Phone Duty

My favorite thing about my job (aside from going on break) is that the phone never rings. I hate the phone! One time I did an afternoon's temp assignment as receptionist for some property management company called [Collection of Random Initials] Corporation. They had a really elaborate greeting you were supposed to use when answering the phone - it went something like "Good morning!/afternoon! It's a beautiful day at [Collection of Random Initials] Corporation! What can I do to help you?" There was also a laundry list of which employees could have calls transferred to them directly, which ones you had to screen for approval, and which ones you just took a message for; and a few basic questions you might have to answer for some of the callers.

That temp agency never called me again.

At my current job, I get calls maybe once every other week or so. Most of them are for someone who retired a couple of years ago and used to have my number, and they sound a lot like bill collectors. They're definitely commercial; they're generally surprised to discover they're calling a business number, and they always apologize a little too profusely for bothering me; but they have the hostile, grating quality to their voices that distinguishes their kind from telemarketers.

Once a month or so I get an actual business-related call, though that's picked up some since our branch's new supervisor started. She likes calling people (sigh).

But this week and next, our section director's admin is on vacation, so somebody has to cover the main phone line. Today was my turn.

Our section director's admin has a real phone, with lights and buttons and multiple lines and Caller ID and all that jazz. I haven't seen one of those in ages! My desk phone, you may recall, looks like this, so I barely remember how to use a real one. I've covered the section's phones before, but we used to be allowed to forward them to our own desks. Apparently there were too many dropped calls, so now they're actually making us sit in the admin's cube. Only no one ever showed us how to use the buttons and whizgigs and doodads on the actual phone.

Fortunately there was only one caller all afternoon. I had to put him on hold while I tried to figure out how to transfer him to his party. But his party's phone was forwarded to the section phone I was covering, so I just rang myself. So I hung up, but couldn't figure out how to get him back off hold and eventually he dropped off into limbo. Thank goodness I had Caller ID and could see that he wasn't anyone particularly important.

I had to miss afternoon break for it, too. I hate the phone!