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Discussion on: Importance of summarizing the points talked over phone

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DIPA_DHUNGANA

Telephone helps us to reach to the distant people easily and quickly. Even in business, telephone conversations are used widely. Sometimes, telephone conversation may be lengthy and we fail to remember the details talked over phone. Summarizing the conversation helps to recall the important points by repeating the information shared throughout the call (KomBea, 2017).

Summarizing the points covered in phone conversation is useful because of the following reasons:

  1. When the telephone conversation is lengthy, we may be distracted in between and miss out on some points. Since there is no physical presence, the chances of people being less attentive over phone is very high. So summarizing the conversation helps to identify the major information that we cannot afford to miss.

  2. After the telephone conversation, we may need to perform follow-up actions like making other calls, sending e-mail, writing proposals or arranging a meeting. Summing up the conversation provides us with clear idea about what to do next.

  3. It helps to avoid miscommunication. Sometimes due to different barriers, it is possible that the receiver may not receive the information as intended by the caller (Bellamy, 2012). The caller and receiver may have understood the things differently. So the summary of the telephone conversation helps to verify that the things are communicated as intended and both parties understood the same thing.

  4. Sometimes we may go out of the track or lose the focus in telephone conversation and miss to communicate important information. So summarizing helps to identify the missing information and add those in the conversation.

  5. Sometimes incorrect information may be transferred over phone without our realization. This is highly possible in case of communicating numerical values. Thus summarizing helps to identify the errors and confirm the facts.

  6. It is an act of complementing the caller. When the receiver summarizes the phone conversation, it demonstrates that the information was well received and processed on real time (Bell & Smith, 2006). It helps to build trust and confidence among the communicating parties. In addition, summarizing is the best way to conclude a telephone conversation.

References

Bell, A. H., & Smith, D. M. (2006). Management Communication. New York: Wiley.

Bellamy, M. (2012, September 14). A Good Practice: Summarize the Conversation . Retrieved from China Sourcing Information Center: chinasourcinginfo.org/2012/09/14/a...

KomBea. (2017, June 22). 4 Reasons Why Summarization Improves the Customer Experience . Retrieved from KomBea: kombea.com/blog-and-news/4-reasons...