Introduction
The telephone has been an essential communication tool for business since the early 1900’s.  As is the case with most tools, skill is required to maximize its effectiveness.  Failure to use the business telephone in a proper manner may not only result in the ineffectiveness of the user, but may result in having a detrimental effect on the business.

Effective interpersonal communication is a blending of factors, that when blended together, result in effective communication with other people.  These factors include word selection, grammar, volume and tone of voice, inflection, speaking rate, facial expression and body.  These factors have to work in harmony and must be congruent if the intended message is to be conveyed properly to the receiver of the communication.  To make a statement of apology to someone in a loud voice, with an angry tone while shaking a finger in his/her face, would fail to convince the listener of the sincerity of the person attempting to apologize.

It has been said that the first thirty seconds of a telephone conversation sets the tone for the caller’s relationship with the dental office.  The patient’s first contact with your dental office may be a telephone call and the first impression of the image and style of the practice begins to develop.  The practice image is perceived right from the start of this first call.  The answering content may be completely correct or even directly from a written script, but may project the wrong image due to the "non-verbal" aspects of the speaker’s voice.  These include unusual pauses in a normal speaking pattern, vocalized pauses (ah, uh, mmm) and changes in tone of the voice to mention a few.  These "non-verbal" aspects of the person’s voice answering the phone play a critical role in communicating the image of the practice.

Baldone recognized the importance of the telephone in the dental office and described "proper" techniques for telephone use in 1965.¹  More recently, Bonner has reviewed the importance of the telephone in the dental office as an element of internal marketing.²  When the first contact with a prospective patient is by telephone, special attention has to be paid to communication factors primarily because the caller cannot see the person at the other end of the telephone line.  Without visual input, a caller relies entirely on the sound that emerges from the telephone to formulate an opinion about the person at the other end of the phone line.

Click Here To Navigate Within Article >> ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION TECHNIQUE .....Be Prepared .....Who and When .....It's in the Voice .....Elements MULTIMEDIA FEATURE .....Say it Aloud .....Greeting CONCLUSION REFERENCES