Making an appointment personally
Mr. Simpson: Hello. Is this Mr. Stanley? This is Simpson speaking.
Mr. Stanley: Hello. How are you?
Mr. Simpson: I can’t complain, thank you. And how are you doing, Mr. Stanley?
Mr. Stanley: Very well, thank you.
Mr. Simpson: There is something I’d like to talk to you about. Can we meet early next week?
Mr. Stanley: Sure, with pleasure.
Mr. Simpson: Could you come to my office, say, on Monday or Tuesday morning?
Mr. Stanley: Let me consult my schedule. I guess Tuesday is better for me. What time do you suggest?
Mr. Simpson: What about 10?
Mr. Stanley: Let’s make it 11, if you don’t mind.
Mr. Simpson: Good. See you on Tuesday then.
Being unable to keep an appointment
Peter: Hello. I would like to speak to Mr. Simpson, please.
Mr. Simpson: Speaking. Who is it, please?
Peter: This is Peter, Mr. Stanley’s assistant. Mr. Stanley had to fly to London on urgent business yesterday night. He will not be able to see you personally and so he asked me to get in touch with you instead and settle the matter you discussed.
Mr. Simpson: When is Mr. Stanley going to return?
Peter: The day after tomorrow. He asked me just to hand you some documents concerning your business.
Mr. Simpson: All right. Could you come over to my office not later than tomorrow? I’d like to have a look at them as soon as possible.
Peter: Certainly, sir. I can arrive at your office tomorrow morning.
Mr. Simpson: Please come at 9.00 sharp. Do you know the address?
Peter: Yes, sir.
Mr. Simpson: Okay. I’ll be expecting you. Good-bye.
Rearranging an appointment
Mr. Stanley: Good afternoon. Can I speak to Mr. Simpson?
Mr. Simpson: Speaking. Is that Mr. Stanley?
Mr. Stanley: Yes. I would like to know whether you have received an invitation to our Annual Conference?
Mr. Simpson: Yes, Mr. Stanley, we have received your invitation, thank you. It is about Stockholm business, isn’t it?
Mr. Stanley: Right, also other matters arising.
Mr. Simpson: I am awfully sorry but I can’t attend the Conference because of having another appointment that time. I told Peter to send you a fax-message informing you about that. Could we meet any time before it starts?
Mr. Stanley: Yes, I think so. Let me see… How about October the 10th?
Mr. Simpson: Sounds fine. Will 11.30 at my place suit you?
Mr. Stanley: Let’s make it 9.30. I need some time to fix up the details with the manager after we talk over everything.
Practise reading the dialogues with a partner.
Unit 7.
Ex.1.Discuss these questions with a partner.
1. How often do you send text messages? Who to?
2. How many messages do you usually get a day?
3. Are they easy to read? Why?/Why not?
| Useful tips When we write text messages we usually use a lot of abbreviations. It helps to save our time and makes the messages smaller. Example: u = you |
Ex.2.Match the abbreviations used in text messages to the meanings:
| 1. asap | a. keep in touch |
| 2. atb | b. please |
| 3. bfn | c. anyone |
| 4. cu | d. I love you |
| 5. gr8 | e. as soon as possible |
| 6. hand | f. hugs and kisses |
| 7. iluvu | g. great |
| 8. kit | h. thank you |
| 9. nel | i. see you |
| 10. pls | j. have a nice day |
| 11. thnq | k. all the best |
| 12. xoxoxo | l. bye for now |
Ex.3.Work with a partner and try to work out what these messages mean. Hint: often the vowels are deleted.
wknd ____________________________
2moro ____________________________
b4 ____________________________
h8 ____________________________
ruOK? _____________________________
cul8r _____________________________
Ex.4.Write abbreviations of these phrases. Compare your ideas with a partner.
1. See you after class.
2. What are you doing this weekend?
3. Can I see you tomorrow evening?
4. Great to see you yesterday.
Ex.5.Choose one of these situations. Write down what you want to say in your message. Then write your message using abbreviations.
1. You are at a party and you are having a great time. It’s late and you know your parents are waiting for you at home. You want to stay at the party for another hour. Send a message to your parents.
2. You are shopping with a friend. Your boyfriend/girlfriend is waiting for you in the town centre. You want to do some more shopping and go to your boyfriend’s/girlfriend’s house later. Send him/her a message.
3. You are at home feeling bored. You want to go out somewhere with your friend, but you don’t know if he/she is busy. Send him/her a message.
Swap messages with a partner. Read the message and write a reply.
Unit 8.
REVISION
Ex.1.Below are some phrases used for making a formal telephone call. Put the words in the correct order.
1. calling / for / Thanks
2. I’ll / moment / just / a / put / through / you
3. her / and / to / you / call / message / ask / I’ll / pass / the / on / back
4. please / number / take / your / Can / just / I
5. speak / Susan / to / I’d / like / please / to
6. answer phone / leave / the / you / message / a / Can / on?
7. on / line / other / she’s / the / afraid / I’m
8. available / see / I’ll / if / just / she’s
Ex.2.Complete the following mini-dialogues using one of these words for the first line:
rather information know back moment afraid written speak answer
and one of these verbs for each response:
try put confirm see make be let get need
1. –We need ……. confirmation of your booking.
>OK, I’ll …….. it by fax.
2. – We need to ………. as soon as possible.
> I’ll ……… you know by tomorrow afternoon at the latest.
3. – I’m sorry. She’s not here at the ………
> That’s all right. I’ll ………. again later.
4. – Could you tell him today, please? It’s ……… urgent.
> Don’t worry. I’ll …….. sure he gets the message.
5. – As soon as you have the information, could you get ………. to me?
> Of course. I’ll ……….. back to you later today.
6. – Could I ……….. to Mrs Ferguson?
> Hold the line, please. I’ll ………. if she’s in her office.
7. – I need some ………about flight times.
> Right. I’ll …….you through to the Travel Department.
8. – I’m ……….Jack is in a meeting at the moment.
> Don’t worry. Just tell him I’ll ………in touch when I get back.
9. – When do you think you’ll have an ……….?
> Not before tomorrow. I’ll …….to clear it with my boss.
Practise the conversations with a partner.
Ex.3.Complete the text with the correct form of these expressions:
be engaged hang up call straight back get cut off get through get the wrong number
I’ve had a terrible morning! I’ve been trying to ……. to Mr. Francis for the last hour and a half. First I ……. – an old lady answered the phone and started telling me about her cats!
Then when I did dial the right number it ……… - he seems to spend most of his day on the phone. Finally, after about twenty attempts, his secretary answered the phone. She was just about to put me through, when we …….. – I don’t know what happened. Anyway, I ……… and finally I got to speak him. I was just about to tell him about the meeting when he suddenly told me that he had to speak to somebody urgently on another line. I couldn’t believe it – he just …….on me.
Ex.4.Complete the following dialogues with the words and phrases below:
put you through left a message bear with me line hold the line available hold speaking extension
I. - Hello. Could I speak to Paul Morgan, please?
(a) - ……………
- Sorry, Paul. I didn’t realize it was you.
II. - Good morning. Glaxo and Son Ltd.
- Judith Smart, please.
(b) - ………. , please. I’ll ………….
III. - Good morning, I’d like to speak to the manager, please.
- I’m afraid he isn’t (c)…………………. at the moment. Can anyone else help?
IV. - Good morning, Briggs and Powers.
(d) - …………. 397, please.
- Sorry, there’s no answer. Who did you want to speak to?
- Andrew Brown. He (e) ……………. for me earlier.
- Just (f) ………. for a moment. I’ll see if I can find him for you.
V. - Good morning. Import Export Trading.
- Sylvia Parsons, please.
- I’m sorry, she’s on another (g)….at the moment. Do you want to (h)……?
- No thanks. It’s OK, I’ll call back later.
Ex.5.All the phrases below are from typical telephone calls. Match a line in A with a line in B.
A
1. Hello, this is Chesswood 285120. I’m afraid I’m not at home at the moment, but please leave your name and number after the tone and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
2. I’m afraid Mr. Barret’s in a meeting. Can I take a message?
3. Shall I ask Miss Jackson to give you a call when she gets back?
4. Good morning. Payne and Stracey Advertising.
5. Hello, Mrs. Barret… I’m afraid Mr. Barret’s on another line at the moment. Do you want to hold or…? Oh, he’s free now. I’m putting you through.
6. Hello. Is that Sandra?
B
a. Good morning. Can I have extension 321, please?
b. No, I’m sorry, it isn’t. She’s just gone out. Can I take a message? She’ll be back in a minute.
c. Hi, Annie. This is er… Pete here. Pete Nealy. Er… I need to speak to you about next weekend. Can you give me a ring? Erm… I’m at home, by the way. It’s ten o’clock now and I’ll be here all morning, er… until two o’clock. Yes, thanks. Bye.
d. Thank you very much. Frank? It’s me, Diana.
e. Yes, please. This is Pam Haddon. He rang me earlier and left a message on my answer phone and I’m returning his call. Can you tell him I’m back in my office now?
f. Yes, please. I’m sure she’s got my number but I’ll give it to you again, just in case. It’s 01924561718.
Practise the conversations with a partner.
USEFUL PHRASES
Giving News:
I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news.
I regret to inform you that…
You’ll never guess…
I hate to tell you this, but…
You’re never going to believe this, but…
You can’t imagine what happened then!
I have wonderful news for you.
I’m pleased to inform you that…
There’s a bit of problem.
I don’t like to be the bearer of bad news, but…
Responding to Good News:
You can’t be serious!
Who’d have ever thought!
I can’t believe this!
Wow! That’s fantastic!
Congratulations!
You’re joking!
That’s incredible!
That’s very good news indeed!
Responding to Bad News:
Oh, no! Oh, my. That’s a shame.
That’s terrible / awful / horrible!
Oh, what a pity.
EXTRA PRACTICE
Role cards for telephone conversations:
| Student A1 You are James. You work in a travel agent’s. You are going to phone Alan, who is an old university friend. Alan now runs a small engineering company in the Midlands. He isn’t married. He likes football very much. He supports Sheffield United. You also like football. You support Sunderland. Alan thinks you’re going to meet at the Lotus Garden Restaurant on the fourteenth, so you need to tell him that it has closed. You also need to tell him that you’re going to meet at the Kwai Lam at about 7.15. He’ll probably need to know where this restaurant is. | Student B1 You are Alan and you run a small engineering company in the Midlands. You aren’t married. You are a big football fan. You support Sheffield United, who are doing well at the moment. Your old university friend, James, is going to phone you. James works in a travel agent’s in Sunderland, in the north of England. You haven’t spoken to each other for a while. Remember that you are meeting up with him and Sarah on the fourteenth. You are going to have a meal in the Lotus Garden Restaurant in Durham, where you all went to university about ten years ago. Remember! You answer the phone. Begin by giving your phone number. |
| Student A2 You are a student of English. You are going to stay with a host family, Mr and Mrs Brown, who live in London, for a month while you study at International House. An agency has organized your stay with the Browns. You are going to phone Mr and Mrs Brown to introduce yourself, and to give details of when you’re arriving. Decide how you’re travelling (By plane? By Eurostar?), what day you’re travelling, and what time you expect to arrive. End by saying something like “I’m very excited about coming to London” or “I’m really looking forward to meeting you.” | Student B2 You are Mr or Mrs Brown. You are English, and you live in London. Both Heathrow Airport and Waterloo Station, where the Eurostar train arrives, are pretty close to your house. You are going to be a host family to a foreign student, who is coming to London for a month to study English. He/she is going to phone you to say hello, and to give details of his/her travel arrangements. You could offer to meet him/her. Remember! You answer the phone. Begin by giving your phone number. |
| Student A3 You are going to phone a taxi firm to book a taxi to take you to the airport. Decide where you’re going, on what date, and at what time. Which airport are you going from? Which terminal? What time does the plane leave? What time do you need to check in? How long does it take to get to the airport from your house? Will the traffic hold you up? | Student B3 You work for Tony’s Taxis. Someone is going to ring to book a taxi. You need to get the following information. What day? What time? What’s the address? What’s the name of the person? Where are they going? You will need to decide a time to pick up, as you know what the traffic can be like at different times of day. Remember! You answer the phone. Begin by saying “Tony’s Taxis. (Name) speaking. How can I help you?” |
| Student A4 You want to book two seats to see a film, so you phone the cinema. You want to see Fear of the Dark next Friday, either early in the evening or at about nine o’clock. You need to ask what time the film starts, how much the tickets are, and whether there is a booking fee. Have your credit card details ready. | Student B4 You work for the Odeon Cinema. You take bookings, and give details of when films are showing. Someone is going to phone you, asking for details about the film Fear of the Dark. Decide what time it starts in the evening. Presumably there are at least two showings per evening. How much are the tickets? Is there one price, or several different ones? Is there a booking fee? You need to get the person’s credit card details. Remember! You answer the phone. Begin by saying “Odeon Cinemas. (Name) speaking. How can I help you?” |
| StudentA5 You are going to phone your local hairdresser to make an appointment to have your hair done. You know the person who takes the bookings quite well, so you could have a little chat first. It’s Monday today, so you could ask about the weekend. Or you could chat about the weather, which has changed very suddenly! Your mother has been ill recently, but she’s getting better now. Decide when you want an appointment for, what day and what time. What do you want to have done to your hair? | Student B5 You work for Jason’s Salon. You take bookings over the phone. Someone is going to ring who you know quite well, so before you get details of the booking you could have a little chat first. It’s Monday morning, so you could ask about the weekend that’s just gone by. You could ask the person about his/her mother, who has been ill recently. Finally, get details of the booking. What day? What time? Would the person like any particular hairdresser? Remember! You answer the phone. Begin by saying “Jason’s Hair Salon. (Name) speaking. How can I help you?” |
SUPPLEMENTARY READING
Telephone courtesy test
(after E.Post)
If it interests you to know how good or otherwise telephone manners may be, the number of times you can answer “Yes” to the following sixteen questions will give you your rating.
- Do you make sure of the correct number so as not to risk disturbing strangers by “calling from memory”?
- Do you make conversations with busy people as brief as possible?
- When calling intimate friends who do not recognize your voice do you resist playing a game of “Guess who?” and announce yourself promptly?
- Do you try to time your calls so as not to interfere with the occupations of those you call most often?
- If you call a young mother often, do you take note of her children’s meal and bath time so as to avoid these hours?
- If you want to have a conversation of any length, do you ask whether the other person is free to listen or whether to call back at another time?
- Do you treat wrong-number calls as a mutual inconvenience and answer, “Sorry, wrong number”, in a tone of polite sympathy instead of showing ill-tempered annoyance?
- On a dial telephone, do you always wait for dial tone?
- If you are either a fond parent or doting grandparent, do you realize that the charming prattle of your little ones who rush so happily to answer the telephone can be irritating at times rather than delighting to a caller – especially one calling from a great distance?
- When you call a long-distance number from the house of a friend, do you always ask the toll operator for the charge and leave the correct amount?
- When you hear an unexpected voice, do you at once ask, “Is this Broad 1234?” instead of asking, “What number is this?”
- When unable to stop what you are doing, do you explain and offer to call back in so many minutes, rather than say, “I’ll be back in a second”, and then keep your caller holding the wire much longer than you realize?
- In reverse of this, do you explain to one calling you that you have a visitor and will call back at a later time and not let the visitor sit listening to your half of what to her must be an unintelligible and boring conversation that runs on and on?
- When the number you are calling is not answered quickly, do you wait long enough for someone to lay aside what she may be doing so that when she reaches the telephone she will not have been disturbed just to answer the telephone you have already hung up?
- Do you, when making a number of calls on a party line, space them so that others on the line may have a chance to use their telephones?
- In a general office, do you explain to personal friends inclined to talk at length that you will call them after hours?
Inventing the Telephone
“I succeeded in inventing an apparatus that enabled me to convert audible sounds into visible signs, and with which sounds of every sort may be reproduced by the galvanic current at any distance. I called it the “Telephone”.
The man who wrote these lines in 1860 was a poor young physics teacher at private school in Germany. Philip Reis had a little workshop in the schoolyard where he spent every free minute working on all kinds of models and devising experiments for the schoolboys. The mechanism of hearing and speaking interested him specially. He made a model of human ear, for he recognized that the step towards his goal – the transmission of sounds by electricity – was a thorough study of the working on that organ. His wooden ear was like a human one, but in place of nerves he used electric wires. When he connected two such ears by wire, with a battery in between, he could hear faintly in one of them what was spoken into the other.
In October 1861 he gave a lecture and demonstration before the audience of scientists in Frankfurt. His subject was: “Telephony by means of galvanic current”. In his lecture he said: “Every sound and every combination of sounds produced in our ear vibrations of the membrane, which can be represented by a graph. It is these vibrations which produce in our brains the impression of the sounds of which they are composed. If we can reproduce these vibrations artificially we will hear them just as though they were natural sounds. This is what I attempted in my apparatus”.
Mobile Phones: In or Out?
Read the text and think of a word which best fits each space. There is an example (0) at the beginning.
A girl (0) aged twelve, is (1) ________________ just outside her school,
(2) __________________ her lunch with her mobile phone close to her ear. “Tina, Tina, are you there? Hi, what are you doing tonight?” The scene is repeated all over the playground.
Last Christmas more than three million mobile phones were (3) ______________ mostly to adults. However, it (4) ________________ believed that many of these were presents for children, and it is children who are the fastest growing owners of mobiles.
In some schools in Newcastle mobile phones aren’t (5) ________________ , but many schools have no clear rules about their use. Fourteen and fifteen-year-olds are the worst.
According (6) _______________ one fifteen-year-old user, Sally Herbert, it is only a matter of time before all schools forbid the use of the phones. “I
(7) _______________ had my phone for almost a year now, but these days I hardly (8) _______________ use it. It’s not really fashionable any more, everyone’s got one. Besides, although some teachers don’t (9)________________ , most of them get very angry if it rings in class. The main reason I use it is to phone my mum and for safety reasons.
Schools will certainly have to decide on a policy soon. Meanwhile as I look around, all I see are young people (10) ______________ to their friends on the phone!
Mystery Caller
Donate a Phone
Verizon Wireless
CSR: Thank you for calling Verizon Wireless. May I have your name please?
WR: Name given.
CSR: Hello (Name), would you verify your mobile number for me?
WR: Number given.
CSR: Thank you. How can I help you today?
WR: I have four old phones at home. My resolution for 2002 is to clean up lose ends and this is one of them. I recall reading about carries taking donated phones and supplying them to certain charities. Can you tell me which charities those are where I can take these phones?
CSR: Let me see what I can find out. Can you hold please?
Hold time: 5 minutes.
CSR: Hello. Yes, you can contact your police department and they can give you a list. Or the battered women’s shelter. You can donate them there also.
WR: OK. But I can’t bring them in to you?
CSR: No, uh-uh. You contact them.
WR: Yes, but I thought the carrier would be the one who would recondition them before sending them out to any organization. So do the organizations have to do that?
CSR: I believe they contact us or contact someone who takes care of that for them. No, we don’t take them back. We suggest that you just donate them. The women’s battered shelter is one of them I know of. Someone just told me that the police department could give you a lot of information too.
WR: Thank you.
CSR: Anything else I can help you with today.
WR: I don’t think so.
CSR: Thank you for calling Verizon Wireless. We appreciate your business.
Qwest Wireless
CSR: Thank you for calling Qwest Wireless. This is (name). May I start by verifying your wireless phone number as well as your name.
WR: Both provided.
CSR: Just give me a moment, and I will open your account.
WR: I have five old phones because I have changed carriers and phones over the last 10 years. Don’t you have a program where I can donate the phones so they can be used for needy organizations?
CSR: Sure. OK. If I understand correctly, you basically want to donate your old phones and you want to know how to do it.
WR: Right.
CSR: Yes, I can definitely help you with that. What we basically suggest is if you want to take it down, a lot of women’s shelters will accept phones, and I’m pretty sure they are the only ones… that I know of anyway that are accepting phones right now. What they do, because wireless phones can be used for 911, all the time, they give it to people and they can use 911 on it.
WR: Now, the last two phones were last used with my current cell phone number. Do I have to worry about those calls being billed to my current phone and account?
CSR: No. No. Once you cancel your service, the phone is only usable for 911. Each phone has a number that is recognized though the market and the system just takes that number and deactivates that one.
Don’t, whatever you do, touch that dial
Annie Turner reports on the cost discrepancies between mobile phone networks
We all know that calling a mobile is more expensive than phoning a fixed-line destination. This is small beer, however, compared with the cost of calling a mobile from a mobile. The real problem is that it’s almost impossible to work out what you will be charged.
Finding out which blocks of numbers mobile numbers have been allocated to which mobile network operator or service provider is in itself a struggle. Even if you are armed with that hard-won research, and you have found out what it costs to phone an Orange number from a Vodafone phone, for example you will still not know what tariff you will be charged.
If customers decide to move from one service provider to another, the law says that they can keep their original number. This system is known as number portability and that number is then described “ported”.
If you then call that ported mobile number from an ordinary phone line, you will still be charged the rate set by the original service provider to which that mobile number was allocated. Yet if you were to call a ported mobile number from a mobile network, you would be charged the rate for calling the new mobile network.
Maev Sullivan, an independent, London-based telecoms consultant, who is campaigning on this issue, explains: “If I call a BT Cellnet number at the weekend from my BT line and the customer has ported that BT Cellnet number to Vodafone, I will continue to pay the nice cheap rate for calling BT Cellnet off-peak”.
“On the other hand, if I call a BT Cellnet number that has been ported to Vodafone from my BT Cellnet phone, I will be charged the price of calling the Vodafone network – which is probably 50p per minute, against 10ppm.” A spokesperson from Vodafone explains this apparent anomaly: “It costs more because it costs the operators more. When a call is carried on to a mobile network from the fixed network, it doesn’t make any difference to the fixed operator whoch mobile service provider it hands the call on to. On the other hand, when someone calls a ported number, the original service provider has to pay an interconnect fee to transfer the mobile call on to the new service provider’s network”.
Ms Sullivan says: “I have no problem with the fact that it costs the operator more so the charge is higher. The trouble is that there is zero indication from any of the mobile operators that the number dialed is ported and so the call will cost them more. Customers are in a complete fog”.
The issue is addressed in Oftel’s consultation document regarding competition in the mobile sector, but Ms Sullivan feels it is unlikely that any action will come of it. She points out that the mobile industry successfully lobbied the European Commission to leave the industry to regulate itself through fierce competition. “If the mobiles want to win the battle against intrusive regulation then they should behave more responsibly,” she says.
The European parliamentarian, Wim van Velzen, is tabling an amendment to a forthcoming directive governing mobile operators. It would oblige mobile service providers to display on callers handsets the amount they are being charged for making international calls, while each call is in progress. His success, however, is by no means assured.
In the meantime, Ms Sullivan says: “In the UK, Orange and One 2 One are not as bad as Vodafone and BT Cellnet, whose standard charges for calling another mobile network in the UK are 50 pence per minute during peak hours and 30ppm off-peak. I would like to get a mobile phone like the ones available in Italy, Portugal and Iceland that take two SIM cards, which means you can choose which network you want to use for each call. Then I could get an Orange voucher foe £50 which allows me to call other Orange number for around 5 to 10ppm and continue with my current operator for other calls. I cannot face the grief involved in porting my number elsewhere… and I also think it is unfair on people calling to have to pay more without even knowing”.
These hidden charges have serious implications for companies with corporate mobile accounts. Cable & Wireless was available to comment, but it would be interesting to know how much it will cost them for calling ported numbers all the time, especially as at least a third of all calls will typically be between Cable & Wireless employees.
The only way of avoiding that would be to make every UK Cable & Wireless employee change their mobile number, another painful option.