HM-ELEC.

3 - Front Office Operations

TELEPHONE EXCHANGE SECTION

Learning Objectives:
At the end of the unit, students should be able to:
1. Perform telephone reservation
2. Demonstrate how the telephone exchange section operates.
3. Demonstrate telephone manners and etiquette
4. Identify the different types of calls and other
communication system
5. Appreciate the importance of telephone exchange section in the
front office department.

Module Contents:
Telephone Exchange section takes charge of a very important role in
the operation of the entire business-communication. Telephone transactions
with guest must be dealt with utmost courtesy. Training telephone operators
on how to handle telephone calls is needed.
Telephone is an instrument used to transmit and received information
or calls simultaneously. It permits one party to communicate with another.
It also sends and receives voice messages and data. Commonly, guests
reserve a room using telephone. This is because it is convenient to use, and
it promotes fast transactions. Aside for making reservations, in-house guests
also use telephone to raise complaints regarding hotel services.

Types of Calls
The typical hotel’s telephone operation involves four types of
telephone calls:
1. Local calls- made within the hotel’s non-toll dialing area.
Example: Calls within the community: Cebu City

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2. Extended area calls - a connection beyond the local dialing area

that is still handled by the hotel’s local carrier
and billed as long distance.
Example: Calls within the suburbs or municipalities: Carcar,
San Fernando or other municipalities outside Cebu.
3. Direct distance dialing - the traditional definition of a long distance is
a connection directly dialed by the guest that
goes outside the hotel’s non-toll area and is
switched from the local carrier to the common
carrier.
Example: Calls from outside of the province: Cebu City to
Dumaguete City or v.v. Calls from country to
country. Philippines to Canada or vice-versa.

4. Operator service calls - those that require intervention by local or

long-distance operators for billing purposes.
Telephone Manners
Telephone operators must see to it that telephone calls are handled
appropriately. Below are some tips on how to properly answer telephone calls.
 Answer calls promptly and pleasantly on the second ring, at the
most. Do not discourage or intimidate the caller by sounding
indifferent, threatening or irritated.
 Always have a notepad and pen by your phone so that you can take
messages correctly. Use a call sheet to track your calls. Write the
date and time of your call who tried to speak to, the points you
want to make and anything important that transpired from the
telephone conversation.
 Before you make outgoing calls, ask yourself whether you really
need to make the call. Once you have decided that a phone call is
not necessary, do not leap immediately to the telephone. Lift the
receiver only when you are ready to talk.
 Always put a smile in your face.
 Before placing a call, plan the purpose of the call. Take time to
consider how you are going to approach your call.
 If necessary, list down all the points you want to discuss so as not
to forget the purpose of the call.

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 Make sure you have the correct number before dialing in order to
save time and embarrassment.
 Use your forefinger when dialing.
General Office Telephone Etiquette
The following are some general guidelines observed to help personnel
develop telephone professionalism and etiquette.

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Communication Systems
Telephone companies are now evolving, and the privatization of the
telephone service has encouraged competition as the industry becomes more
technologically advanced.

Different Communication Systems

1. Cellular Telephones
 designed to give the user maximum freedom of movement while
using a telephone
 uses radio signals to communicate between the set and an antenna
 very easy access communications carried out over cellular phones
2. Computers
 A modem converts the digital bits of a computer’s output to an
audio tone, which is then converted to an electrical signal and
passed over telephone lines to be decoded by a modern attached to
a computer at a receiving end.
3. Direct Distance Dialing (DDD)
 telephone service that provides the ability to place international
calls without the assistance of the operator. By adding a three-digit
area code in front of the subscriber’s old number and developing
more sophisticated common-control-switching machines, it
becomes possible for subscribers to complete their own-long
distance calls.
4. Fax Machine
 also known as facsimile machine which produces duplicate of a
document at a distant point.
5. Intercom
 Transferring calls from one set to another without using an outside
telephone line.
6. Private Branch Exchange
 a switching machine with hundreds of lines, all of which can be
reached by dialing one number
7. Radio
 an approach to long distance transmission
 made up of a very powerful long wave (low frequency) radio
stations used for long distance calls.

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8. Telephone Switchboard
 the operator inserted an insulated electrical cable into a jack
corresponding to the subscriber requesting service to allow operator
and subscriber to converse.
PLDT’s Telephone Services and Special Features
1. PLDT Call Waiting Feature
 allows a subscriber served by a digital exchange to know when caller
is trying to reach his telephone number while he is talking to another
caller
 this made possible through a special call waiting
 the subscriber can then place his current call on hold and answer the
new caller
 can alternate between the new and previous call or release one of the
two calls
2. PLDT Abbreviated Dialing
 store up to 20 telephone numbers into memory by assigning a code
to each number
 to call, there is need to dial the code number
 perfect way to dial frequently called IDD, NDD, cellphone, and
pager numbers
3. PLDT Security Code
 a service feature which protects subscribers from unauthorized DDD
calls made on their telephones
 the security code makes use of confidential PIN which is composed
of four digits
 access to the DDD service can only be made after entering the PIN
on the telephone
4. PLDT Do Not Disturb
 electronic secretary that temporarily prevents all incoming call from
getting through
 callers hear a pre-recorded message telling them that your phones
“Do not disturb” feature is activated
5. PLDT Call Barring
 a subscriber can request the company to bar all or certain outgoing
calls from his telephone.

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6. PLDT Conference Call

 engaged subscriber may hold the existing call and make a
call to a third party the subscriber may introduce a common
speech path between all these parties, switch between the
two calls or release either .
7. PLDT Fonkard Plus
 pre-paid telephone card with bulky coins
 available in denominations of P100, P250, P500, and P1,000
 may be used for local, domestic, and international calls
made from PLDT card phones
8. PLDT Priority Subscriber
 the subscriber’s outgoing calls “camped on” the line of the
called party if the latter is busy, even of the called party does
have not the same feature
 the subscriber receives a ringing tone for a specifies time
interval (50 seconds) and is automatically connected once
the busy line becomes free
 if the called party continues to hold his phone after 50-
seconds interval, the calling subscriber will then receive a
busy signal
9. PLDT Call Forwarding
 whether outside the office, on the road, or out of town,
phone’s incoming calls may be forwarded to a specified
number where one can be reached
 diverts incoming calls to another phone number
10. PLDT Philippine Direct
 intended for those who are travelling abroad who make
collect calls to Philippines
 call will be charged to the called number in the Philippines
 access through private and public payphones in over 40-countries

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