Useful phrases and vocabulary Identifying yourself This is Leo Pearson from Griffin Plc. Its Steve Ronson (from) AFS here. Explaining the reason for the call 'm calling about .. Ihave a question about | wanted to ask about .. ‘Are you the right person to ask? ‘Asking for the person Could | speak to Bob Little, please? Is Katja there, please? Could you put me through to your accounts department, please? Listen, Steve, 'm actually trying to get through to Paula. is she there at the moment? When the person isn't avaitable Oh, that’s a pity. Il try calling later. an | leave a message for hinvher? an you ask him/her to call me back, please? Identifying yourself Micah Information Systems. Sylvia speaking. HCE Ltd. Arno Maier speaking. How can |help you? So, what can | do for you? Transferring a call Can | just ask what it's about? Can you hold on a moment, please? Can you hold the line, please? Ml put you through. I'm connecting you now. The line's (stil) busy. Would you like to wait, or shall | ask him/her to call you back? ''m afraid his/her line is engaged (Am Eng: busy). Shall | give you his/her extension number? When the other person isn’t available {'m afraid Ms Thomson is unavailable at the moment. She's on another tin/in a meeting/on a business tip. I'm sony, but Derek isn't in the office today. Can | take a message? Would you ike to leave a message for her/him? Would you like to call back later? Can thelp at all? Sorry, 'm really busy at the moment. Can | call you back later today/in ten minutes? ''m actually talking to someone on the other line, | think I've got your number, but can you give it to me again just in case? ''m just returning your call from yesterday. You left a message on my answering machine. Thank you very much. ‘You're welcome. Just let me know if there's anything else | can do for you. Hil do that. Speak to you later. Bye now,/Goodbye. | didn't catch that (last part). Could you repeat that, please? Can you speak up a bit, please? Could you speak a litle bit more slowly, please? Could you spell that for me, please? This is a really bad line. Sorry, we got cut off... Anyway, as | was saying, .. Taking a message Can | take a message? Does (s)he have your number? ll tell him/her you called. Shall | ask him/her to call you back? Ii make sure he/she gets your message. Checking the message Let me just read that back to you. Let me just make sure that | got that right. You'd like to know if. Was that M for Michael or N for Nancy? Sorry, did you say 42 04 oF 42 142 Sorry, what was the post code again? Leaving a message Could you ask himyher to call me back? ‘My name is John Ellis. 'm calling from Retex Plc and, my number is ..Greetings You've reached Lessa Logistica. Unfortunately no one is available to take your call at the moment. Our normal office hours are 9 to 5, Mondays to Fridays. Please leave a message after the beep or send us a fax on (Am Eng: at) . Hello. This is Cecilia’s voicemail. 'm out of the office until 3 p.m/the sth. Ifit's urgent, please contact Jeff on (Am Eng: at) extension 439. Thanks. Leaving a message This is Walter Jackson calling for Toshiki Kitano. 1'm calling about . Maybe you can get back to me. | think you have my number already, but here itis again just in case. I's VIL be in the office until 6 p.m. today if you want to call me. Hope to speak to you soon. Where are you? “am on the train “Am actually in the office. You can call me on my landline. 41m afraid I'm in a meeting at the moment. Can | call you later? Have you got a couple of minutes? My battery's low ~ we might get cut off, 'm afraid Sorry, you're breaking up (@ litle). Listen, | think I'm losing the connection. fd better go. Asking how someone is How are you? How are you doing? How's business? How are things in Prague? Answers Fine, thanks. And you? Not (so) bad. Abit busy, as always. Oh, can’t complain. How are things with you? ‘Small talk questions What have you been up to? Nothing much, apart from work, to be honest. ave just got back from holiday. How's the weather over there? Wel, as usual! Really nice, for a change. How was your holiday? “Mery nice. We had a great time. Don't ask! It was a complete disaster. set pases and way | 8 ‘Suggesting a meeting Do you have time to meet next week? Iwas wondering if you might have time to meet next week. It would give us the chance to talk about . Suggesting times and places When would suit you? Where would you like to meet? Would Monday be OK for you? How about Wednesday morning? Shall we say 10 o'clock in my office? Maybe you can pencil me in on Tuesday morning. Reacting to suggestions ‘Just need to check my diar | think that should be possible. Tuesday's bad for me, 'm afraid. 1'm tied up all da Yes, that would be good for me. Confirming an arrangement Ok, so I'll see you Wednesday, then. So that’s Monday at 10 a.m. at your office. Changing arrangements 'm calling about our meeting tomorrow. {'m afraid something has come up. One of my clients has cancelled/brought forward our appointment. The meeting lasted longer than | expected. I wanted to ask you if we could meet a bit earlier/postpone our meeting. | was wondering if we could reschedule our appointment. Would it be possible to meet a bit later? When you are late for an appointment I'm afraid my meeting has taken longer than | expected. | might be a few minutes late. | should be there by 3 at the latest. © Comptaints Making a complaint Are you the right person to talk to? There appears to be a small problem with your latest consignment. ‘There appears to be 2 mistake on the invoice you sent us. ‘You seem to have forgotten the attachment. ‘Some of the components don’t seem to work. Clarifying the problem What's the problem exactly? Could you explain the problem in more detail?64 | Useful phrases and vocabulary Apologizing ''m very/extremely sorry about that. Please accept my apologies. That’s entirely our fault. There must have been a mixup. Taking action Its good that you've brought this problem to my attention. This is what I'l do. "ll make sure it gets sorted out straight away. Let me put you through to our accounts department. They/l sor it out for you. You actually need to speak to our technical support hotline. Unfortunately I cat put you through direct, but et me give you the number, Ending on a positive note Again, 'm really sorry about the mix-up. Well, thanks for sorting that out. “it's the least | can do. ‘ll personally make sure it doesn't happen agai IFyou have any questions just give me a call ‘Making proposals I wanted to make a suggestion. have an idea. What do you think? How does that sound? Interrupting Sorry, can | interrupt you there? Yes, yes, but can I just say something? Well yes, that may be true, but. Can | just come in here? Can | just stop you there? Reacting to proposals That sounds feasible/very reasonable. We could probably work with that, That depends,/That's dificult to say. I don't think that would be possible. | think we have a certain amount of room to manoeuvre, but | would have to check with my boss first. to.call sb back Can | call you back later today? to catch Sorry, | didr't catch your name. to connect 'm connecting you now. to get cut off, Sorry, we got cut off. Where were we? to get back to sb on sth I'm not entirely sure. Can I get back to you on that? to get in touch to get through 1'm trying to get in touch with Mr Ellis. ''m trying to get through to the sales department. tohold Could you please hold? I'l try to connect you. to leave a message to put sb through toreach sb on to read sth back to sb to receive a phone call torreturn sb’s call ‘Would you like to leave 2 message for him? Shall | put you through to Mr Seide? ‘You can reach him on his mobile. Let me just read that back to you. I received a phone call from your colleague yesterday. ''m just returning your call from earlier, to spell Could you spell that for me please? to speak up to take a message Sorry, | can't hear you. Can you speak up a bit, please? ''m afraid he’s in a meeting. Can I take a message? British English = American English (also) answerphone answering machine diay planner half (past) two half past two mobile (phone) cell (phone) on extension 439 at extension 439 send us a fax on 897 543, the line is engaged send us a fax at 543 2111 the line is busy