The telephone is ubiquitously used for voice communication in all countries across the world.
Phone services are popular because it enables you to communicate with any person at any time. Likewise,
any of your friends/relatives/colleagues can contact you at any time.
The use of the telephone has increased exponentially since its invention by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 because it provides a quick and convenient way to circumvent the two impediments to communication - time and distance.
The main advantage of telephone communication in a business organization is instant communication with employees, suppliers, customers and other stakeholders.
Over the decades we have become so accustomed to telephone facility that today it is impossible to socialize or run a business organization without telephone services.
The extensive worldwide telephone network - both wire and wireless forms of connectivity - make direct voice communication between any two people almost anywhere in the world and at any time.
The telephone was originally developed for business use and personal use and home use came later. Surveys have revealed that an average employee working in a business organization spends approximately 45 minutes a day on the telephone. This amply demonstrates the big difference that telephone can make to an individual employee’s productivity.
Because a telephone conversation is a direct form of oral communication between two individuals, agreements can be easily and quickly reached than through impersonal exchange of letters, memos, or email.
Most businesses and homes have started buying telephones, and currently the telephone is the most often used technology for business as well as personal communication. Effective business use of the phone requires a fair understanding of the telephone system as a communication tool.
The telephone has certain limitations because it is oral communication. Agreements reached by telephone will require a written follow-up and creation of documents. Another difficulty, with telephone is due to the different time zones across many countries around the world making overseas calls not feasible.
It may also be said that telephone calls are at times inconvenient for the receivers, who are probably busy doing something important when their phones ring.
Effective telephone communication requires greater attention to speaking clearly and listening attentively than conversing face to face. Speaker phones are notorious for poor fidelity and you must be extra careful when using them. Whether you are Pl acing a call or receiving one, use your voice distinctly for enhance rapport between you and the other person.
A business phone call deserves your full attention. Courses in telephone conversations and etiquette were common in the 1960s and ’70s, but subsequently lost importance as telephone usage became far too commonplace.
Virtually every home and business has one or even multiple number of phones. Man has become abjectly dependent on phone services that now you find increasing number of people having cell phones as also car phones.
Cell phone is the latest trend as it is far more convenient than a landline telephone because you can carry a cell phone with you wherever you go and accessible to your callers at all times. Lately, a variety of advanced technologies, including, VoIP, voice mail and pagers have been developed to help further improve telephone-based communication.
Using a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) may cost slightly more than a regular phone service but you will be paying for the additional features that come with a VoIP. You will find some Internet phone service providers offering low calling rates for long distance and international phone calls and this can be extremely attractive if your business has overseas customers.
