Tourism

Home > Tourism > Tourism - Sales/Office operations (120 hours) > Core > Communicate on the telephone > Communicate on the Telephone

Key terms and concepts

Term	Definition
Active listening	Active listening requires giving a caller your full attention, getting rid of any potential distractions, listening carefully, taking notes, asking only appropriate questions and paraphrasing or reading back what the caller has told you to confirm your understanding.
Answering machine	A device that records voice messages when the receiver is not available to take the call.
Articulation	Speaking clearly (with appropriate tone, volume, clarity and pitch).
Call meter	A device that can record: the amount of time spent on each call the number of calls numbers called.
Call waiting	A signal (a beep or flashing light) that alerts the receiver to another call coming in.
Closed questions	Questions that require either a one word answer or a very short answer.
Communication	The exchange of words between two or more people on the telephone.
Conference call	A call that connects four or more callers to the one telephone connection. Note: three people can connect themselves using Telstra’s three-way chat facility.
Directory assistance	Telephone number assistance given over the telephone by a telephone service provider. Telstra is probably the largest provider of directory assistance. It can be used by dialling 1223. Sensis also provides a directory assistance service by dialling 1234. For an extra fee these services also connect you directly to the phone number you sought.
Enterprise policies and procedures	The policies and procedures (rules and regulations) that the enterprise has in place for employees to follow.
External calls	Calls coming from outside the organisation.
Extensions	The numbers given to additional telephone lines in an organisation. A main phone number, eg 5555 0000 could have many other extension numbers such as ext 0001, ext 0002 etc). Usually only the last four or five digits of the main number change for each extra extension. Sometimes it is possible for external callers to dial an extension directly, eg 5555 0001. In other instances they need to go through a switchboard.
Internal calls	Calls coming from within the organisation. To ring internally only the extension number is dialled. These calls are free.
International calls	Calls coming from or made to other countries.
Making telephone calls	Using the telephone to communicate with internal and external clients.
Message taking	Taking a written message for another employee.
Mute	A feature on a business telephone system that allows the receiver to hear the caller whilst the caller cannot hear them. This button is often used when you don’t want the caller to hear what you are asking or saying to somebody else in the office.
Operator-connected calls	Calls connected with the assistance of a telephone operator, eg reverse charge calls require a telephone operator to connect the call if the receiver agrees to accept the charges.
Open questions	Questions that require a long or detailed answer.
Paging	Paging is an internal call. It is a feature on business telephone systems that allows one extension number to page another extension number. A special ring tone different to a normal ring tone alerts the receiver when they are being paged.
Placing calls on hold	A feature on business telephone systems that allows callers to be placed on hold while waiting. Most systems play either recorded music or the radio to callers whilst they are waiting.
Recall	Recalling a number that was previously dialled.
Receiving telephone calls	Answering telephone calls from internal and external clients on behalf of the enterprise.
Redial	Redialling a number that was previously dialled. Many telephones have a button which will do this automatically.
Referrals	Where a caller has been referred to call your organisation or you refer a caller to call another organisation that may be able to assist them.
Reflective questions	Questions that require an answer that considers other things before they can answer, eg consider past experiences or other people.
Switchboards	Often referred to as ‘the switch’ and operated by a receptionist. The switch is where all calls come to first before they are transferred to the required extension.
Telephone commands	These are the function of a business telephone system such as hold, speakerphone, transfer calls, redial etc.
Teleconferencing	Meetings conducted between people in different locations using an audio (and sometimes video) telecommunication system.
Telephone equipment	Equipment used for telephone communication, for example telephone systems such as the Telstra Commander System, headsets, answering machines etc.
Telephone etiquette	Do’s and don’t s on the telephone, eg using the appropriate greeting, speaking clearly, listening carefully, not holding the mouthpiece under your chin and not eating/drinking while talking on the telephone.
Telephone greeting	The organisation’s standard greeting to be used when answering the telephone, eg “Good afternoon, XYZ Events. This is ………speaking.”
Telephone line/s	Each telephone number requires a separate telephone line made individual by its number. Most organisations require multiple telephone lines called Extensions.
Telephone list	An easy reference guide of commonly used telephone numbers. Most organisations will have an internal telephone list that details all the extension numbers and which person/department they belong to.
Telephone system	A system that allows organisations to have additional telephone extension lines, transfer, hold and paging among other facilities. The Telstra Commander system is a popular type of telephone system.
Transferring calls	Transferring a call from either the switchboard to an extension or from one extension to another.
Voicemail	A feature of telephone systems that allows callers to leave a verbal message for the receiver when the call was not answered.
White pages	A handy directory provided by Telstra for residential (home) phone numbers. This directory is provided in a book or over the Internet at www.whitepages.com.au .
Yellow pages	A handy directory provided by Telstra for business phone numbers. This directory is provided in a book or over the Internet at www.yellowpages.com.au.

Back to Communicate on the telephone