LEARNING MATERIAL

English for Business

Telephoning Basics
Identifying Yourself
Getting Through
Making Excuses

Exchanging Information
Exchanging and Checking Information
Spelling over the Phone

Mata Kuliah Ciri Universitas (MKCU)

Meeting Course Code : U1119006

Subject : English 1
01 Lecturer : Irma Rahmawati, S.S., M.Sas.
ABSTRAK

In today's world there are very few jobs that do not involve the daily use of the
telephone - and due to globalization, the language used on the telephone in business
contexts is increasingly English. Even for people with a high level of English, speaking on
the telephone presents a particular set of difficulties, for example sound quality. Not being
able to see the body language of the person you are speaking to also makes telephone
communication more problematic than a face-to-face conversation. However, by learning
some of the conventions of the language of telephoning you can overcome some of these
difficulties and develop your ability to hold efficient telephone conversations.

TUJUAN

Tujuan dari pertemuan ini adalah:

Mahasiswa mampu memahami dasar-dasar dalam bertelepon

Mahasiswa mampu memahami tata cara bertukar informasi

2021 English for Business

2 Irma Rahmawati: irma.rahmawati@undira.ac.id
Pusat Bahan Ajar dan eLearning
http://www.undira.ac.id
 DISCUSSION

Telephoning Basics

Sometimes when you phone people you won't have their direct phone number or
cell/mobile number. In these situations, when you call them you will have to ask
somebody else (often a receptionist) to connect/transfer your call through to them.

What you say when making these type of phone calls is different in some ways to what you
say when calling somebody's phone directly. In addition, what you say when asking to
speak to someone changes if you know or have had contact with the person you are calling
for before or not. Although you say the same types of things when starting these phone calls
(who you want to speak to, who you are and why you are calling), how you say it is different.

Do you know the person?

If you don't know the person or have had no contact with them before, you have to use more
formal phrases and vocabulary both when asking to speak to them and when actually
speaking to them. If you have, then you can use less formal phrases and vocabulary.

2021 English for Business

3 Irma Rahmawati: irma.rahmawati@undira.ac.id
Pusat Bahan Ajar dan eLearning
http://www.undira.ac.id
Although it is difficult to make phone calls in English if it isn't your first language, if you already
know what to say, how to say it and what people will say to you, it makes them a lot easier
to do.

In the below exercise on English telephone phrases, you will learn and remember phrases
and vocabulary you can use when asking to speak to somebody (either somebody you know
or you don't). In addition, you will learn what people will ask you on these types of telephone
conversations.

Although the below examples are business calls, you can use and hear the phrases in them
when you make calls for non-business reasons (e.g. to contact your bank etc...) as well.

Telephone Call 1:

Receptionist : 'Good morning. Ward Computers. How can I help you?'

Caller : 'Good morning. Can I speak to Peter Thomas, please.'

Receptionist : 'Who is calling, please?'

Caller : 'It's William Smith from Tennessee Supplies. He knows me.'

Receptionist : 'May I ask what it is regarding?'

Caller : 'It's about some issues with an order we recently made with
yourselves.'

Receptionist : 'If you'd just hold the line for a minute, I'll see if he is available.'

Caller : 'Thank you'

2021 English for Business

4 Irma Rahmawati: irma.rahmawati@undira.ac.id
Pusat Bahan Ajar dan eLearning
http://www.undira.ac.id
Telephone Call 2:

Receptionist : 'Good morning. The Housing Corporation. How can I help you?'

Caller : 'Good morning. I'd like to speak to Sue Perkins, please.'

Receptionist : 'May I ask who is calling?'

Caller : 'My name's John Smith from Leeds City Council and I'm returning
her call.'

Receptionist : 'If you'd just hold the line for a minute, I'll see if she is available.'

Caller : 'Thank you.'

Useful Phrases

Answering the phone (informal)

• Hello. Matt here. (caller unknown)

• Hi, Jody. How are you?

• Hey, Justin. What's up?

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5 Irma Rahmawati: irma.rahmawati@undira.ac.id
Pusat Bahan Ajar dan eLearning
http://www.undira.ac.id
Answering the phone (formal)

• Hello? Serena speaking. (caller unknown)

• John Sayles speaking. Who's calling, please? (caller unknown)

• Doctor Martin's office. May I know who's calling, please? (caller unknown)

• Thank you for calling Jeans Plus. Jody speaking.

• Hello Maria. Nice to hear from you.

• Hello Dr Jones. How can I help you?

• City Library. Kim speaking. What can I do for you, Robert?

Introducing yourself

• Hey George. It's Lisa calling. (informal)

• Hello, this is Julie Madison calling.

• Hi. It's Angelina from the dentist's office here. (informal)

• Hello Sayoko. This is Alan calling from Big Boyz Autobody.

Asking to speak with someone

• Hi. Is Nina there? (informal)

• Can you put Michael on? (informal)

• Can I talk to Josef? Tell him Marilyn's calling. (informal)

• May I speak to Mr. Green in the accounting department, please?

• Good morning. Is Dr Martin available, please?

Connecting someone

• Just a sec. I'll get him. (informal)

• Hang on a moment. I'll see if she's in. (informal)

• One moment please. I'll see if he's available.

• Hold the line please. I'll put you through in a moment.

• Please hold while I put you through to the manager's office.

• All of our staff are busy at this time. Please hold for the next available person.

2021 English for Business

6 Irma Rahmawati: irma.rahmawati@undira.ac.id
Pusat Bahan Ajar dan eLearning
http://www.undira.ac.id
Exchanging Information

Exchanging information over the phone is extremely challenging – all the visual clues we
usually rely on to see whether we’ve been understood or show that we’re not quite sure what
is meant are missing. The worst thing you can do in this situation is remain passive –
you have to take charge and manage the conversation so that you can be sure that you’ve
got your message across and that you obtain the information you need. And it’s important
not to wait too long before asking for clarification – the longer you wait, the more
embarrassing it becomes. And what is agreed in the call probably determines what you have
to do next – if you’re not sure, you can’t do your work!

2021 English for Business

7 Irma Rahmawati: irma.rahmawati@undira.ac.id
Pusat Bahan Ajar dan eLearning
http://www.undira.ac.id
Take control

The key is to take an active role in managing the conversation. Of course, you won’t always
be able to manage the entire conversation – in a conference call with a dozen participants,
for example, you’ll probably only ask for clarification regarding questions directed at you. But
in a one-to-one call or a conference call with just a couple of colleagues you have a lot more
influence.

There are three steps you can take to get the most out of the virtual meeting.

Step 1: Try to control speed and volume

Native speakers of English who don’t speak any other languages themselves often aren’t
aware of the challenges of working in a foreign language. They are probably impressed by
your English and assume that it’s no problem at all for you to understand them. They don’t
realize that they’re speaking too fast or mumbling. So, it’s certainly a good idea to ask them
to speak more slowly or loudly. Whether they actually remember to do this for more than a
few sentences is another matter.

I’m sure you’re familiar with these phrases:

Too fast?

Could you slow down a little, please?

Could you speak a bit more slowly, please?

Too quiet?

Could you speak up a bit, please?

Could you speak a little louder, please?

Step 2: Aim for as much clarity as possible

Make sure that you understand everything as you go along and ask if you don’t. If you feel
uncomfortable asking for clarification repeatedly, varying the way you do it can help.
It can also be helpful to say what you understood and ask the other person to confirm the
facts or correct them.

2021 English for Business

8 Irma Rahmawati: irma.rahmawati@undira.ac.id
Pusat Bahan Ajar dan eLearning
http://www.undira.ac.id
Even when you have little or no difficulty understanding the other person, it can be very useful
to summarize what has been agreed at regular intervals. This ensures that the conversation
stays on track.

Here are some phrases you can use for each of these three points:

To say that you didn’t understand:

I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.

Could you repeat that, please?

Sorry, did you say … or …?

To make sure you understood correctly:

So that’s …

Could I read that back to you?

Let me just check that. Your number is …

To summarize what has been agreed so far

Can I just recap on what we’ve said so far?

OK, so we’ve agreed that …

Before we move on, let me just summarize what we’ve decided on this point.

Step 3: Keep the other person in the picture

In a face-to-face meeting the other person can see that you’re making notes or looking for
the information they’ve asked for. On the phone they can’t and so may carry on talking or be
puzzled about your silence. So keep them in the picture by explaining what you’re doing.
That way you also take the pressure off yourself a little, gaining the time to finish what you
need to do.

2021 English for Business

9 Irma Rahmawati: irma.rahmawati@undira.ac.id
Pusat Bahan Ajar dan eLearning
http://www.undira.ac.id
To say you need more time:

Sorry to hold things up, but I just need to write that down.

Can you just bear with me a moment while I make a note of that.

To explain that you’re looking for something:

Just a second …

Let me see …

Sorry about this, I’m just opening the file.

Bear with me for a moment, please.

When you find what you were looking for:

Yes, here it is.

Right, here they are.

Sorry to keep you waiting, I’ve got it now.

And if in doubt follow up with an email

Still not absolutely sure what you need to do at the end of an important call? Why not send
a brief email summarizing what you have understood and ask the others involved to confirm?

Speaking in a more polite way

2021 English for Business

10 Irma Rahmawati: irma.rahmawati@undira.ac.id
Pusat Bahan Ajar dan eLearning
http://www.undira.ac.id
Active Listening Strategies

Spelling over the Phone

NATO Phonetic Alphabet

The NATO phonetic alphabet is a Spelling Alphabet, a set of words used instead of letters
in oral communication (i.e. over the phone or military radio). Each word ("code
word") stands for its initial letter (alphabetical "symbol"). The 26 code words in the NATO
phonetic alphabet are assigned to the 26 letters of the English alphabet in alphabetical order
as follows:

Morse Phonic
Symbol Code Word Code (pronunciation)

A Alfa/Alpha ●▬ AL FAH

B Bravo ▬●●● BRAH VOH

2021 English for Business

11 Irma Rahmawati: irma.rahmawati@undira.ac.id
Pusat Bahan Ajar dan eLearning
http://www.undira.ac.id
 Morse Phonic
Symbol Code Word Code (pronunciation)

C Charlie ▬●▬● CHAR LEE

D Delta ▬●● DELL TAH

E Echo .● ECK OH

F Foxtrot ●●▬● FOKS TROT

G Golf ▬▬● GOLF

H Hotel ●●●● HOH TELL

I India ●● IN DEE AH

J Juliett ●▬▬▬ JEW LEE ETT

K Kilo ▬●▬ KEY LOH

L Lima ●▬●● LEE MAH

M Mike ▬▬ MIKE

N November ▬● NO VEMBER

O Oscar ▬▬▬ OSS CAH

P Papa ●▬▬● PAH PAH

Q Quebec ▬▬●▬ KEH BECK

R Romeo ●▬● ROW ME OH

S Sierra ●●● SEE AIRRAH

T Tango ▬ TANG OH

U Uniform ●●▬ YOU NEE FORM

V Victor ●●●▬ VIK TAH

W Whiskey ●▬▬ WISS KEY

X X-ray ▬●●▬ ECKS RAY

Y Yankee ▬▬●● YANG KEY

Z Zulu ▬▬▬▬▬ ZOO LOO

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12 Irma Rahmawati: irma.rahmawati@undira.ac.id
Pusat Bahan Ajar dan eLearning
http://www.undira.ac.id
Notes
• The NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Phonetic Alphabet is currently
officially denoted as the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet (IRSA)
or the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) phonetic alphabet or ITU
(International Telecommunication Union) phonetic alphabet. Thus this alphabet can
be referred as the ICAO/ITU/NATO Phonetic Alphabet or International Phonetic
Alphabet..
• This alphabet is used by the U.S. military and has also been adopted by the FAA
(American Federal Aviation Administration), ANSI (American National Standards
Institute), and ARRL (American Radio Relay League).
• Contrary to what its name suggests, the NATO Phonetic Alphabet is not a phonetic
alphabet. Phonetic alphabets are used to indicate, through symbols or codes, what
a speech sound or letter sounds like. The NATO Phonetic Alphabet is instead
a spelling alphabet (also known as telephone alphabet, radio alphabet, word-
spelling alphabet, or voice procedure alphabet).
• Spelling alphabets, such as the NATO Phonetic Alphabet, consists of a set
of words used to stand for alphabetical letters in oral communication. These are
used to avoid misunderstanding due to difficult to spell words, different pronunciations
or poor line communication.
• A typical use of the NATO Phonetic Alphabet would be to spell out each letter in a
word over the phone by saying, for example: "S as in Sierra" (or "S for Sierra"), "E as
in Echo, Y as in Yankee, F as in Foxtrot, R as in Romeo, I as in India, E as in Echo,
D as in Delta" to communicate the spelling of the name "Seyfried" correctly.

2021 English for Business

13 Irma Rahmawati: irma.rahmawati@undira.ac.id
Pusat Bahan Ajar dan eLearning
http://www.undira.ac.id
 REFERENCES

Smith, D.G. (2007). English for Telephoning (Express Series). Oxford University Press.

https://www.englishclub.com/speaking/telephone-phrases.htm

http://www.blairenglish.com/exercises/telephone/exercises/english-telephone-phrases-asking-
speak-to-somebody/english-telephone-phrases-asking-speak-to-somebody.html

https://www.nicolabartlett.de/3-key-steps-for-exchanging-information-over-the-phone/

https://www.worldometers.info/languages/nato-phonetic-alphabet/

2021 English for Business

14 Irma Rahmawati: irma.rahmawati@undira.ac.id
Pusat Bahan Ajar dan eLearning
http://www.undira.ac.id