Hark! The Phone it Rings - Keep in Mind Proper Phone Etiquette

There’s always something daunting about answering someone else’s phone and I’m sure you, dear readers have felt this before. Some of you might think, it’s just a telephone, answer it no big deal. However, I’ve realised something through telephone conversations with various telemarketers and corporations as well as listening to my colleagues answering their phones for the past two weeks. I realised that the way you handle the telephone reflects on you and the company that you work for. The key I realise is to place importance on the caller, to be professional and to always be courteous and helpful so the caller will feel good about calling. The tone of your voice and pronunciation makes a big difference as well.

It was a slow morning for me until the office had its weekly meeting and my colleagues left me in charge of manning the phones. All I had to do is to inform callers that everyone is in a meeting and to take down messages. Just 2 minutes after everyone stepped out of the office for their meeting, the phones started ringing. The office phones here carries the same number but with each having its own extension, so while answering one it is possible for the others to still ring when a call comes in. I picked up the nearest one and as I opened my mouth to speak, I found myself saying a confident and jovial “Hello, Corporate Comm Office how may I help you?” despite my jittery nerves. I then explained that person the caller was looking for is in a meeting and I took down the message to be passed on. I kept in mind to keep my tone polite and cheerful but not to the extent of sounding perky.

A call which happened approximately 20 minutes later was a longer one. I informed that Ms. Nadea was in a meeting as the rest and the caller asked me who I was and my position in the office which I answered politely. He then proceeded to explain to me his situation, of which I made a mental note of, and he asked me questions to which I don’t know the answer to as an intern. I politely answered, “I’m sorry, I’m not very sure about that, but I will inform her about this and to get back to you as soon as possible. The caller replied with a jovial “Ok that’s good. Thank you. I will shoot her an email as well I suppose. Thank you.” I said “thank you, have a nice day” as the other phones in the office started ringing. When the call ended I drew in a deep breath and hurried to answer the next call.

Half an hour later and everyone came back to the office signalling the end to my phone answering stint at the office, but leaving me with thoughts for this blog post. People often disregard the importance of phone etiquette but think of it, how annoyed would you be if someone you called wasn’t polite to you. Public Relations is about being the middle man between the company and stakeholders. If one is not able to be courteous and professional via telephone call what more in person? Did you know that a smile can be heard through the phone? Try it the next time someone calls you dear reader. You might be surprised how your tone changes when you are smiling.

Cheers,

Josephine Joeyna