Phone Etiquette...BE NICE!

February 6, 2014
 
I work for an answering service. I am not sure WHY answering services have such a negative feeling connected to them, especially since we are there to help...if we can. NO, I am not a telemarketer. I am very much like an after hours receptionist. I understand that you may be calling your doctor about a desperate situation, or perhaps your plumber because a pipe has burst in your home and your children are now swimming around the basement, but is it REALLY necessary to say (in a disappointing voice), "Oh, so you are JUST the answering service?" My response will always be the same, "No, I am THE answering service." Even better is, "Are you their answering machine?" I wish just once I could say, "Yes, I am a machine. You know what to do. BEEP!" But that wouldn't be professional of me.

People are so quick to think you are trying to be difficult, that even calling someone "Sir" or "Ma'am" is actually seen as being disrespectful by some. WHAT? I know, I don't get it either! Here is what some people do not understand. This may or may not be helpful to know if you are ever in a situation where you need to reach someone after hours and end up talking to someone like me. 

1. I don't make the rules! Accounts are set up by the client and I am there to follow THEIR instructions....not yours. Sorry. 
2. Raising your voice, yelling at me, and calling me names will get you nowhere. Please revisit number one. Again, sorry.
3. This is an important one...most, if not all answering services RECORD EVERY WORD YOU AND I SAY. Calling your doctor names is never a good idea. At any time they can request to listen to recordings of their call logs. This may not end well for you.
4. If you lie about how the call went, we WILL play the recording for the client who has called in to reprimand us on your behalf. Those records protect you and I the same.
5. Be nice to me and I will do everything I can to help you (within the perimeters set up by the client). Again, see number 1!
6. I ask the questions I ask because whoever you are calling wants me to get that particular information. It is not because I am curious and I have no intention of stealing your identity.
7. Talking over me instead of giving me the information I am required to obtain will only prolong you getting a response from the person you REALLY want to talk to. I can't page anyone until I have fully done my job.
8. I am only as informed as the client wants me to be. I am sorry that I don't know every employee, and that I can't name your doctor by you saying "the tall one." You asking, "What good are you?" Is NOT good phone etiquette. 

All this having been said, I must say that I love my job! I get to help people in a very indirect sort of way. I can be a calming voice in the midst of a problem you are seeking help for. I feel for most situations people are going through and no I can not understand exactly what you are feeling, but I am human, and a woman with a big heart. I take calls that make me laugh and I take calls that make me cry. I am a person and I deserve the same respect I would hope you would give me if we were face-to-face.