Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Chapter 12Using Telecommunications inthe Office
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Using TelephoneDirectories
•Local directory available
•Organizations provide staff directory
•Become familiar with sections in bothdirectories
–Location of frequently called numbers
–Location of U.S. Government, state, county, andcity offices
–Learn how to locate items in the yellow pages
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—UsingTelephone Directories (continued)
•If given an unlisted number, keep track of it
•If number is frequently used, record it intelephone card file or on computer list
•To obtain number, dial 1-411
•Check to see if a company has a 1-800 number
–1-800-555-1212 – provide name of company
–Use Internet for online yellow pages
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Speaking Clearly
•Speaking clearly prevents caller frustration
•Tone and words must be clear
–Correct Volume – same as talking to person on otherside of desk.
–Speed – Don’t run words together, yet don’t speak tooslowly
–Inflection – Vary tone of your voice, add emphasis
–Enunciation – Speak clearly
•Avoid things like: wouldja, wanna or gimme
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Placing a Local Call
•Assemble materials needed prior to call
–Write down your questions and comments
•Have correct phone number and contactperson’s name
•If receptionist answers, give person’s nameor ext. – remember extension for future calls
•Ask for person and identify yourself
•If unable to speak to person, leave requestwith person answering phone
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Answering Telephone
•Answer promptly
•Give properidentification
•Be courteous
•Take completemessages
•Explain yourmanager’s absence
•Screen calls
•Transfer callsproperly
•Answer a secondtelephone
•Know when toanswer
•Distribute messagespromptly
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Answer Promptly
•You project image of your organization
•Answer promptly
–By 2nd or 3rd ring
–Don’t lift receiver and make caller waitwhile you finish another conversation
–Speak clearly and at moderate speed
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Give Proper Identification
•Let caller know office he or she hasreached and identify yourself with bothyour first and last names
•If you answer phone for many managers, giveproper identification for each person whosetelephone you answer
–Never answer business telephonewith “Hello”
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Be Courteous
•Use a greeting
–Many callers miss name oforganization if it is the first wordspoken
•Listen attentively
•If leaving line, explain why andavoid wait of over two minutes
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Be Courteous(continued)
•Use courteous phrases duringconversation
•Redirect caller
–Give caller appropriate name and number
•Let him or her know if you’re looking it up
•Transfer call, if possible
•Do not end call abruptly
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Take Complete Messages
•Date and time of call
•Complete name of caller
•Telephone number with area code
•Caller’s business affiliation
•Pertinent information needed for return calls
–Restate message to caller for accuracy
•Person’s identity taking the call
–For forms, use initials
–E-mail automatically identifies sender
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Explain YourManager’s Absence
•Be careful of explanation
–Use statements like “He is away from his desk atthe moment”
–Avoid statements like “He’s still at lunch”
–Don’t use the “in conference” excuse
•If in meeting, suggest time when you expecthim or her back
•Offer assistance in your manager’s absence
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Transfer CallsProperly
•Explain that you are transferring callerto someone else who can handle call
–Give caller name and number of person towhom he or she is being transferred
•If you don’t know where to transfer oryou don’t know answer:
–Tell caller you will find out and ask if youcan call them back within a “short”timeframe with answer
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Answer a SecondTelephone
•If two telephones ring at same time:
–Answer 1st one and ask if you can put them onhold in order to answer another call
–Answer 2nd call, state that you are on another line,and ask if you can put them on hold
•Return to 1st call
–Thank them for holding
–Ask how you may direct their call
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Answer a SecondTelephone (continued)
•Local Callers:
–Offer to call second person back,after you explain that you are onanother call
–When finished with first caller, dialsecond caller
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Answer a SecondTelephone (continued)
•If second caller is a long-distance call,do not offer to call back
–Ask someone else to take call, or
–Tell long-distance caller that youinterrupted a local call to answer
•Excuse yourself long enough to tell first caller you’ll bewith them in a minute
•Complete long-distance call as quickly as possible
•Do not keep first caller waiting for more than a minute
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Know When toAnswer
•Whose telephones are you responsiblefor answering and when?
•Do you interrupt managers in meetingwith telephone message?
•Tell caller your manager is not availablefor call before you ask who is calling.
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—DistributeMessages Promptly
•Delayed messages can cause costlyand or embarrassing situations for yourmanager
•Place messages where they will not belost or covered up
•Inform caller that you will be sure todeliver message. You cannot guaranteethat call will be returned!
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Distribute MessagesPromptly (continued)
•Besides taking message, manyrequests can be handled by you or byother employees
•When manager phones in to check onoffice, provide brief summary ofactivities and incoming phone calls
•Your job is to collect, use, and provideinformation
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Screen Calls
•If you must screen calls, probecourteously for information
–Determine if caller can be referred to someoneelse who can help the caller
•Ask how manager wants you to handlecallers who won’t identify themselves
•Screening calls
–Saves your manager time
–Assists the caller
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Screen Calls (continued)
•All calls must be handled. Know aboutyour organization – never leave callerguessing.
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Handling AngryCallers
•Deal with situation
–Find out what caller wants
•If not possible to do what person wants,suggest alternatives
–Share information
–Agree on a solution
–Follow up
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Using AutomaticAnswering Services
•Interactive Voice Response (IVR) canbe programmed to:
–Respond after predefined number of rings
–Respond between specific times of day.Play variety of announcements
–Prompt the caller through menu of optionsto acquire information or leave message
–Repeat message based on length of timecaller is on hold
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Point-to-Point Calls
•Talk to anyone who answers
•Charges begin when phone is answered
•Two types of point-to-point calls:
–Direct Distance Dialing (DDD)
•Caller dials number without assistance
–Operator-Assisted
•Collect calls, using pay phone, charged tocredit card, or need to bill third party
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Person-to-PersonCalls
•Operator assisted
•Provide operator name of person youare calling and number, and if you wishcall to be returned
•Charges begin when that personanswers
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Calling Card Calls
•May or may not need operatorassistance
•Equivalent to direct debit card
•Has magnetic stripe on back thatupdates (debits) amount each time callis made
•Convenient and cost effective
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Directory Assistance
•Dial 1 + Area Code + 555 + 1212
–Use area code for geographic location you want
–If necessary, see phone book for this information
•Provide operator with name of city ortown and name of person
•Hang up, then dial number, using:
–1 + area code + seven-digit number provided byoperator
•Pay a charge for service
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Conference Calling
•Used when three or more telephone stationsare connected across network that supportsconversation
•Setup through:
–Telephone operator (fee charged), or
–Use special “conference” feature available onmost business telephone sets
•Time is prearranged
•If you handle:
–Call first number, put on hold, call second number,release hold
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Time Zones in theUnited States
•The United States is divided into fivezones:
•Atlantic
•Eastern
•Central
•Mountain
•Pacific
•Know time zone for city you are calling
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Time Zones Aroundthe World
•The world is divided into 24 time zones
•The zones are one hour apart
•Standard time is calculated fromGreenwich, England
–Greenwich Mean Time is zero
–Each of zones, in turn, is designated by anumber representing the number of hoursby which standard time of zone differs fromGreenwich Mean Time
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—ReceivingLong-Distance Calls
•If call is point-to-point – quickly connect toappropriate person. Charges start instantly.
–If taking message, restate message for accuracy,and then place on appropriate person’s desk
•Person-to-person – Charges start when thatperson answers phone.
–If manager is not in, you can tell operator when heor she is expected
–If manager is to return call, carefully record call-back information
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Placing InternationalCalls
•Countries with area codes are accessed likethose in U.S. – use: 1 + area code + number
•Dial foreign countries directly – use:
–011 + country code + city code + local number
–Most codes are found in telephone directories
•Use operator assistance, when person-to-person, credit card, third party billing, etc.
–Use “01” + country code + routing code + localnumber
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Effective Use—Long-DistanceCalls Log
•Record of outgoing calls and speciallyhandled called
•Computer logs can help managementproduce timely reports
•Review this report for accuracy
•Analyzing outgoing calls may helpreduce phone costs
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Interconnect Equipment
•Telephone equipment organizationspurchase or lease from suppliers otherthan from telephone companies
•These systems are controlled at centraloffice
•Most mechanical exchanges arereplaced by electronic digital switches
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Interconnect Equipment(continued)
•Digital switches are programmedcontrolled
–Caller ID
–Call Forwarding
–Speed Dial
–Redial
–Electronic Memory of names and numbers
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Common TelephoneEquipment
•Touch-Tone Telephone
–Provides regular service and tonetransmission
•Key Telephones
–Flexibility of making/receiving multiple callssimultaneously
•Wireless Telephones
–Uses radio waves rather than phone wires
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
High-Tech Conferences
•Companies use telecommunications inoffice to conduct electronic meetings,including teleconferences andvideoconferences
•Reduce travel cost and losses inproductivity that can result from timespent away from office
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Telephone Message Systems
•Automatic Recording Machines
–User turns on recorded message for callersto hear when phone can’t be answered
•Answering Service
–A switchboard attended by operator whoanswers subscribers’ telephones atdesignated hours
–Message and number is taken
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Telephone Message Systems(continued)
•Answering Service (continued)
–For emergencies, subscriber may reach clientduring after-business hours
•Voice Mail
–Processes incoming and outgoing calls
–Ensures no calls are missed
–Avoid telephone tag
–Learn to use correctly to avoid annoyance andfrustrations to caller
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Private Branch Exchange(PBX)
•For calls coming into and going out ofoffice
•Handles inside calls made betweentelephone extensions within office
•Requires full-time operator
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Private Automatic BranchExchange (PABX)
•Allows users to dialanother extensiondirectly withoutoperator
•For outside calls,dial 9 prior tonumber
•Some features areshown on right:
•Redials busy lines
•Redials last number
•Stores up to 30 numbers
•Informs a person that call iswaiting
•Can answer another’s phoneby using a code
•Call forwarding
•Place calls on hold whiledialing another number
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
CENTREX
•Every telephone within CENTREXsystem has same three-digit prefix
•To call in-house, dial only extension
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Hybrid and Virtual TelephoneExchange Systems
•Uses office PCs and Internet
•Take advantage of existing equipmentand Internet
–Provides familiar voice services and localcontrol at fraction of cost of traditionaloffice telephone exchanges
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Telecommunications Services
•Voice
–Most common of services
•Consists of telephone, dial tone, andinternational telephone network
–Inbound calls coming into home or office atyour company’s expense
–Outbound calls are paid for by caller. Callsmade from your office or home
–Faxes operate under this type of service
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Telecommunications Services(continued)
•Data
–Designed for information to transmit from,and receive through, your office computersystem
–Point-to-point connection or Wide AreaNetwork (WAN)
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Telecommunications Services(continued)
•Wireless
–Services not dependent on terrestrial wiresand cables for transmission
–Services include:
•Microware systems, radio broadcast andreception, wireless telephone services, anddirect-to-home television services
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Voice Recognition
•Systems that translate spoken word intolanguage computer can understand
–More than 95 percent of time
•You “voice” instruct computer for:
–Appointments – then computer remembersand reminds you later when you say day
–Phone numbers – computer displays whenyou say person’s name
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
The Internet
•Sending and receiving e-mail
•Transferring data files
•Joining newsgroups
•Performing remote computing
•Researching topics of interest
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Getting Connected
•To join Internet, you need:
–A computer
–A modem
–An ordinary voice-quality telephone line
•Local Internet service provider (ISP) willsupply software needed for connection
Procedures for the Automated Office, 6/e
By Sharon Burton and Nelda Shelton
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
International Phone Calls
•International calls may not go through asexpected.
•Consider and know the following:
–Your own office phone system
–Correct format for dialing international numbers
–International holidays
–Time zone differences
–Language barriers