hockeygrl
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Post by hockeygrl on Jun 22, 2012 11:44:04 GMT -5
If I recognize the name of the person calling, I'll say something like "what's up jerkoff" unless it's a boss then I'll say "good morning/afternoon, sir." If it's an outside line, I just say "investigations." It usually throws people off and I'm just a jerk that way.
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Jun 22, 2012 11:53:36 GMT -5
It depends... there's caller id at work - if I recognize a co-worker name/number I answer with "Hello! caller's name, whatchaneed?" Cause they are usually calling me with a problem. If it's the Sensitive Girl/Guy (I have one of each that calls me) I answer with "Hello! Caller's name, How are you today?" <-- small talk makes them feel comfortable. If caller id indicates it's someone from the company that I occassionally talk to I answer "Hello, this is My Work Name Alias", how can I help you?" As they are most likely calling with a problem and were probably referred to me not by my actual name but my Alias. If caller id indicates it's someone from the company that I have never talked to (or someone from outside the compnay) I answer "Hello, this is My Actual Full Name, how can I help you?" - this group of people probably ONLY knows me by actual name (and not my work alias) so I don't want to confuse them. My work alias is neither a cute nickname nor my last name - it's an odd variation of my actual name (which I use in an effort to get people to call me something to which I will actually respond.) It's complicated but then I maybe get a call or two a week. When I leave a message I always use my full name (and my title if I'm calling outside the company). Most people see my full name on the phone/the company employee list/the bottom of my emails.
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Phoenix84
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Post by Phoenix84 on Jun 22, 2012 11:57:07 GMT -5
"Radiation Safety, this is phenoix"
I use only my first name, it's shorter.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2012 11:58:27 GMT -5
"Radiation Safety, this is phenoix" I use only my first name, it's shorter. Cool, you are Homer Simpson!
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Green Eyed Lady
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Post by Green Eyed Lady on Jun 22, 2012 12:00:18 GMT -5
I say, "What? "
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hoops902
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Post by hoops902 on Jun 22, 2012 12:00:35 GMT -5
company name/department, this is hoops. No last names, preferably ever. I work in the back office of a financial institution and last names mean brokers latch on and call you directly. I don't want that.
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muttleynfelix
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Post by muttleynfelix on Jun 22, 2012 12:03:56 GMT -5
Who answers their work phone nowadays? Voicemail is your friend
Unless you don't have voicemail.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2012 12:06:08 GMT -5
Any calls I get have already been screened, so I usually say "this is beerwench, how can I help you"?
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movingforward
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Post by movingforward on Jun 22, 2012 12:08:09 GMT -5
Who answers their work phone nowadays? Voicemail is your friendUnless you don't have voicemail. The receptionist does a good job of screening outside calls for me. If it is someone I want or need to talk to I will. Otherwise, I usually have her sent it to my voice mail.
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Jun 22, 2012 12:10:07 GMT -5
We don't have voicemail, but the calls to the office are screened pretty well. Once in a while, something freaky gets by the secretaries.
If the secretaries are on other lines/with clients, I will answer the phone simply with "Law Firm Name" and don't tell the caller who I am.
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Sum Dum Gai
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Post by Sum Dum Gai on Jun 22, 2012 12:36:46 GMT -5
<insert company name> <insert my first name>
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8 Bit WWBG
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Post by 8 Bit WWBG on Jun 22, 2012 12:45:16 GMT -5
"<Agency Name>, this is <my first name>"
For what its worth, when we do the "roll call" in meetings, I also don't use my last name, even though many do. I want to be known as the one and the only. When they use my name, I don't need further clarification.
I did once work at a place that insisted we wait until the 3rd ring to answer (so we seemed "busy") but that we recited some long greeting.
Its not as bad as BB&B though... "Thank you for calling bed bath and beyond, home of the every day 20% savings coupon and the best bridal registry in the industry! This is <name>, how may I direct your call".
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teen persuasion
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Post by teen persuasion on Jun 22, 2012 13:15:02 GMT -5
I'm so used to it that I am still answering "<village name> Library, how can I help you?" We just changed our charter name, so I really should use the new name, but it is long, and too similar to the CSD name: <town1><town2> Community Library. It would also confuse our longtime patrons, who will expect to hear <village name> in there somewhere, since it is our actual location. I suppose I could be really thorough and say "<town1><town2> Community Library in <village name>, teen speaking. How can I help you?"
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Jun 22, 2012 13:27:32 GMT -5
We have super-high-tech phones, so if anyone from inside the company calls, I get their name, and if anyone from my contact list on my cell phone calls, I get their name too. So, generally I answer "Hi Joe, What's up??" If it is a call with no contact information, the statistics are currently a 99% chance it is a robo-dialer telling me that my car warranty is expired or speaking spanish, with the other 1% being that it is a consulting company that thinks I'm a decision maker. So, I usually answer those with "This is {{first name only.}}"
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2012 13:27:59 GMT -5
What do you say when you answer the phone at work? Do you use your full name, only last, only first, etc? I quickly skimmed "Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office" last night. There was something in it about how women tend to not use their last names and/or allow themselves to be called by a childish nickname. But that men don't. So what do you do and do you think it matters? I'm pretty formal. I'm also young, so I call everyone I contact Mr. Y or Ms. X. If I introduce myself first, I use both names and reference our company. This results in them calling me "Thomas" (my last name) in emails. I do just answer phones with "Hello, this is Copper" though. **edited to add** Calls are screened by a secretary at our place too, so I know that someone is looking for me specifically if I pick up.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Jun 22, 2012 13:29:13 GMT -5
When we first started dating my husband was working at a call center to put himself through college. And many times I would call his home (this was before cell phones) and he would answer "{{Company name}} How can I assist you today?" It was hilarious.
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MN-Investor
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Post by MN-Investor on Jun 22, 2012 14:33:52 GMT -5
When I was in high school, I remember one friend answering his family's home phone: Smith's summer home. Summer home, summer not. ;D
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Anne_in_VA
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Post by Anne_in_VA on Jun 22, 2012 15:04:27 GMT -5
I work in Purchasing and have to speak to a lot of new vendors because my name and phone # are on our company's website, so if it's a call from outside the company I answer "This is Anne <last name>, how may I help you?" If it's an internal call I'll answer "This is Anne".
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2012 16:57:28 GMT -5
I don't answer many phones, but the one in the teacher work room sometimes rings. It is almost always a wrong number. I simply say, "This is Your High School. May I help you?" Most people just let it ring. Different question. Sometimes the telephone in the elevator rings. Are you supposed to answer it? Inquiring minds need to know. ETA: If I do answer, do I say, "This is Your High School's C Hall elevator"?
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on Jun 22, 2012 17:14:37 GMT -5
Internal calls from people I often work with, "hey, name!" Internal calls from people I don't really work with often (ie, the miss-dial), "this is Meghan" External calls, "Company name, Meghan speaking" Internal calls from my work friends, "what up, fool?"
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Happy prose
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Post by Happy prose on Jun 22, 2012 17:38:14 GMT -5
No name. I just answer with agency name. Internal calls I say hello.
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on Jun 22, 2012 20:52:26 GMT -5
Company name this is first name how may I help you?
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Apple
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Post by Apple on Jun 22, 2012 23:13:47 GMT -5
"Minor location" electric shop, "Bigger location". There are two electric shops, so I name mine, and the project where I work. I usually don't give my name since it's a long enough introduction and I'm the only girl. The phone is the foreman's phone, but also the crew phone. The answering machine has my name on it though, and when I have to make phone calls I give my first and last name, then where I work.
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Apple
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Post by Apple on Jun 22, 2012 23:18:18 GMT -5
The phone also has caller ID though, so if it's one of the project extensions calling it depends on who it is. One guy gets "we don't have any", someone else gets "what do you want now", and one guy yesterday got "I played with a snake this morning". When I call the mechanics the foreman sometimes won't say anything, he just picks up the phone and stays quiet and then I have to figure out if he's put me on speaker phone or not
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Jake 48
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keeping the faith
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Post by Jake 48 on Jun 23, 2012 6:55:31 GMT -5
Good morning,afternoon, evening, "town municipal dept" We sometimes have to remind people they are on recorded lines
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marvholly
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Post by marvholly on Jun 23, 2012 7:56:41 GMT -5
At this point I am retired. However, back in the day I would answer: Good morning/afternoon: First Last
At my workplace the phone had already been answered w/the company name, either in the voice mail system or by the receptionist.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2012 8:13:00 GMT -5
I'm not sure why I find this thread so interesting, but I keep coming back to it. So I did a little math this morning (I don't want to go to the gym)...
We're a little underrepresented on men at the moment, but 41 women and 6 men responded. Apparently, we are a fairly informal group, or else we try to preserve some anonymity. Almost everyone answered with their first name, but <10% give a last name to callers. We provide our company or department name about half the time. This seemed to be most related to whether or not the caller had already be routed through another person.
The main difference I saw was that about 1/4 of the women include some variation on "may I help you?" and none of the men do. I wonder if that is the key to implying power and authority? Or the distinction between Office Manager and Receptionist? Because if you have some a position of authority, it is just implied that you will help the caller, but otherwise you need to offer it?
I don't know. I'm probably reading way too much into this, but it's food for thought.
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simser
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Post by simser on Jun 23, 2012 10:30:29 GMT -5
I usually just answer "This is Simser" (first name). No one calls me whom I am not expecting a call from. I don't deal with the public. When I call people they usually answer with "Department name" because they share phones. I get to figure out who it is (there's only 4 so it's not difficult).
I called another department back yesterday and my friend answered "Dominos pizza". He was smart enough to know it was me, but I wasn't sure it was him. He was on a shared phone.
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Waffle
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Post by Waffle on Jun 23, 2012 11:20:10 GMT -5
I'm not sure why I find this thread so interesting, but I keep coming back to it. So I did a little math this morning (I don't want to go to the gym)... We're a little underrepresented on men at the moment, but 41 women and 6 men responded. Apparently, we are a fairly informal group, or else we try to preserve some anonymity. Almost everyone answered with their first name, but <10% give a last name to callers. We provide our company or department name about half the time. This seemed to be most related to whether or not the caller had already be routed through another person. The main difference I saw was that about 1/4 of the women include some variation on "may I help you?" and none of the men do. I wonder if that is the key to implying power and authority? Or the distinction between Office Manager and Receptionist? Because if you have some a position of authority, it is just implied that you will help the caller, but otherwise you need to offer it?I don't know. I'm probably reading way too much into this, but it's food for thought. The part of your post I bolded is exactly the kind of thing the author of the book noted. If you have the book, my original thread question was inspired by her mistake #47: "using only your nickname or firstname" I think there was something in the book about the "how may I help you" type phrases - but I can't find it right now.
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Sum Dum Gai
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Post by Sum Dum Gai on Jun 23, 2012 11:59:55 GMT -5
The main difference I saw was that about 1/4 of the women include some variation on "may I help you?" and none of the men do. I wonder if that is the key to implying power and authority? Could be, but with a sample size this small it could just be the type of jobs that the relatively few men who responded hold. Mine for example isn't customer facing. The only people who call me are colleagues, managers, and clients, so we're all pretty informal over the phone. When I worked lower level IT support type roles we had a much more involved telephone greeting... "Western CONUS (pronounced ko-nuss) regional help desk, this is Staff Sergeant DarkHonor, how may I help you sir or maam?" If the call was internal, which came over a separate phone and only a few other groups had the number it was "Western CONUS regional help desk Cheyenne Mountain, this is Staff Sergeant DarkHonor, the line is currently unsecure, how may I help you sir or maam?" On that phone we could hit a button to secure the line since we supported classified computer systems so you couldn't discuss certain things on an unsecure line. Either way, it was a friggin mouthful to answer the phone with. When I worked in the same unit but doing level II support, we would just answer with name and rank.
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