How to Answer an Incoming Call While Already on the Phone

taking a call while you're already on the phone can be confusing awkward and irritating but it's important to know how especially as a business owner because answering important incoming calls is crucial to growing your business i'm kelsey johnson from smith ai and in this video i'll go over technical advice and etiquette for putting a current client on hold to take a new call now much of this video contains universal advice for anyone taking new calls but i'm mainly focusing on business owners who are taking incoming calls remotely and happen to have multiple calls coming at the same time so first technically speaking how do you actually put a caller on hold to take another call there are so many different phone systems and they all seem to work a little differently which is frustrating since these small differences lead to more mistakenly dropped calls so here's how to take a new call on a mobile device like an iphone or an android while you're on a call a notification will sound that another person is calling you obviously you need to let the person you're currently talking to know that you have to take another call then if you have an iphone you'll have to press the hold and accept icon to put your current caller on hold and accept the new call on most android phones you simply press accept to put your current caller on hold and accept the new call just a note there's also a swap icon which looks like two arrows in a circle that you can use to switch between callers also some android phones have a multi-call screen which lists the calls that you're on so that you can easily switch between them by clicking on one or the other to end one call hit the icon to hang up like you would normally do while you're on with that caller and you will be put back on the other call but on some phones the phone will seem to ring like the other caller is calling you back they aren't it's just the phone notifying you that the other call is still on the line finish up your other call and hang up as you usually would by touching the hang up icon now many voips and other business phone systems allow you to take calls on an app that isn't your native iphone or android app however it should work very similarly to the native app with the instructions i just went over just make sure you test it out before taking any calls so you know how it will work just a note if you are taking calls on your mobile phone in the united states most phones can handle only two calls at a time in the case that a third person calls they'll either hear a busy signal or be sent directly to voicemail now analog phones and other office phones are all a little different they often involve putting the current caller on hold with a hold button and then taking the second call on a separate line have your phone service provider send you instructions or give you a walkthrough and practice practice practice putting a caller on hold and taking another call should be second nature to you before the situation ever comes up actually it's important to practice no matter what your phone system is learn to take a call while you're already on the phone test it out and practice a few times so you never accidentally hang up on someone which we all know is far too easy to do when the call does come in that you need to take do the following don't interrupt the conversation but instead wait for a natural pause double check your caller's phone number so that you can call them back just in case the line does get disconnected promise to return in a minute or less if you think the other call will take longer than a minute offer to call them back after you're done with the other call again always give them an estimate on timing and definitely make a note of what you were talking about so you can jump back into the conversation at the same place remember when you interrupt a call for any reason it's abrupt and it cuts into the flow of the conversation with that in mind here's a polite way to ask to put a caller on hold to avoid frustration as much as possible i apologize but i have a call on the other line that i have to take do you mind holding for a moment wait for the response and then say thank you i will be back in a minute then when you return to the call say thank you so much for waiting let's continue our discussion here are a couple of other tips if you have to put collars on hold often to take other calls never leave your collar on hold for long as even a minute on hold can feel like an incredibly long time set up your phone to have hold music playing it just makes for a nicer more professional experience for the person on hold you can also set your calls to roll over to another line if you don't pick up in a few rings you could send these calls to a co-worker or an employee or an external virtual receptionist or assistant service anyone who has ever had to put someone on hold whether it's your mother your best friend or an important client knows that it's one of the most awkward things you may have to do so try not to at all costs and remember that it can feel quite jarring for the person you are currently speaking to be as kind and apologetic as possible and don't forget to practice putting a caller on hold to answer another call so that you avoid the even worse situation of accidentally hanging up on either of them are you having a hard time keeping up with all the calls coming into your business try smith ai virtual receptionists we can answer your incoming calls when you're already on the phone after hours or all the time plus we'll qualify new leads book appointments transfer to multiple lines and much more start a free trial today at smith.ai

Channel: Smith ai

Views: 166,472

Keywords: smith.ai, virtual receptionists, answering service, phone answering, call answering, business phone, 24/7 answering service, live agents, call center, iphone tips, iphone call on hold, iphone how to, call, hold, iphone hold, iphone tricks, iphone hold button, apple hold button, hold procedure call center, how to put customer on hold, how to place a customer on hold call center, tips to put customer on hold, Telephone Customer Service, Customer Service Training, android hold

Id: vTGThnUxLUA

Length: 6min 3sec (363 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 03 2020