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 :-)

[Kevin M]

It wouldn't hurt to be more clear in the definitions/descriptions of XX, YY, ZZ, AA; especially in earlier parts of the series. At first these are just used in order, then they are used in different places (adding confusion) and then in the latter parts they are used in the correct places.
It also wouldn't hurt to use more kanji in the written examples as many of these cross over into email communications. Of course this is clearly stated as a telephone guide and it wouldn't do email justice to include it partially. I am talking about such words as 御座います or 有難う.

Other than my pesky remarks above, this is a great piece of work. Thanks for all your hard work in putting this together and sharing with others.

[Wim]

Thanks a lot for this great series :)
I'm sure it will be of great help in the future.

Also an e-mail etiquette would be well appreciated ^_^"

[marie carre]

Great. That makes everything clear in my head. Hope I'd be able to use them!
Good job.