Key Phrases

To Pick Up A Phone 馃摓

When you pick up a phone you will always start by professionally greeting the person calling.

Good Day. [Company Name], [your name] speaking, how may I assist you today?

To Make A Phone Call 鈽庯笍

When you start a phone call, you need to greet the person that you are calling.

Good Day, this is [your name] from [company name].

To Call back

If someone phoned you and you could not take the call at that moment you will have to phone them back.

Good Day, this is [your name] from [company name] can I please speak to [the person that phoned you]?

To Cut Off A Call

There might be an instance where you need to quickly put down the phone.

I am sorry [caller], I will have to call you back.

To Hang Up The Phone

At the end of each phone conversation you will say goodbye to the caller.

Thank you for your time. Have a good day. Goodbye.

To Be Put On Hold

If you receive another call or need to urgently put the conversation on hold you can use the following phrase.

[Callers name], I apologize but I will have to put you on hold for a second.

To Transfer A Call

In an office environment you most likely will have to put someone through to a different person.

Please hold while I transfer you to [persons name that you are transferring to].

To Drop Out Of A Call (Group)

In a business environment you might have to do conference calls or group calls with multiple people. When leaving the call you can use the following phrases.

Thank you everyone for your time. Have a good day. Goodbye.

To Take Another Call

You might need to answer multiple calls at the same time. You will have to place your first call on hold while answering the next call.

Good Morning. [Company Name], [your name] is speaking, how may I help you?

Asking For Someone

When phoning you might know the name of the person that you want to speak to and can request to speak to them directly.

Good day, may I please speak to [person’s name]?

Reason For Calling

When calling you might be asked to supply a reason for the call.

Good day, can I please speak to someone in the refunds department? I want to exchange my online purchase.

Take A Message

If someone calls and the person that they are looking for is not available you can take a message for that person.

I am sorry but [person’s name that is not available] is not available at the moment, can I perhaps take a message?

Leave a Message

You might also be in a position where you can not reach the person that you are calling.

If you reach a voicemail you can use the following phrase.

Good day it is [your name] speaking, can you please give me a call back on [your contact number]?

If you reach a person that can relay a message you can use the following phrase.

Can you please ask [person you are calling] to give me a call back? My contact details is [your contact number].

Ask When Someone Will Be Available

When phoning someone they might not be available right away, you can ask when they will be available by using the following phrase.

Can you please let me know when [person you are calling’s name] will be available?

Ask For Information

You might be phoning because you want more information from the person that you are calling.

Can you please give me your mobile number?

Ask To Repeat The Information

If you are unsure about the information that was given to you over the phone or you didn’t hear clearly you can ask the person to repeat themselves.

I am sorry I couldn’t hear, can you please repeat the information?

In the next section, we shall look at business etiquette tips to use while on a phone call…