Phone Calls in English

Taking and leaving messages (S. 28)

When people are not available a message can still inform the other party. This does not only apply to your own phone, but also when answering someone else’s phone. Therefore, don’t forget to offer to take a message.

Checklist: leaving messages
Good messages include information such as:

1 The date and time of the call
2 The name of the caller and/or company
3 Contact data of the person (if necessary) and what time they can be best reached by phone
4 The details of the call: question, problem, solution, pro posal, followup, etc.
5 An indication which next steps you expect

Taking messages
Would you like to leave a message? / You can leave a message if you want. / May I take a message?

Can I get him to call you back?

May I take your name and number?

No problem. I’ll find a notepad. Hold on please. / Could you wait a minute?

Let me just get a pen. Right, what’s the message?

Right, Kerstin, I’ll make sure that he gets the message.

Alright. I’ll leave that on his desk. / Fine, I’ll see that he gets that.

Asking to leave a message
I’d rather leave a message.

Could I leave a message for Mr Ferdinand Ilahi please?

Could you ask him to call me back? My number’s 012 3456789.

Could you tell her that I will call back later, please?

Could you please tell him Dr Schroeder called?

Leaving specific messages
Can she call me as soon as she gets in?

Could you ask him to phone me on Tuesday afternoon? Yes, tell Romeo that Julia would like him to email the confirmation before 5 o’clock tomorrow.

Could he email his report to me by Monday, please?

I need her to phone me as soon as possible. My name’s Kopfkaas, that’s KOPFKdouble A for AmsterdamS.

Vocabulary: by Monday: spätestens bis Montag

Responding to messages

Thanks for your message about the postponement.

Thanks for phoning back / calling me back, Peter.

I’m just returning your call.

I’ve just got your SMS / email and I …

Appointments
The essence of making appointments is of course finding a convenient date and time for a meeting. Besides arranging the right moment, it might be practical to think about a realistic time period for the meeting in advance. The follow ing example phrases can be used when making appoint ments.

Examples
A: Hello Jochen, Klaus here. I’m calling about arranging a meet ing with Moritz. Can you make Thursday after lunch, at three thirty?

B: Yes, that’s fine.

A: Shall we meet in our office?

B: Yes, that seems a good idea.