Phone & online communication

Lesson opening

This is the first part of the lesson. The rest, the exercises and the reviews are in the app.

Phone and online: a call, a message, an email

The lesson “Greeting & leave-taking” gave you three phone words: Halo?, Molim? and Ovde Marko. That is enough to pick up the phone, not enough to see a call through.

The opening: who answered, and how to introduce yourself

The first word tells you where you have landed. A firm or a clinic does not say Halo?; it gives its name: Ordinacija Vita, izvolite. Vita Clinic, how can I help?

At home answer Halo?; at work, Izvolite?. If the caller has dialled the wrong number: Izvinite, pogrešili ste broj. Sorry, you’ve got the wrong number.

Next you name yourself and, in one sentence, your business. The name comes after Ovde, literally “here Marko”, much like English “Marko here”. Calling a stranger, start with Izvinite što vas uznemiravam. Sorry to bother you.

On the phone the verb dobiti “to get” means “to get through to someone”, much as English says “I couldn’t get hold of you”: Kada mogu da vas dobijem? When can I reach you? How to book an appointment (zakazati termin) you know from the lesson “Future plans & intentions”.

Holding, transferring, the recorded menu

Next come the switchboard phrases. Of a colleague who is busy you will hear: Trenutno je na drugoj liniji. He’s on another line at the moment.

Menus and voicemail are read out by the automatska sekretarica “answering machine” (literally “automatic secretary”). All you need is to recognise the instruction.

Cheat sheet

The cheat sheet — everything essential from the lesson on one page. In the app it opens at any time.

Phone and online: a call, a message, an email

Arc of a call: answer, who and why, hold, business, arrangement, goodbye.

Answering and introductions

Holding and the recorded menu

Messages

A bad line

Calling back

Texting

Email