May I ask who is calling?

In My Humble Opinion
1

What is with people who can’t comprehend the significance of this question? I work in an office, and if I had a nickel for every time I’ve answered the phone and had the following exchange…

“Mr. [Smith]'s office.”

“Hi, is Mr. [Smith] there?”

“May I ask who is calling, please?”

“My name is John.”

:smack: Just so everyone knows, when someone asks you who’s calling, they’re not so much interested in your first name, but rather WHY you are calling. It’s not polite to say “Why are you calling?”, so the established convention is to say “May I ask who is calling?” That’s your cue to tell me not only WHO you are, but WHY my boss might want to take your call. “My name is John” gives me absolutely no useful information. If my boss wanted to just take calls from total strangers all day, he wouldn’t even NEED anyone to answer the phone for him. [I’m of course talking about people who have no previous relationship with Mr. Smith - If he has a friend or client named John, that’s another matter of course.]

If you say, “My name is John”, here is what will happen: I will say, “One moment, please”, then I will put you on hold, and ask my boss if he’s expecting a call from someone named John. My boss will say, “No, take a message”. You might have gotten to talk to him had you actually given me some useful information as to why you called, but this way you get nothing. [By the way, this is a trick that salesmen often use to try to get past the call-screener; they purposely neglect to mention the name of their company because they know that people don’t want to talk to salesmen. So if you don’t say why you’re calling, you’re severely increasing your chances of being mistaken for a salesman and decreasing your chances of getting through.]

Granted, I could easily say, “May I ask what this call is regarding?” or something of that nature (and actually, that’s probably what I would do now that I think about it), but c’mon, is it really not obvious that when we ask who’s calling, that we need a little more than a curt recitation of your first name?

2

Oh, ditto. My whole job is to screen my employer’s calls. Sure, I have other tasks, but that may be one of the most important, so she can do important work. What do you say, when they say, “John?” I have gone right ahead and asked, “John with what company?” And if enough information is not forthcoming, I’ve said, “May I ask what this is regarding?” These work, but if you have a better way I’ll gladly take it.

3

The receptionists in my place of work routinely ask who is calling, what organization they represent (if any), and what the call is regarding before transferring the call to anyone, whether or not the person volunteers the information.

4

Oh, I don’t know, if somebody asks “May I ask who is calling?” I’m going to give my name. Call me a literalist that way. If they want to know my business, they’ll ask, “May I tell Mr. Smith what this is in reference to?” Clumsy, but polite and to the point.

5

I have absolutely never, ever heard of this in my entire life. First of all, I may be the guy’s therapist and calling to tell him something personal. It is not the business of the person who’s answering the phone.

If a receptionst has to ask what is the nature of the call then it is phrased “May I tell him what it is regarding”.

I can see wanting a first and last name and maybe a company name if it is a business call but that is it.

6

You don’t have to tell me the personal thing! All you have to do is say, “It’s their doctor.” Besides, presumably they know the therapists’s name.

All I ask is that you give me enough information to impart back for your own sake. If my boss doesn’t recognize your name, she won’t take the call.

In my company, they make dozens of phone calls a day, and one peron calling back saying “John” rings no bells. Not to mention sales calls, who try to be tricksy.

7

I’ve whined about this before. Lemme’ do it again.

*Not actual name :slight_smile:

8

Or, they could say, “It’s personal.” 'Nuff said. A good secretary/receptionist is not trying to pry into the caller’s business (or her boss’s business for that matter), but a busy executive is NOT going to appreciate an ineffective admin who can’t give him the info he needs to determine whether he should take a call. It’s our job to make our boss’s lives easier, to do the “little” things so they can do the “big” things.

In other words, don’t mess with The Gatekeeper!

9

I always volunteer my name, and it almost inevitably leads to the “may I tell her what this is in regard to?”. I had a freind a while back who taught me the best single answer to this question.

“Yes, I’m returning her call”.

Even the gatekeeper doesn’t always know who the boss called, and is often reluctant to stall a caller that the boss is expecting to call back.

10

That doesn’t work, either. 'Cause then I’m going to ring the boss and say, “Are you expecting a call from so-and-so?” And they’ll say “no”.

I am not your enemy, but I am most certainly not your ally! I work for my boss, she pays the bills, and I announce every call…as **niblet_head ** says, I am the Gatekeeper. And don’t be rude to me, either. I *will * tell my boss, and I’m lucky to have one that backs me to the hilt and will remember you were rude to me next time.

11

I don’t see what the problem here is, either. If you want information, ask the question that is going to elicit it.

If you ask me “May I ask who’s calling?” I’m going to tell you my name.

Why not be direct and go straight to the “May I tell him what this is in reference to?” question?

Seems pretty simple to me.

12

Wow, so many replies already! I must have picked a good topic. Let me add a couple things, because Anaamika got my point right away, but some of you didn’t:

I’ll let you all in on a little secret in the business world. Our bosses simply don’t have the time to sit and answer random phone calls all day. They wouldn’t get any work done. So when we say he’s not available, that’s often a little white lie. He could be available if you’re someone he needs or wants to talk to. The truth is, he’s only not available if you are a salesman or other such person who is going to waste his valuable time.

What you need to understand is that I am not the one preventing you from talking to the boss. The truth is, he doesn’t necessarily WANT to talk to you, and he has INSTRUCTED me not to route calls to him unless they are people who he needs to talk to.

So if I ask who’s calling, it’s certainly your prerogative to be a literalist and simply recite your name, but you need to understand that, if you do not have a prior relationship with my boss, your name will mean NOTHING to him, so giving me your name is doing you absolutely no good.

The problem is, time and time again, presumably well-intentioned potential clients call, but since they want to play the information-withholding game, they’re actually preventing themselves from getting to talk to my boss. Because, to be honest, I don’t really care if you get to talk to the boss or not. I might quiz you as to why you’re calling, or if I don’t particularly feel like it, I might just announce you to my boss exactly as you announced yourself to me (because a lot of the time it IS someone he knows). And if he doesn’t know you, he’s going to say, “take a message”.

mr bus guy, are you a salesman by chance? Because that’s a typical salesman trick. Another is to say, “I’m a friend”, or to mumble through the company name very quickly so that it’s hard to understand what they said. You have to be pretty green to fall for that one. :slight_smile: As Aanamika said, it won’t work here, because I announce all calls, and he won’t take calls if he doesn’t recognize the name. He certainly can remember who he called. It might work at a place where they just ring the call straight through without announcing it, though.

13

Well, then, if you’re not interested in the name, don’t ask for it. As I and others have pointed out here, if you’re interested in what the person’s business is, then say some variant of “And what is this regarding?” I don’t see what the obstacle is, other than a certain obstinacy on your part.

14

Oh, and one more thing, since this really goes to what my OP was saying:

If you KNOW that you will always (or virtually always) have to say why you’re calling, why not just volunteer the information up front and save a step? Maybe I’m in the minority, but if I’m calling someone for the first time, I always give my name and then say, “I was hoping to talk to her/him regarding…” or something of that nature.

15

[QUOTE=mr bus guy, are you a salesman by chance? Because that’s a typical salesman trick. Another is to say, “I’m a friend”, or to mumble through the company name very quickly so that it’s hard to understand what they said. You have to be pretty green to fall for that one. :slight_smile: As Aanamika said, it won’t work here, because I announce all calls, and he won’t take calls if he doesn’t recognize the name. He certainly can remember who he called. It might work at a place where they just ring the call straight through without announcing it, though.[/QUOTE]

::sigh::…No, I’m the bus guy!

Ok, and honestly, I only use that to get through a couple a phone screens at offices where I know it will work. No doubt it works because whoever picks up the phone there isn’t as sharp as the two of you.

My secretary will never let a call through to me unless she knows who, and why. Often I’ll hear a voice say “don’t answer that, you’re not in!” right before my line rings. I get the voice mail on my schedule and call back when I have the answers someone wanted in the first place"

Typical salesman trick indeed…

16

You get that answer because that’s what you asked. Someone else made the point earlier, if you want to know why I called, ask that. If you want to know my name, ask that. I’ll answer any question I’m asked but I’m sure not going to start answering questions before I’m asked. A lot of places will just need a name to announce to the boss or whoever, so that’s what they ask for. If you need more, ask.

17

As I explained, the convention is to phrase it as “May I ask who is calling?” Your way doesn’t really work, because the majority of the time, it IS clients or business associates who are calling, and in that case it ISN’T necessary to know why they are calling; it is sufficient merely to know who they are. Again, this only applies to first-time callers.

I find “May I ask who is calling?” to be less brusque than, “And what is this regarding?” You’re free to disagree, of course. However, I’m NOT necessarily asking for your name; if I wanted to know your name, I would say, “May I have your name, please?” “Who is calling?” could be answered any number of ways; it doesn’t necessarily have to be your name.

“Who is calling?”

“His mother”

“Who is calling?”

“His accountant”

“Who is calling?”

“A potential client”

Doesn’t have to be a name.

18

Sorry, I was going by your own statement that you are invariably asked why you’re calling. Now you’re contradicting that, and saying you often aren’t required to give that info. I can only respond to what you give me. If it makes you feel good not to volunteer information - if you’d rather treat it as though you’re being interrogated, that’s fine. I’m just telling you that you’re decreasing your chances of talking to the person you’re trying to reach.

You both seem a little angry. :confused:

19

Hey, *I’d * take your call, Mr. Bus Guy. (*Why * don’t you have your username capitalized? Drives me batty! :smiley: )

As The New Guy says (see, *he’s * capitalized!) most of the time it’s people I know and thus I have no problems with them saying “It’s Mr. Bus Guy.” It’s when it’s someone unknown that I expect them to provide more info on the first call. And guess what? Most of those people are trying to sneak through me anyway.

20

Ugh - I used to volunteer at the Red Cross Donor line - you know, What are your hours? Do I need an appointment? How does donation work? etc.

The number of times some dude would call me up and start telling me about his dick-fungus and the drugs he was taking for it are too numerous to count. Or some woman and her crusty crotch. Or someone with some funky disease. Guess what - the person answering the phone doesn’t necessarily WANT all your personal details - perhaps they just need your name to give to the nurse to call you back.

If you need more info, ask for it. Honestly, how long does it take to say “What was your call regarding?”

yick. dick fungus.