20502 Anglès I RESERVATIONS AND TELEPHONE SKILLS

The main objective of this handout is to help you develop the skills required for holding telephone
conversations with particular emphasis on taking reservations over the phone.

Reservation techniques
Exercise 1: Look at this flow chart showing the procedure that hotel staff should follow with dealing
with a reservation. Write down on a separate sheet of paper what the hotel employee says at each
of the numbered places.

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Here you have an example. Notice the words highlighted in red!

Reservations clerk: Good morning. Grand Hotel. Reservations. Sue speaking. How can I help
you?
Customer: Good morning, I’d like to reserve a room for next Tuesday the 16th.
Reservations clerk: Fine, how many nights will you require the room?
Customer: Two nights.
Reservations clerk: Two nights … and what type of room do you require?
Customer: A twin-bedded room, please.
Reservations clerk: I can do a standard with bedroom for £75 per night or a deluxe twin at the
special rate of £95 per night.
Customer: I’ll take the deluxe twin, please.
Reservations clerk: May I have your surname and initial, please?
Customer: Yes, my name is Mrs. A. Freeman.
Reservations clerk: Is the room for you and your husband?
Customer: No, I’m booking on behalf of someone else.
Reservations clerk: May I have the name of the guest, please?
Customer: Yes, it’s Mr. and Mrs. D. Carter.
Reservations clerk: Can you spell the surname, please?
Customer: Yes, it’s C for Charlie, A for Alpha, R for Romeo, T for Tango, E for Echo and R for
Romeo, and the initial is D for Delta.
Reservations clerk: May I have your telephone number, please, Mrs. Freeman.
Customer: Yes, it’s 5833842, a local number.
Reservations clerk: That’s 5833842. Do you have the guests’ estimated time of arrival?
Customer: Yes, they are arriving by air on flight BA491, arriving at 10.15 a.m.
Reservations clerk: BA491, 10.15 a.m. Our check-in time is generally after 2.00 p.m., so we will
try our best to accommodate the guests should they check in before that time.
Customer: Perfect, thank you.
Reservations clerk: Is this a company booking, Mrs. Freeman?
Customer: Yes, it is. My company is Imperial Chemicals Ltd.
Reservations clerk: I see the company has an arrangement with this hotel for deluxe rooms. Will
the company settle the full account?
Customer: Oh … er … no. Please split the account, and send the accommodation bill to Imperial
Chemicals. The guests will settle their own expenses on check-out.
Reservations clerk: Can you confirm those payment details in writing, please?
Customer: Certainly, can I have your e-mail address?
Reservations clerk: james_parker@grandhotel.com
Customer: So that is james all lower case, underscore, parker, at, grandhotel all one word, dot,
com.
Reservations clerk: That’s right.
Customer: Thank you. I’ll send you a confirmation straightaway.
Reservations clerk: Let me confirm the details with you, Mrs. Freeman. You have reserved one
deluxe twin, check-in date Tuesday the 16th, check-out date the 18th, in the names Mr. and Mrs.
D for Delta Carter. The room rate will be £95 plus VAT. Your local contact telephone number is
5833842. Your company is Imperial Chemicals Ltd. of 126, Crediton Road, Sheffield. The guests
will arrive on flight BA491 at 10.15 a.m. and you will confirm the billing arrangements in writing.
Customer: Yes, that is correct.

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Reservations clerk: Thank you Mrs. Freeman.
Customer: Thank you for your help, goodbye.
Reservations clerk: Goodbye Mrs. Freeman, and I hope we can be of help again soon.

Always repeat the details back to the

customer, so that both parties (the hotel and the
customer) know the reservation is correct.

Telephone language
Vocabulary

ALL ABOUT MOBILE PHONES

touch screen
• keys / buttons
• to switch on/off
• to dial
• to hang up
• to text
• ring tone
• charger
• apps / applications

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Use of English: “phone”, “call” and “ring”.

Intonation of telephone numbers:

Telephoning: trying to get through.

Asking to speak to someone.

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Exercise 2: Arabella Ford is trying to phone John Quinn in Primo’s finance
department. Complete the gaps with expressions from the dialogue in
the previous page. Be careful to use the alternative expressions where
necessary.

Voicemail 1:

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Exercise 3: Write voicemail greetings for other Primo’s employees based on this
information, using expressions from above.

Voicemail 2:

Exercise 4: A caller leaves a message on Jane Owens’s voicemail. Complete the

message using the correct words from above.

Telephoning: finally getting through.

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Giving and taking messages.

Exercise 5: Look at the vocabulary from “finally getting through” and “giving
and taking messages”. Change the underlined expressions in these
conversations so that they are correct and more polite.

Spelling names: the aviation alphabet.

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Exercise 6: Spell the following as you would spell them on the phone. Use the table in
the previous page to help you. The first one has been done as an example.

Taking messages: checking information.

Exercise 7: Match the responses (1-8) with the questions (a-h) above.

Parts of a smartphone:

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Other useful terms and expressions include:

- Charger – I have no charge on my cellphone

- Battery – the battery is dead / I’m running out of battery
- To have (bad) signal / reception
- To lock the phone keypad
- To get / receive missed calls
- To send / give missed calls
- To get a strong / weak wi-fi signal
- A wi-fi dead zone

Phrasal Verbs used in telephone conversations.

Exercise 8: Decide which of these phrases fit best in the following sentences.

be over call back cut off get through give up

hang up hold on look up pick up put through

1. The phone’s ringing. Why don’t you _______________ ______________ the receiver?

2. I’m afraid she isn’t available at the moment. Can you _______________ ______________ later?

3. Can you _______________ ______________ their number in the directory, please?

4. I’m afraid she’s with a client, shall I _______________ you _______________ to her secretary?

5. Hello? Are you still there? I think we were _______________ ______________.

6. Mr Green never seems to be in his office. I’ve been trying to _______________ ______________ to him all
morning.

7. Could you _______________ ______________ for a moment? I’ll just find out for you.

8. If the telephonist says “Thank you so much for calling” and plays me that awful electronic music again, I’ll
_______________ ______________.

9. If you get a wrong number, it’s polite to say “I’m sorry, I’ve dialed the wrong number,” before you
_______________ ______________.

10. If an American telephonist asks “Are you through?”, she wants to know if your call _______________
______________.

Exercise 9: Now fill the gaps in exercise 8 with these words and phrases.
1) be finished; 2) connect with; 3) disconnect; 4) find; 5) lift; 6) reach;
7) replace the receiver; 8) return the call; 9) stop trying; 10) wait