When you become a member of society, answering the phone is almost always a part of any job.

Telephone work is said to be the basis of business, but in fact, there are surprisingly many people who feel that they are not good at answering telephone calls and that they are in pain, and some of them even think about quitting their jobs or changing jobs. .

In this article, if you find it difficult to answer the phone at work, we’ll show you how to overcome the pain.

Reasons why answering the phone is painful

The reason why answering phone calls at work can be painful, even though you can talk to your friends fine, may be because you are expected to be considerate and have a high level of response quality that you don’t have in your private life.

Tired of caring too much

Even in the case of only routine correspondence such as answering the phone, if the other party is in a higher position such as a business partner or a manager, you may be nervous and unable to speak well.

However, if you become overly cautious and can’t ask what you need to say, or if you get nervous and make mistakes, you may be overly cautious.

Lack of confidence in honorifics and manners

If you use the wrong honorifics or behave in a way that is against business etiquette, you will be worried that the other person will be offended.

Furthermore, if someone at work asks you about it, you will be depressed that you may be warned later.

In fact, if it’s just a lack of language or manners, it’s unlikely that it will develop into a serious problem.

It’s important not to worry too much about it and to be able to make use of it next time .

I made a mistake on my phone

If you are not used to operating a business phone, you will often get confused.

Change your mind that what has happened can not be helped, and check the operation so that you do not repeat the same mistake.

If you call again and have a chance to talk to the other party, apologize by saying, “I’m sorry that the call was cut off earlier . ”

received a complaint

It’s not uncommon for complaints to be traumatic and scary to call.

No matter how severe the complaint is, it does not mean that you are denied yourself.

Once you’re done with the phone call, take a break and don’t drag it down.

too many calls

Too many phone calls can make you physically and mentally exhausted in situations such as “I can spend the whole day just answering phone calls” or “I can’t get my work done because it takes too much time.”

If there is a problem with your work due to answering the phone, there may be a problem with the personnel system or the environment for receiving power.

How to overcome the pain of answering the phone

If you have to deal with it properly, but the stress of not doing well accumulates, the phone itself becomes painful.

You don’t have to aim for perfection, so let’s try to do it carefully one by one.

When in trouble, it is also effective to talk to someone instead of holding it all by yourself.

take the weight off your shoulders

You can’t see the other person’s face on the phone, but you don’t have to be afraid.

It is important to be honest and sincere when answering the phone. You don’t have to worry too much about poor honorifics or broken conversations.

If you’re a perfectionist or get nervous easily, take a moment to relax and take the call.

Learn response procedures and manners

If you don’t understand how to speak on the phone, or if you’re not sure how to respond, try learning phone-handling procedures and business etiquette.

Most company phone calls follow a similar pattern.

Once you have learned how to respond and how to say things properly, you will be able to respond with a sense of leeway.

make a habit of taking notes

When answering the phone, you may forget what you heard at the beginning.

In addition, it is difficult to remember the company name and name of the other party perfectly in one time, but it is always necessary information when answering the phone or leaving a message.

When answering the phone, keep a notebook handy and note down important points as you listen, so you don’t have to ask the same thing over and over again.

Talk to your boss or co-workers about problems

If you have a lot of phone calls and can’t get your work done, or if you have trouble dealing with complaints, talk to your boss.

In the first place, if there is not enough manpower to answer the phone, it is necessary to supplement .

In the event of a malicious complaint, the company must consider countermeasures. In an organization, you don’t have to keep everything to yourself.

Remember that there are things that can be solved by talking to people close to you.

How to avoid answering the phone

It’s hard to answer the phone, painful… I think there are some people who don’t want to answer the phone if possible.

Phone support is an unavoidable part of any business, regardless of the industry, but that doesn’t mean there’s no way to avoid answering the phone.

Here are some ways to avoid having to answer the phone at work.

Use a telephone answering service

A telephone answering service is a service in which operators answer telephone calls on behalf of company employees. In many cases, the call will be transferred to the agency’s office for an operator to handle.

We will send you a message by e-mail, etc., so if you need to respond, we will return it from here.

Using this service eliminates the need for employees to handle phone calls, nuisance calls, and sales calls.

This is an effective service when you have a lot of calls and your work is hindered by intermediaries .

Install an IVR (Interactive Telephone Answerer)

An IVR is a system that answers calls with an automated voice.

When a call comes in, an automatic guidance is played first, and when the customer presses the number according to the instructions of the guidance, the phone is connected to the department in charge.

Only calls that have been sorted by automatic voice in advance will ring, so there is no need to take calls to other departments or misguided calls.

Also, if the content of the phone call is only a simple inquiry, it will be possible to complete the response with an answer from an automated voice.

switch to a job that does not answer the phone

If answering the phone is painful, there is also a way to change jobs to a job that does not answer the phone.

It is difficult to avoid answering the phone in an environment where each person has a phone at their desk, such as an office, but in workplaces such as factories and shops where there is no phone nearby, the chances of answering the phone will decrease.

Also, even with desk work, there are occupations such as “data entry” that have relatively little telephone support.

Recently, job postings may state that they do not answer phone calls.

It is also a good idea to narrow down the conditions and search on job change sites.

AI responds to company phones! What is “Canario”?

A recommended way to eliminate the need for employees to answer the company’s phone is the telephone response service “Canario” provided by NEC Networks & System Integration Corporation.

“Canario” uses AI (artificial intelligence) to handle the company’s primary phone calls, listens to the voice of the other party, and forwards the call to the named person in charge, so there is no need for an employee to relay the call.

Messages when you are away are converted to text by AI’s voice recognition. You can rest assured that your message will be transcribed without missing anything.

Article Summary

Answering the phone is a necessary skill for business, but many people find it difficult.

In particular, serious people and sensitive people tend to stumble when answering the phone.

There is a set pattern for company phone calls, and if you learn procedures and manners and gain experience, you will naturally be able to respond well, so you don’t have to worry too much.

Currently, services that answer phone calls on behalf of employees are also developing. There are also successful examples of reducing costs and improving operational efficiency by eliminating the need for intermediary calls.