Very often in the public and private sector, there are complaints about employees who spend inordinately long periods on the public telephone. It seems that they come to work with lists of persons either whom they have not been in touch with for a long time or persons whom they are in touch with everyday updating them on the latest gossip or happenings around town.

These conversations are very long and we are sometimes punctuated with loud laughter and screams of surprise. There is often little or no consideration given to the members of the public who are waiting for service and viewing all this. This communicates a very bad image of the organisation concerned.

The telephone is for the conduct of public business. I shudder to think what the telephone accounts of some of these entities are like, since the cost of calls to cellphones is so high and since nearly every Guyanese has a cell phone and has to be available to be communicated with 24 hours per day!

The second commentary is on the protocol of linking callers with Senior Executives, CEO’s etc.

Often a secretary is asked to get a CEO for her boss. The assumption is that the boss is available to speak with the CEO when he does come on the line and has not rushed into another office. This calls for vigilance on the part of the secretary so as not to waste the time of the CEO who comes on the line to speak. But sometimes, a member of the public calls to speak with a senior executive. Secretaries are often unsure how to deal with these situations. It is polite to find out the name of the caller.

“May I tell him or her who is calling please?” This is much better than pushing open a door or pressing a buzzer and saying “Phone for you”. I remember a few years ago having a meeting with someone who was a supervisor in a public sector organisation. In the midst of our meeting a junior officer pushed open the door and said “Ms X phone for you”. Whereupon the supervisor advised, “Kindly take the name and number of the caller please. I’ll return the call later. The retort was, “Me ain’t able wid all uh duh!” She promptly returned to her desk and replaced the receiver on the telephone. How gross! How uncouth!

That was an aside.

If Mr. Comacho needs to speak with the company chairman, Mr. Abdool, it is in order for the telephonist to say, “Is it Mr. Comacho on the line?” This is so that the company chairman does not come on the line and is made to wait while someone gets Mr. Comacho to speak.

The third commentary is about dealing with anger on the telephone. The hallmark of a good telephonist is that she/he listens, is always calm, polite and well-mannered on the telephone, does not get angry with callers, does not shout at callers, is patient and gives helpful responses.

When an angry caller calls, listen to what the person has to say. Do not get angry yourself. Use language that soothes or that indicates that you are listening: e.g. “I understand your feelings Mr. Rodrigues”. “I appreciate what you are going through…may I make a suggestion… or “Have you tried …”

Ask questions for clarification. This not only indicates that you are listening but sometimes softens the angry outbursts. Persons have often asked what is the correct thing to do when an angry caller uses expletives or what in Guyanese parlance is called ‘industrial language’ or four or five letter words. The answer is that you at the other end of the line are still representing your company or firm. You are not permitted to give as good as you get…It is assumed that you know about public relations and reputation and public image and all that. Nor are you permitted to put down the telephone without first warning the angry caller that unless he or she refrains from cursing, you will be forced to put the telephone down.