In this article the author identifies two configurations of ideal-type uses concerning the management of telephone relations between close friends or family, at the articulation of two scales of observation, that of mediated interactions and that of interpersonal relations. The first mode consists of calls made at appropriate times with open, often long conversations in which the interlocutors take their time to chat. The opening of the dialogue and the fact of settling down to talk is the sign of engagement in the relationship. The other consists of short, frequent calls, the content of which is often secondary to the fact of calling. The continuous nature of the flow of interaction can maintain the impression of a permanent link, of being able to experience the other person's engagement in the relationship at all times. Through several surveys on the domestic phone, the mobile phone and SMS on the mobile phone, we observe how each device offers different affordances, in practice, to these forms of maintaining interpersonal relations (without completely determining their use), and contributes to greater clarity and generality of users' representations of them.