Office Japanese - the Telephone: Part Four

Answering the phone and transferring a call is straightforward, but when you have to take a message it becomes a little trickier. Here are the basics.

Part Four    Answering the Phone and Taking a Message

１。名乗る

はい、XXでございます。

２。相手を確認する、あいさつをする

YYのZZでいらっしゃいますね。
いつもお世話になっております。

-Same as the beginning of Part Three

３。名指人を確認、おわび

AAでございますね。
申し訳ございません、あいにくAAは…[and continue in 4.]

４。情報提供する、理由・予定

出かけておりますが４時頃には戻る予定でございます。

Or:

出張しておりますが、木曜日には出社いたします。

-Don’t just say “She’s out at the moment” – provide the caller with additional information before they ask for it
-Don’t however say WHERE the person is (they might be at a competitor’s office!)
-And then immediately make a suggestion for a course of action, as per 5.

５。意向を伺う

（戻りましたら）お電話を差し上げるようにいたしましょうか。

Is the person in a hurry?

お急ぎでいらっしゃいますか。

Perhaps you, or someone else, can deal with it:

よろしければ用件を承りますが。

-Volunteer to call the person back – don’t wait for them to ask
-Don’t forget to get the caller’s phone number:

念のためお電話番号をお願いします。

６。復唱確認する

復唱させていただきます。
（電話番号）、YYのZZでいらっしゃいますね。

-Repeat the message to make sure you have the details correct, and to reassure the caller of the same (Name, Phone Number, Concerning What?)

７。名前を告げる

かしこまりました。私BBと申します。

-Let the caller know who they are talking to so they have the information for future reference

８。処置について確認する

AAが戻りましたらお電話を差し上げるよう申し伝えます。

AAが戻りましたらYYのZZ様からお電話いただきましたことを申し伝えます。

９。終わりのあいさつをする

失礼いたします。

ありがとうございました。

Part Five will feature a whole bunch of set phrases not covered in Part One, Part Two, Part Three or Part Four.

Comments

[Alex]

Excellent series you've got going on here. I heard a lot of these in use at my old job but had never seen them written down before, and they are much easier to digest after reading them.

[Thomas (nihonhacks.com)]

This is a great idea for a series. I often hear these around the office, but I didn't realize before that it was such a strict protocol.

[Chris]

Where's part five? The tension is killing me and Mr Tanaka on line 5 can't wait much longer for me to respond!!!!!

[Duncan]

Would it be possible per chance to see a similar series for email etiquette? You have no idea how happy that would make me. Thanks for the great site - it's like an Aladdin's cave, minus the pointy shoes.

[Will]

Duncan:
Email - that's a good idea. I have to make enough time to get to part 5 first!

Thomas:
Sorry about Mr Tanaka :-)