Implementation emphasis on telephone etiquette by the Ministry of Justice and all subsidiaries
- Publication Date ：
- Last updated：2019-07-18
- View count：3462
I. Objective: To strengthen the etiquette and service quality, over the phone, of this Ministry and all subsidiaries, and promote institution image.
II. Implementation scope: All employees of the Ministry and its subsidiaries shall follow this while on the phone or handling telephone service matters.
III. Attitudes over the phone
(I) Each institution shall hold occasional telephone etiquette training sessions for employees to ensure tactful communication and correspondence, while cultivating patience, to improve telephone service attitude.
(II) Answers provided by a handler shall be clear, honest and detailed, to avoid misunderstandings or harmful results stemming from disinterested attitudes.
(III) Public applications by phone shall be dealt with right away. Cases that cannot be immediately handled shall be dealt with and completed as soon as possible and to avoid excessive and irate phone calls.
(IV) Tone shall be sincere and humble, using laymen's terms.
(V) No official confidential information shall be disclosed over the phone.
IV. Telephone Etiquette
(I) Phones shall be picked up promptly, notifying the caller the name of the unit followed by greetings such as "how are you?" and "good morning".
(II) When transferring a phone call, make frequent use of "ok", "please wait", "sorry" and so on.
(III) When the caller requests transfer, the assigned call receiver shall first notify the caller his/her service unit or name.
(IV) A hostile tone is never allowed, even with an impatient or angry caller
(V) If the caller raises questions beyond the receiver's scope, the latter shall disclose the reason for this and transfer the call to someone who can answer such questions. Hanging up or "I don't know" are not allowed.
(VI) When saying "no", first disclose to the caller the actual difficulties.
(VII) With a wrong number, the receiver shall notify the caller of the situation and ask him/her to verify the number before making another call. Never just state "wrong number" and hang up.
(VIII) When the requested party is not in the office, notify the caller that the party is either on vacation or not currently in the office and offer to take a message. Never respond with "He/she is not here" and hang up.
(IX) When receiving a complaint or criticism, explain tactfully and express regret or gratitude; under no circumstances get into a dispute.
(X) Telephone conversations shall remain cheerful, smart and efficient.
(XI) Upon completion of a phone conversation, use "thank you", "you're welcome", "goodbye", "please feel free to call again with additional questions", "glad to be of service" and so on.
V. Operator Etiquette
(I) Operators shall not leave their posts without permission. They must to pick up the phone right away and announce the institution name, e.g. "The Ministry of Justice. How are you? May I ask who you would like to speak to?" Operators may not simply state "Hello" or "Hello, this is the operator". If there is a delay in phone pick-up, operators shall notify the caller and express regret.
(II) Once the caller states the party he/she would like to speak to, operators shall respond with "sure, please wait for a second" and not silently transfer the call.
(III) If the requested party is busy, operators shall notify the caller by saying "The line is currently busy. Would you like to be connected to someone else?"
(IV) When the line of the requested party is busy and there is no other line available, operators shall ask the caller to wait. If the caller does, operators shall try to connect the call. If not, operators shall say sorry and disconnect the call.
(V) When a caller makes business enquiries, if the appropriate party cannot be determined, operators shall undertake a fast determination and transfer the call, stating in a friendly voice "Sure, I will connect you to ___ unit, please hold."
VI. Assessment and Tests
(I) The assessment unit of this Ministry and its subsidiaries shall test employees on telephone etiquette occasionally to monitor implementation.
(II) Testing Items and Grading Criterion:
1. Speed of phone pick-up: 20%, based on number of rings before pick-up:
(1) 20 points for picking up after 2 rings; (2) 15 points after 3 rings; (3) 10 points after 4 rings; (4) 5 points after 5 rings.
2. Telephone etiquette: 40%, based on presence of notification of unit name, greeting and closing statement, with a humble and sincere tone.
(1) Excellent: Notification of unit name, greeting, closing statement, humble and sincere tone: 31-40 points.
(2) Good: Notification of unit name, humble and sincere tone: 21-30 points.
(3) OK: Notification of unit name, humble and sincere tone: 11-20 points.
(4) Inferior: Failure to make notification of unit name with humble and sincere tone: 0 point.
3. Content of conversation: 40%. Familiarity with Ministry & subsidiary business and relevant laws, while giving thorough answers:
1. Excellent: Familiar with business, thorough answers, patient with caller questions: 31 points - 40 points.
2. Good: Familiar with business, answers not thorough but satisfactory: 21-30 points.
3. OK: Familiar with businesses, brief and unsatisfactory answers, but acceptable: 11-20 points.
4. Inferior: Unfamiliar with business and impatient while answering questions: 0 points.
(III) For each test, if total points are above 85, the grade is "excellent"; 70-84 points are "good" while 60-69 are "ok" and under 59 is "inferior".
(IV) During the test, one person should take charge of testing for better comparison and fairer assessment.
(V) Test results shall be filled out in the "Telephone Etiquette Testing Record" (format as the appendix). This Ministry will consolidate all test results and report to the Administrative Yuan according to the "Assessment Project for Service to the Public by the Administrative Yuan" on "Test for Telephone Etiquette" promulgated by the Administrative Yuan. Results are an important reference for the Administrative Yuan Service Quality Award. This Ministry can also determine rewards and disciplinary actions accordingly.