How to Properly Answer the phone

I never admit to it being me on the phone when someone asks to speak with me until they tell me who they are and where they are calling from.  If they try to bluff and just give me a first name, I tell them "I'm sorry, she can't come to the phone right now", but if its' someone I need to talk to I'll respond with "this is she". I'm sneaky like that.

I called Tim's parent's house the other day and his dad answered. I told him it was me and he said "who?"  I had to tell him it was "Tim's girlfriend" before he realized who I was...then he apologized and told me he wasn't used to hearing an American accent over the phone!

DH| answers as "heeeellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll o?" 

@Anna, hilarious!  I know DH's granddad is the same with me.

I'm living in my (late) parents' house still with the old phone number and never bothered to change it from my father's name to mine.  So I still get phone calls for them (and mail) which I know are people trying to sell something.  I just say they're not there can I take a message. (And they never want to leave a message) Tempted to say they've moved and give out the number for the cemetary 
[Well, it is Halloween...]

hiya All!

Some advice for you all -

If you are prone to getting several/many marketing calls per day then do what I did a couple of years ago.

Every time ACME & Co call say the following

I'm not interested in anything your company has to sell, what I'd like you to do is remove my details from your database so that you never call me again, this is a request adhering to the law within the UK, I've made a note of your company, and should I recieve another marketing call from you I shall be speaking to my solicitor and you're company will be dealt with according to the law - do you understand?'

I did that with all the ones we used to get during the day - and now, it's great! silence during the day and evening when they try and be sneaky and call then!

I do remember reading somewhere that once you ask them to remove your details they have to do that by law, this was a couple of years ago. What I do now is listen to see who's calling - sometimes it is BT or Sky or whoever that's legitimate - so I dont mind those.

Also register here http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/

- As an aside - I used to at university and just for 2 weeks call people up in the evenings selling..    double glazing ! hahahaa!! and I've been there, the call would connect and i'd take a breath to start the speil and it'd be 'F*ck OFF*..  click !  used to make me laugh !! I was bad though, i'd call em right back sometimes then when they were 'trying' to be nice saying 'hello' I'd say so you've got double glazing then? and quickly press the phone button to click off before they could pop a blood vessel !  - this was of course way back in the early 90's before any legal governance was in place!

Hope the above helps!

Cheers! DtM! West London & Slough UK!

I'm living in my (late) parents' house still with the old phone number and never bothered to change it from my father's name to mine.  So I still get phone calls for them (and mail) which I know are people trying to sell something.  I just say they're not there can I take a message. (And they never want to leave a message) Tempted to say they've moved and give out the number for the cemetary 
[Well, it is Halloween...]

We used to get phone calls for the old ladies who lived in our house before us-all from really agressive charities that they must have given to and eventually I did just tell them that they were all dead, they were not coming back and I had no forwarding address for them.  And that actually stopped ALL the calls.  I wished that I had said something ages before.

I never admit to it being me on the phone when someone asks to speak with me until they tell me who they are and where they are calling from. 

I have clients like that - but we are not legally permitted (due to Data Protection laws) to say who/what we are unless the client identifies himself/herself on the phone.  It gets really frustrating because they initiated contact with our service for help in the first place (a confidential service), we are only trying to help them as per their request, and then they end up doing something like that - which only means the help we are providing is further delayed.  Then they ring us upset, wondering why no one has contacted them.   

Every Brit I've ever called says "hello". But not as questioning as Americans do.. We say "hello?" like we are very curious to see who could be calling us

And then those darn Brits say "you alright?" instead of "how are you", which years later still throws me off.  "yes, of course I'm alright.. did something bad happen that should make me not alright??". 

DH| answers as "heeeellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll o?" 

That's how my boyfriend answers the phone unless he's at his parents', then he answers with the phone number.

I have clients like that - but we are not legally permitted (due to Data Protection laws) to say who/what we are unless the client identifies himself/herself on the phone.  It gets really frustrating because they initiated contact with our service for help in the first place (a confidential service), we are only trying to help them as per their request, and then they end up doing something like that - which only means the help we are providing is further delayed.  Then they ring us upset, wondering why no one has contacted them.   

this right here is part of my main gripe.  You can't say why you're calling until they pass partial security due to data protection, but they won't give the partial security until you tell them why you're calling.  It's soooooo frustrating.

One little thing you might like to try if you use an answering machine to take messages when out or to screen callers when you're in is to record the SIT sequence at the very start of your outgoing message.   These are the three ascending tones you hear before the recording when calling a number which is not in service (quick way to get them from a regular BT line is to pick up and dial 111). 

Some of the automated dialing systems are programmed to look for the tones so that they can mark disconnected numbers for removal from their database.  It's not guaranteed to work for all, but it might get your number removed from some.  Of course, the tones can confuse legitimate callers, so you might want to let friends and family know first and/or make sure you get your outgoing message immediately following the last tone so that genuine callers don't just hear the tones and hang up too soon.

Navie/Mrs. Robinson. If this isn't done already, is it possible to let people know when they leave a message that they will be expected to identify themselves when someone calls back? This way they might make more of an effort to be the first one in their home to pick up the phone when it rings.

Also, how does the message-leaving process work? Do they always have the opportunity to speak to a person and briefly explain their situation and the times they are available for a callback?  People often don't like to leave details on voicemail, particulary about something that is sensitive/personal.

It's also possible that people are refusing to identify themselves because they think that it's you but they've had a change of heart and are avoiding you.

Mrs. Robinson. If this isn't done already, is it possible to let people know when they leave a message that they will be expected to identify themselves when someone calls back?

Whenever I do end up speaking with them, the confidentiality procedure is reviewed as/when necessary.  Sometimes I think they take this in, but not always.  But TBH, for what I specifically do - my clients are probably getting lots of seriously unwanted phone calls as well, so I understand their reluctance to take any calls.  However, the difference (in general) between my organisation and the other people who are calling them will be that we are respectful, ask the person if it's a good time to speak - i.e., being kind & considerate (helping) vs being aggressive (bill collectors).

Also, how does the message-leaving process work? Do they always have the opportunity to speak to a person and briefly explain their situation and the times they are available for a callback? 

There isn't a message leaving process.  If they get through on the line, they will end up speaking with a person.  The only hitch being - once they've gone through the process where they would be dealing with my team - we are a very small team (limited resources).  So if we are all engaged - they might eventually get a message to try back later, or more often - they would speak to a person who is in a junior role to mine, with that person actually taking a message off them (not leaving a message on a machine).  We also communicate a lot via e-mail and post, exhausting every possible avenue of getting in touch with a person who has contacted us.

It's also possible that people are refusing to identify themselves because they think that it's you but they've had a change of heart and are avoiding you.

Possibly, but they really just need to tell us that, and we will immediately cease all contact.  Again, I work in a fairly specialised niche job - we are not there to sell anything or pressure anyone to do anything at all.  (More often they end up pressuring us (lol!) to provide a particular service to them, when it's not an appropriate or suitable option for their circumstances.)

One disconcerting problem with the answer phone system is that callers will leave messages after misdialling.  Our outgoing message clearly gives our phone number but on several occasions I get messages left for complete strangers.  So either they are messing up when they give out their number or the caller has messed up the dialling and not listened to our message.
Several times it has been from doctor's offices wanting to change appointments and I usually do ring them back on the number they left so they can try again.

One disconcerting problem with the answer phone system is that callers will leave messages after misdialling.  Our outgoing message clearly gives our phone number but on several occasions I get messages left for complete strangers.

That problem gets worse when people use answering machines the with supplied generic messages which don't identify the called party in any way, and especially so with the BT Answer 1571 service, since so many people now have it with the non-custom BT greeting. 

Discover is particularly harrassing about this. And will call each and every day, several times a day. They once even cancelled our cards (they were at $0 balance) and mailed us new cards with the same account number to get us to have to call to activate them, so they could pitch a BT offer. They admitted that was why!

wow. Id call them one more time....to inform them you were cancelling your cards, were switching companies, and to speak to a supervisor to complain and inform them, that they lost a customer due to devious sales tactics.
and that they should be ashamed of themselves!