German on the Telephone (Telefonieren) - Answering, Transferring and Taking Messages

The telephone is where most learners meet German at its most difficult, because there is no lip-reading, no context and no time to consult a dictionary. Yet the language of a German business call is remarkably small: perhaps forty phrases cover the great majority of everything that is said.

It is also one of the few registers where German has a defined ritual, from the way the phone is answered to the way a name is spelled out. Learning the ritual removes most of the anxiety, because you always know which part comes next.

Answering the Phone

A German business line is answered with the company name followed by your own surname and a greeting, so the caller knows within two seconds that they have reached the right place and with whom they are speaking. That single formula replaces an entire opening exchange in English.

Spelling on the Phone

German names are routinely spelled out over the phone using the Telefonalphabet, in which every letter is represented by a word. Email addresses are dictated the same way, with the words Punkt, Bindestrich and At-Zeichen spoken in place of the symbols, so the alphabet is worth learning as a list rather than as vocabulary.

Putting Someone Through

Verbinden is the central verb of a German switchboard, and the call itself is described as a Leitung, a line. Telling a caller that the line is besetzt and offering a Durchwahl is the standard solution, and it is far better received than an apology with no alternative attached.

Taking a Message

A German message records five things: who called, when, what it concerns, what should happen next and how the caller can be reached. The Rückrufbitte is written as a standing item, and a message that omits the subject is treated as incomplete rather than brief.

Voicemail and the Mailbox

An Ansage states the office hours, the name of the person and what a caller should do in their absence, in that order. German callers will use a Mailbox rather than ring again later, so a clear recording is doing real commercial work rather than being a formality.

Difficult Calls

Complaints in German arrive with the facts in the order the customer experienced them, and the quickest way to defuse one is to summarise the facts back before offering anything. A Zusage, a clear commitment with a date, is what ends the call; an expression of sympathy without one rarely does.

The Telefonkonferenz

A German conference call opens with a round of names, because participants expect to know precisely who is present before anything is decided. Speaking in turn is strictly observed, and interrupting is read as a statement about the speaker rather than about the point.

Rufumleitung, Kurzwahl und Mobiltelefon

A German office line is configured before it is used, and the vocabulary of forwarding, short codes and area codes is part of learning the telephone. A Rufumleitung is set when a colleague is away, and the Wartemusik plays while a caller waits rather than an empty line.

Call logs are kept for a period because a business conversation may later need to be evidenced, and the caller display is the first thing a receptionist reads. The technical terms are unglamorous, but they are the ones that appear in a telephone instruction sheet. For work on a German switchboard, learn German with the answering, spelling and message phrases that cover almost every call.

The bars show the order of the stages; each value is a sequence number rather than a duration.

Working on the Phone in German

Telephone work is the part of the job that new employees fear most and master fastest, because the phrases repeat and the situations are few. Most German offices will happily let a new colleague listen to calls for a week before taking them alone.

Practice out loud is what makes the difference, since the vocabulary has to be available without thinking. If you want to learn German for telephone work, the answering, spelling and message formulas are the practical place to begin.

A German business call runs on about forty phrases. Learn German for the telephone with answering, spelling and messages built into the course.