Telephoning & Teleconferencing

TELEPHONING & TELECONFERENCING

TELEPHONING For people at far away places to get connected, the telephone has been an essential tool for business & social communication The phone has crossed the developmental stage where a physical connection between two instruments was essential for telephonic communication This is the age of wireless mobile phones However the telephone channel’s main limitation is that the listener has to depend exclusively on the speaker’s voice for reconstructing the message

General Preparation Know your phone Keep a pen and Pad ready next to the phone Keep Distractors out; Concentrate on the Call Find out how you sound on the phone Cultivate a lively Telephone Voice Be extra careful when you speak to foreigners Don’t Ramble; Be Considerate to your Listener Adopt an efficient way of giving names & number

How to Make a Call Ask yourself if it is the Right Time to call Ask yourself Why you want to call Jot down points you want to make Keep at hand all the documents related to the Call Mentally Draft a brief message for the person you are calling Dial the number. Do it yourself if possible When someone answers your call, Greet then & identify yourself

Cont… Apologize if you get through to a wrong number When you get through to the right person, check if it’s the Right Time Say what you want as Clearly & Briefly as you can Re-dial if the lines Gets cut off When the call is over, thank the person you’ve spoken to After the call, complete your notes

How to Answer a Call Don’t let the phone ring more than 2 or 3 times Greet & identify yourself or your Firm as Soon as you pick the phone Do not Allow the phone to Interrupt a meeting or something equally important If someone else can deal with the call better than you, transfer it to them If the person the caller wants is not available, offer a return call Take notes as you listen If you’re taking a message from someone, write it down

Mobile Phones Switch off your mobile phones when you are at a meeting Switch off your mobile when your are driving Don’t force strangers to listen to your Non-emergency calls

TELECONFERENCING If you are organizing a Conference Call:Notify all the participants in advance. Call them & ask for the convenience of date & time Fax or e-mail the agenda to all the participants in advance While fixing the time, keep in mind the local time zone if there are participants from different countries Punctuality is extremely important At the time of starting the conference, call the junior participants first Once everyone is connected greet all of them before starting the business If there are several participants, give them a clear ideas of how you are going to proceed Once the call is over, mail the ‘minutes of the meeting’ to all the participants immediately

Cont…. If you are Participating in a Conference Call:Where there are 3 or more participants, it is best for people to talk only when the conference call host asks them to Take notes on what other are saying. Don’t interrupt refer tot hem when your turn comes Keep at hand all the information you are likely to need for the call Plan for the conference call as you would for a meeting Speak slowly, clearly, briefly. Be considerate to the other participants.