{"id":2859,"date":"2018-04-06T18:42:08","date_gmt":"2018-04-06T18:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=2859"},"modified":"2024-05-13T16:11:45","modified_gmt":"2024-05-13T16:11:45","slug":"one-on-one-audio-calls","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/chapter\/one-on-one-audio-calls\/","title":{"raw":"One-on-One Audio Calls","rendered":"One-on-One Audio Calls"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Identify strategies to increase comprehension and reduce misunderstanding in one-on-one telephone \/ VOIP communications<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\nIn many ways, one-on-one calls are the easiest because they are the most familiar. However, this familiarity can also lead to people being underprepared for the call and wasting time, which is frustrating for both parties.\u00a0Needless to say, you shouldn't eat or chew gum during the call; a quiet sip of water now and then is fine. You should also make sure you complete all five stages of the call.\r\n\r\nIf the call is planned and on the calendar, make sure you call on time. It\u2019s human nature to feel more pressure when several people are waiting rather than just one, but it\u2019s no less rude to that one person when you\u2019re late. If the call is unplanned and it\u2019s likely to take more than a few minutes, it\u2019s courteous to send an IM or email asking whether the person is available now and letting them know how long the call may take: \u201cHi Dan, are you free to talk for about 20 minutes right now? If not, might you have some time before the end of the day? Thanks.\u201d\r\n\r\n<strong>Listen as actively as you talk<\/strong>. No matter what means of communication you are using, this is one of your most important guidelines. A lot of time and confusion is saved when people actively listen to one another rather than thinking about what they\u2019re going to say next.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4126\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"699\"]<img class=\"wp-image-4126\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2785\/2018\/04\/24234543\/ActiveListening.png\" alt=\"A diagram of the Degrees of Active Listening. To the left most column is headed &quot;Repeating&quot;, while underneath it are the phrases &quot;perceiving, paying attention, remembering&quot; and &quot;repeating the message using exactly the same words used by the speaker&quot;. This column flows right into the next column which is headed, &quot;Paraphrasing&quot;. The phrases underneath this header read, &quot;perceiving, paying attention, remembering, thinking and reasoning&quot;, and &quot;rendering the message using similar words and similar phrase arrangement to the ones used by the speaker&quot;. The diagram flows right one more time to a column headed with &quot;Reflecting&quot;, and under this header are the phrases &quot;perceiving, paying attention, remembering, thinking and reasoning&quot;, and &quot;rendering the message using your own words and sentence structure&quot;.\" width=\"699\" height=\"659\" \/> Figure 1. Degrees of Active Listening.[\/caption]\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\r\n<h3>Practice Question<\/h3>\r\nhttps:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/53c5c542-0842-4985-a162-0d9327501f5b\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nBecause of quirks in the technology, using more complex systems such as VOIP on your laptop or conferencing applications can make calls a bit more complicated even when it\u2019s just you and one other person. As we have already discussed, allow a bit of time when scheduling the call to make sure that you can attend to technology issues and still get your important business done.\r\n\r\nIf there\u2019s a staticky or hard-to-hear line, there are a couple of things to do:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">Find out where the other person is calling from. If they are outside or at a busy coffee shop, the background noise behind them may be what\u2019s making your call hard to hear. To fix this, they can either move to a quieter place (which may mean rescheduling the call), or mute their phone when they are not actively talking. However, muting can be pretty inconvenient if there are only two people are on the call since there will likely be a lot of back-and-forth conversation.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">If it\u2019s the line itself, hang up the call and dial back in. You are likely to get a clearer line on your second try.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nIf one person cannot hear the other, there are a few things you can try. Let\u2019s go back to Dave and Lanie\u2019s call and assume they are using VOIP through their laptops. If Lanie can hear Dave just fine but he can't hear her, he might try the following solutions:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dave should check to make sure that his speakers are on and the volume turned up. There are a few places on a laptop to check this.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">On a PC, at the bottom-right corner of the screen, there\u2019s a speaker icon. If that icon has an X (or a circle with a line through it) next to it, that means the speaker is on Mute. If there\u2019s no X, click on the speaker anyway to see how far the volume is turned up.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">On a Mac, the volume control icon is at the top right of the screen. If there are no waves coming out of the speaker icon, your Mac is muted.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">If either Dave or Lanie is using a headset or headphones with a microphone, they should both make sure that the headphones are plugged all the way into the proper jack on the laptop. If they\u2019re using Bluetooth headphones, they should make sure the Bluetooth connection is established.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">If the problem is not with Dave\u2019s speakers or anyone\u2019s headset, Lanie should check her microphone settings.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">If Lanie is on a PC, she\u2019ll go to Settings in the Windows menu and search on Microphone. She\u2019ll make sure the mic is set up. Then she\u2019ll check her microphone privacy settings to be sure she hasn\u2019t blocked the app she\u2019s using from access to the microphone.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">If she\u2019s on a Mac, she\u2019ll click on the System Preferences icon and then click the Sound icon. She\u2019ll make sure the Internal Microphone is chosen and then adjust the Input Volume to be sure she can be heard.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">If none of that works, they may need to start over with a new line or switch to a regular phone call.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nIf there\u2019s an echo on the line that makes it hard for one or both people to hear, this can really mess with the pacing of the call and be frustrating for those involved. There are a few steps you can take to eliminate this problem.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ask whether either person is using their speaker instead of their handset. If multiple people are using speakers, this can cause an echo. The more people on the call, the worse this can get. The solution is to ask people who don\u2019t absolutely need to use their speakers to switch to their handsets. Using cell phones can sometimes make this even worse.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">Restart the call to get another line.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nOne more thing to take into account when using VOIP, especially through a laptop or tablet, is that there may be a delay between what the speaker says and when the hearer hears it. This is why active listening is so important. Take the time to be sure the other person has finished speaking, and have some phrases ready to use if you get interrupted because of the delay. Here\u2019s what to do:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">Acknowledge the delay: \u201cWe seem to have a little bit of a lag in the audio. I want to make sure you get to finish your thoughts before I start talking, so please let me know if I interrupt you.\u201d<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">When you step on someone else\u2019s conversation: \u201cSorry, please continue.\u201d<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">When someone steps on your conversation: \u201cI'd like to finish that thought, and the sound delay got in the way. If I could have one more minute . . .\u201d<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Identify strategies to increase comprehension and reduce misunderstanding in one-on-one telephone \/ VOIP communications<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>In many ways, one-on-one calls are the easiest because they are the most familiar. However, this familiarity can also lead to people being underprepared for the call and wasting time, which is frustrating for both parties.\u00a0Needless to say, you shouldn&#8217;t eat or chew gum during the call; a quiet sip of water now and then is fine. You should also make sure you complete all five stages of the call.<\/p>\n<p>If the call is planned and on the calendar, make sure you call on time. It\u2019s human nature to feel more pressure when several people are waiting rather than just one, but it\u2019s no less rude to that one person when you\u2019re late. If the call is unplanned and it\u2019s likely to take more than a few minutes, it\u2019s courteous to send an IM or email asking whether the person is available now and letting them know how long the call may take: \u201cHi Dan, are you free to talk for about 20 minutes right now? If not, might you have some time before the end of the day? Thanks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Listen as actively as you talk<\/strong>. No matter what means of communication you are using, this is one of your most important guidelines. A lot of time and confusion is saved when people actively listen to one another rather than thinking about what they\u2019re going to say next.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4126\" style=\"width: 709px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4126\" class=\"wp-image-4126\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2785\/2018\/04\/24234543\/ActiveListening.png\" alt=\"A diagram of the Degrees of Active Listening. To the left most column is headed &quot;Repeating&quot;, while underneath it are the phrases &quot;perceiving, paying attention, remembering&quot; and &quot;repeating the message using exactly the same words used by the speaker&quot;. This column flows right into the next column which is headed, &quot;Paraphrasing&quot;. The phrases underneath this header read, &quot;perceiving, paying attention, remembering, thinking and reasoning&quot;, and &quot;rendering the message using similar words and similar phrase arrangement to the ones used by the speaker&quot;. The diagram flows right one more time to a column headed with &quot;Reflecting&quot;, and under this header are the phrases &quot;perceiving, paying attention, remembering, thinking and reasoning&quot;, and &quot;rendering the message using your own words and sentence structure&quot;.\" width=\"699\" height=\"659\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-4126\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Figure 1. Degrees of Active Listening.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\n<h3>Practice Question<\/h3>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"assessment_practice_53c5c542-0842-4985-a162-0d9327501f5b\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/53c5c542-0842-4985-a162-0d9327501f5b?iframe_resize_id=assessment_practice_id_53c5c542-0842-4985-a162-0d9327501f5b\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:300px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Because of quirks in the technology, using more complex systems such as VOIP on your laptop or conferencing applications can make calls a bit more complicated even when it\u2019s just you and one other person. As we have already discussed, allow a bit of time when scheduling the call to make sure that you can attend to technology issues and still get your important business done.<\/p>\n<p>If there\u2019s a staticky or hard-to-hear line, there are a couple of things to do:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">Find out where the other person is calling from. If they are outside or at a busy coffee shop, the background noise behind them may be what\u2019s making your call hard to hear. To fix this, they can either move to a quieter place (which may mean rescheduling the call), or mute their phone when they are not actively talking. However, muting can be pretty inconvenient if there are only two people are on the call since there will likely be a lot of back-and-forth conversation.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">If it\u2019s the line itself, hang up the call and dial back in. You are likely to get a clearer line on your second try.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If one person cannot hear the other, there are a few things you can try. Let\u2019s go back to Dave and Lanie\u2019s call and assume they are using VOIP through their laptops. If Lanie can hear Dave just fine but he can&#8217;t hear her, he might try the following solutions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dave should check to make sure that his speakers are on and the volume turned up. There are a few places on a laptop to check this.\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">On a PC, at the bottom-right corner of the screen, there\u2019s a speaker icon. If that icon has an X (or a circle with a line through it) next to it, that means the speaker is on Mute. If there\u2019s no X, click on the speaker anyway to see how far the volume is turned up.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">On a Mac, the volume control icon is at the top right of the screen. If there are no waves coming out of the speaker icon, your Mac is muted.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">If either Dave or Lanie is using a headset or headphones with a microphone, they should both make sure that the headphones are plugged all the way into the proper jack on the laptop. If they\u2019re using Bluetooth headphones, they should make sure the Bluetooth connection is established.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">If the problem is not with Dave\u2019s speakers or anyone\u2019s headset, Lanie should check her microphone settings.\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">If Lanie is on a PC, she\u2019ll go to Settings in the Windows menu and search on Microphone. She\u2019ll make sure the mic is set up. Then she\u2019ll check her microphone privacy settings to be sure she hasn\u2019t blocked the app she\u2019s using from access to the microphone.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">If she\u2019s on a Mac, she\u2019ll click on the System Preferences icon and then click the Sound icon. She\u2019ll make sure the Internal Microphone is chosen and then adjust the Input Volume to be sure she can be heard.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">If none of that works, they may need to start over with a new line or switch to a regular phone call.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If there\u2019s an echo on the line that makes it hard for one or both people to hear, this can really mess with the pacing of the call and be frustrating for those involved. There are a few steps you can take to eliminate this problem.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ask whether either person is using their speaker instead of their handset. If multiple people are using speakers, this can cause an echo. The more people on the call, the worse this can get. The solution is to ask people who don\u2019t absolutely need to use their speakers to switch to their handsets. Using cell phones can sometimes make this even worse.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">Restart the call to get another line.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>One more thing to take into account when using VOIP, especially through a laptop or tablet, is that there may be a delay between what the speaker says and when the hearer hears it. This is why active listening is so important. Take the time to be sure the other person has finished speaking, and have some phrases ready to use if you get interrupted because of the delay. Here\u2019s what to do:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">Acknowledge the delay: \u201cWe seem to have a little bit of a lag in the audio. I want to make sure you get to finish your thoughts before I start talking, so please let me know if I interrupt you.\u201d<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">When you step on someone else\u2019s conversation: \u201cSorry, please continue.\u201d<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">When someone steps on your conversation: \u201cI&#8217;d like to finish that thought, and the sound delay got in the way. If I could have one more minute . . .\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-2859\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>One-on-One Audio Calls. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Barbara Egel. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Modification of Active listening chart. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Imelda Bickham. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Wikimedia. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Active-listening-chart.png\">https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Active-listening-chart.png<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":62559,"menu_order":17,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"One-on-One Audio Calls\",\"author\":\"Barbara Egel\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Modification of Active listening chart\",\"author\":\"Imelda Bickham\",\"organization\":\"Wikimedia\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Active-listening-chart.png\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"a6052018184f4e97b58d0c7c83b15e7f, acc6ecd894674efeb9318c30480232f8","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-2859","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":1014,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/2859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62559"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/2859\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8225,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/2859\/revisions\/8225"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/1014"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/2859\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=2859"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=2859"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=2859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}