English Fox Guide to Telephoning

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Introduction
Since the Scot Alexander Graham Bell developed the telephone in the mid-1870s, telephoning has become an important way to communicate. There are around six billion telephones, both landline/xed-line and mobile.

Whether answering phones as part of your job, calling a hotel to

The English Fox Guide to TELEPHONING in ENGLISH!

Hello, how may I help you?

book a room, dialling emergency services in a foreign country, being interviewed over the phone for a place at a university... the list goes on and on. The telephoning is an important part of learning a language and one with certain rules for politeness and clarity.

This guide will help you learn telephoning vocabulary and phrases for all kinds of situations. When a word is in italics you will nd it at the end of the guide in the vocabulary list.

English Fox Guide to Telephoning

Telephoning in the Workplace

In English we make a phone call or we answer a phone call. In this section, we will learn about making calls where you work. For businesses, speaking clearly and politely on the telephone is very important because it will give the recipient an idea about what the business is like; for example, you can quickly hear from a phone call whether the company respects its customers, clients and partners.

Receptionist: Hello, youve reached the London Bank switchboard. Who would you like to speak to? Jennifer: Hi there. Id like to speak with the facility manager, please. Receptionist: May I ask whos calling? Jennifer: Its Jennifer from Clean Corp. Receptionist: Please hold... Im afraid hes unavailable. Hes out of the ofce at an important meeting. Would you like to leave a message? Jennifer: No, thanks. Could I speak to his assistant instead?

Lets look at a the beginning of a typical formal phone call in the workplace.

Receptionist: Of course, one moment, please. Ill put you through.

Look out for polite words such as would and could when asking for something. These help to make the phone call more formal and polite.

We can see in this roleplay that, although this is a business phone call, the word hi is used. This is normal in most Englishspeaking countries, it shows friendliness without being too unprofessional.

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English-speaking countries. Listen to how the person introduces The receptionist uses the phrase Im afraid. This is a phrase used to apologise for something. The receptionist also says Ill put you through, which means she will connect the caller to the person they wish to speak to. Hes unavailable, or Hes out, are good ways to tell the caller that the person they wish to speak to cannot talk on the phone at that moment. Sometimes receptionists also use these phrases to get rid of unwanted callers! Tony: Hello, this is Tony speaking. How may I help you? Jennifer: Hi Tony, this is Jennifer from Clean Corp. Im just calling to nd out if your company is satised with the new cleaners you hired from us. Tony: Hi Jennifer. Yes, were very satised with them. Did you not get the voicemail I left on your work mobile the other day? It is polite in many companies not to ask the caller to call back later, but rather to ask them if they would like to leave a message, speak to someone else, or something similar. Jennifer: I must have missed it, sorry. Thank you for the positive feedback. Give me a ring if you have any problems with the new staff. Tony: Thanks. Have a nice day. Lets see how this conversation continues when Jennifer is connected to the assistant facility manager. Notice how they call each other by their rst names - this is normal in business in
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themselves, if they use their rst name then call them by that name... simple!

Jennifer: You too. Bye! Tony: Goodbye.

English Fox Guide to Telephoning

We can see from this part of the text how to answer a phone call. Hello, how may I help you? is a great answer for a customer, client or partner phone call, as it is very polite and starts the conversation instantly.

When you nish a phone call, you can say either bye or goodbye. Dont worry about bye being too informal - its the same with hi, it makes the phone call less uncomfortable and formal, while the politeness still keeps the conversation professional.

If someone you know from within the business is calling you, simply Hi is enough - they probably know who they are calling! In some countries, professionalism is shown by creating a professional distance, for example by using Mr. or Mrs. or by Jennifer says Im just calling to... The just in the sentence doesnt really mean anything but it does give an informal and polite style to the sentence. using polite forms of the word you (Sie vs. du in German, vous vs. tu in French, usted and tu in Spanish etc.). In English, creating a professional distance can seem unfriendly and sometimes even insulting. It is best to be friendly, use rst names If you want some to call you, you can simply ask them to give you a ring. Its a way of saying call me, except it sounds like less of a command than if you say call me tomorrow. Tip: If you didnt understand what someone said, simply say Could you repeat that, please? but be polite.

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Greetings Hello Hi Good morning/good afternoon/good evening <company name>, <rst name> speaking. This is <company name>. This is <your name> speaking. My name is <name>. How may I help you?

Not available Im sorry, but shes not available. Im afraid hes out at the moment. Shell be back at 1 oclock. Im sorry, you have the wrong number.

Asking for the callers name May I ask whos calling? May I have your name, please?

Asking for something Could you put me through to the facility manager? May I speak to the facility manager, please? Is the facility manager available? Id like to speak to the facility manager, please.

Who shall I say is calling?

Putting someone through One moment, please. Could you hold for a moment, please? Ill just put you on hold and check if hes in. Ill just check if hes available. Im putting you through now.
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English Fox Guide to Telephoning

Starting a conversation Im just calling to... Id like to speak to you about... How are you today? Im just returning your call from last week. Are you busy? Are you free for the next ve minutes? I need to talk to you about...

Finishing a conversation It was nice talking to you. Have a nice day! Lets talk again next week. Thanks for your help. I look forward to hearing from you again soon. See you soon! Lets continue this tomorrow.
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Vocabulary List
ring! area code ! ! ! ! ! the beginning part of the number which tells you switchboard! ! where the number is from. 0201 202 3894 - this is ! a London number. ! busy ! ! ! ! there is someone on the line already, so a new call voicemail! cannot be taken. a phone which you can carry with you anywhere. It uses the cellular network to make calls. to type in a number on a phone. the same as busy, used mostly in Britain. a telephone which is not mobile. the British version of xed-line. the same as cell phone. the thing you talk into on a telephone. the person who takes your call. ! voice messages on a phone ! ! same company. ! ! connected to another department in the the place in a company which you call to be ! another way to say to call.

cell phone! ! dial! ! !

engaged! xed-line! landline ! mobile ! receiver! recipient!

English Fox Guide to Telephoning

Spelling on the telephone

If you need to spell something on the telephone, it can sometimes be difcult to understand. Telephone voice quality is not the same as in real life, therefore some words can be confused. In the military, at call centres etc., the following alphabet is used. You speak the word, rather than say the letter. If I wanted to spell English Fox on the telephone, I would use: Echo - November - Golf - Lima - India - Sierra - Hotel Foxtrot - Oscar - Xray You can use other words instead. English Fox works just as well when you spell it this way: England - Notepad - Girl - Limestone - Internet - Soap - Hamster Finger - Otter - Xylophone The difcult with choosing ANY English word is that sometimes English words start with silent letters. If you wanted to use knight for k it might cause confusion - the k in knight is silent! The following alphabet is tried and tested. It works every time. Why not give it a try next time you need to spell your name on the phone?
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A - ALFA B - BRAVO C - CHARLIE D - DELTA E - ECHO F - FOXTROT G - GOLF H - HOTEL I - INDIA J - JULIET K - KILO L - LIMA M - MIKE N - NOVEMBER O - OSCAR P - PAPA Q - QUEBEC R - ROMEO S - SIERRA T - TANGO U - UNIFORM V - VICTOR W -WHISKEY X - XRAY Y - YANKEE Z - ZULU