how to answer the phone

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Forum -> Relationships -> Manners & Etiquette

How to answer the phone

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amother

Mon, Jan 22 2007, 9:49 am

Here's my situation: My fil is a rov and ppl. call him all the time with questions. My husband is a teacher and parents call him at home. Now many times they call and ask: Is Rabbi ______ there? Now, if I know it's a parent from his class, I say, yes or no... But if it's someone who I don't recognize on CID, I usually ask: "are you looking for the rov?" because many times they are, and they look it up in the phone book, and just call the first person with that lastname, so many times they get the wrong number. but if they ARE looking for my dh, then it sounds weird when I ask if they're looking for the rov. The reason I do, is b/c sometimes it's an important question for the rov that needs an immediate answer, so why should I make them wait til my dh comes home, only for him to call them back and tell them it's the wrong number. So...How should I answer the phone when I don't recognize the caller?

su7kids

Mon, Jan 22 2007, 9:53 am

Would your dh be answering private questions where the caller wouldn't want to identify themselves?

You could say "Who is calling?" or, "What is this in connection with?" and they can say its private or they can say its about his American Express card which they have a special offer for him, or they could say, its about my child at school, or I have a shayla. That would give yo ua clue.

You may find one or two who would be offended - as if yu're prying -, but its better to do that, than have an urgent question wait.

JMHO

DefyGravity

Mon, Jan 22 2007, 9:55 am

I think it's polite to ask, "Who would you like to speak to?"

It's definitely not rude to ask them to clarify.

When I don't recognize a phone number and suspect it might be a solicitor, I ask who's calling and what it's regarding.

Nowadays, with all the solicitors, people understand the need to screen calls.

amother

Mon, Jan 22 2007, 11:00 am

Quote:

I think it's polite to ask, "Who would you like to speak to?"

I dont think that would help cause they would answer "Rabbi so-and-so" and thats the OP problem, shes not sure if they're looking for her husband or FIL. Maybe you could ask "are you looking for Rabbi Moshe (dh) so-and-so?"

Very Happy

This reminds me, after I got married, I once got a call "Is the rav there?" thinking it was one of dh's friends teasing him, I answered 'no, hes not home'. Well, a while later we found out that our number had previously belonged to a certain rav, and we kept on getting calls for "the rav" and some even asked if we knew the new number!

Imhappy!

Mon, Jan 22 2007, 11:29 am

If your husband is home let him handle the calls if he is not jsut reply no "chaim" is not home yet...

or you can say maybe your are looking for my father inlaw reb"shlomo"?

greenfire

Mon, Jan 22 2007, 11:41 am

If your husband is not home anyway - why answer at all - make a recording and be specific: "if you are trying to reach (your husbands name) please leave a message - however if you dialed - looking for (your father in law) please call his #______. Thank you"

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