10 basic tips on phone use

Today we are busier than ever. Our systems need to work with us to make the most of our time. Telephone and Voicemail usage has increased and being able to effectively manage the tools is what this list is about for making best use of the greatest of business tools.

  1. Keep Contact Information In One Spot. Keep stationery and correspondence in one place, and write new numbers you receive in your address book or type into your contact database. Multiple systems — such as an address book, Outlook and a Rolodex only add to the confusion. Take the system that you like the most and consolidate so that you don’t have to search! We suggest using your smart phone and syncing it at least weekly.
  2. Placement of Your Phone is Important. If you are right-handed, put your phone on the left side of the desk — so you can hold the phone and take notes at the same time. Vis versa for left-handed individuals.
  3. Try to answer the phone as often as possible. It is okay to let a call go to voice mail if you are working and don’t want to be interrupted. The best strategy is to turn the ringer off. If you would like, you could leave a message telling the caller that you are in meetings, but will be available after X time or to email you etc. However, you must check your voice mail and return relevant calls.
  4. Ask People to Repeat Your Message. When leaving messages with a human being, ask that person to repeat your message back to you to make sure they got it right.
  5. Respect Other People’s Time. Ensure you have all of the information you need and questions you want to ask prior to making your phone call.
  6. Learn to Use All of Your Phone Functionality.Most phones now come with multiple functions such as call forwarding, do not disturb, and conferencing. Know how to use all of the functions so that you can be as effective as possible at work.
  7. Time Enhancers – Multi-task on the Phone. If your time is scarce, use it efficiently. Make a list of mindless chores and do them while you are talking on the phone. Smart phones are the best for this type of work, but there are things you can do from your chair as well. Some examples include, sorting paper, checking your call objectives, checking a client website of having a quick drink to clear the vocal cords.
  8. Get organised – Try and be consistent in how you store information to make retrieval easy. Use “to do” sections in Smart phones and diary options as reminders.
  9. Choosing the Proper Supplies Will Make Your Office Run Smoothly. Telephone Headset or Speaker Phone – When you’re talking on the phone, it is essential to have your hands free to take notes. Today headsets are getting smaller and smaller and with fantastic quality.
  10. Training – well we would say that but effective use of the phone is not an inbred skill and just like  driving a car the skill needs to be learnt.

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