1) Good telephone manners are important for making positive impressions at work and home. 2) When answering the phone, speak clearly and politely, take messages if the caller needs to reach someone else, and offer to help or pass the message along. 3) Be respectful of others on the phone by waiting for their call to end before interrupting, and remember that while being polite, you do not need to sacrifice your own time if a call is too demanding.

1. Telephone manners (Ethics)
Interesting page on telephone manners. Nowadays most people
have a mobile phone. The bad thing of phone users is the way they
behave when they ignore good manners.
EF. 131215
Telephone Manners
"Good phone manners are important both at work and at home.
When you are on the phone with someone, your only interaction
is verbal, so saying the right things is important to make the right
impression. If you are answering the phone at a job, your
employer may have a specific way they would like you to answer
the phone. If they haven't told you, take the initiative and ask - it
will show that you care about your performance and how your
company is perceived. If your company doesn't have any
standards for telephone procedures, follow the same standards
that you would if you were answering the phone at home or at a
friend's. Speak clearly, be polite, and offer to take a message or
help out if you are answering the phone for someone else. Here
are some common practices that will make you sound polite,
whether talking on the phone to a friend, customer, potential
employer, or complete stranger.

2. Answering the Phone
Some people like to let people know who they've reached as soon
as they pick up the phone. Companies and some individuals may
answer the phone "You've reached the John Smith Corporation"
or "Hello, this is John Smith." When in doubt, a simple "Hello" or
"Hello, this is John" will do. Unless someone (such as an
employer) asks you to answer the phone in a particular way,
choose a style that's comfortable for you and polite to others. Just
avoid answering the phone in a way that may make the person
on the other end feel uncomfortable or put on the spot (such as,
"What?" or "Who is this?")
Taking Messages
If you answer someone else's phone or answer for someone who
is not around, you should always offer to take a message. Again,
this can be as simple as saying "I'm sorry, John's stepped out.
May I take a message?" or "I'm sorry, he's busy at the moment.
May I take your name and number and have him call you
back?" If the person who is calling asks you to help out instead
and you don't feel comfortable or don't know the answer to their
questions, it is always polite to say, "I'm sorry I don't know but
I'd be happy to pass the message on to John." Just remember to
pass the message on! If someone leaves a message, be sure to
write down their name, phone number, time they called and the
message - then be sure to give the message to the person they
were calling. Taking messages does no good if the person they
are for never sees them. Set up a system for delivering phone
messages. If it's at home, you might decide to put a notepad by
the phone and write messages there, or put them on the
refrigerator. If it's at work, you may set up a 'message box' or
agree to leave messages in a certain place (on the bulletin board,
in someone's inbox, etc.)

3. Interrupting Others
Wait until someone has finished their phone conversation before
talking to them. If it's urgent and you need to use the phone or
talk to someone who is on the phone, don't pick up the line and
start talking. Instead, say "Excuse me, may I talk to you for a
second?" or "I'm sorry, but I need to make an urgent call, do you
mind if I use the phone?"
The Phone is Your Tool
There are times when the phone calls (or the people on the line)
can be too demanding. Being polite doesn't mean you have to
sacrifice your own time or drop whatever you are doing. If you
are at a job or answering someone else's phone, it is your
responsibility to be as polite and helpful as possible, including
taking messages. (You shouldn't be answering someone else's
phone if you aren't going to take the time to help out.) However,
if someone calls you at home or catches you in the middle of
something urgent, it is fine to offer to call them back. You can
say, for example, "I'm sorry, but we were just about to sit down
to dinner, can I call you back after we finish?" or "I'm sorry, but I
was just about to run out the door, can I call you when I get
back?"
Nowadays, many companies call people at home to try to sell
them services; it's fine to tell these people that you aren't
interested (it's even fine to ask them not to call you at home
anymore!), as long as you do it nicely. Again, a simple "I'm sorry,
but I'm not interested" or "I'm sorry but I don't make decisions
over the phone; please don't call again" can put an end to some of
these calls."
[text read somewhere on the internet]