i see the trend is changes now and many in company are giving the greeting than a simple hello

Hello nah over rated i just say this is mandy cause youre gonna ask for me or someone else so ill let you know right away well not you cause im not giving you my number i hardly know you.

What else are you supposed to say. Hello is used as a salutation, a greeting. So when someone calls you, you greet them by saying hello.

because we're tought that 'hello' is the normal greeting when meeting someone, and when you answer the phone, its like you're greeting someone.

Hello is the most intelligible sound/pronunciation even from afar... it's said to be used since the invention of telephone.