When you call a call centre, and you’re asked for your policy number what type of caller are you?

[Rescue2024]

6 digit policy number.

a) 1,2,3 - 4,5,6
b) 1,2 - long silence 3,4 - long pause 5,6
c) 1,2,3,4,5,6,
d) 123456
e) 1, 2, 3, ‘hello, can you hear me? Yes I can … 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

and if you work from home/in a call centre what type of delivery do you prefer?

light hearted after a long week at work 😀

Yes it's the nato alphabet. Used in shipping and logistics as lots of numbers to be shared between companies.

I liked the Scottish way of doing telephone numbers
07xxx xxx xxx
A wee gap so you and see it easily and say it in 3 chunks. No one in England seems to do that.

I bunch numbers in 2s with a teeny pause between

I was trying to give my postcode a while ago which involves a U. He didn't seem to hear me correctly so I said U for umbrella (couldn't think of the official one), but he still seemed unsure and asked 'U for Hubert?'. Admittedly he kinda dropped the H with a strong foreign accent, but that's not a U word for me, so repeated the umbrella and he still seemed confused. I literally couldn't think of any other U words and then DD overheard my problem and hissed 'U for udders' at me. Which literally made me collapse with laughter. Somehow we completed the call.

I was doing deliveries the other day (my job) and I met a chap who asked me about my work. He then mentioned that he worked for Uber. The penny suddenly dropped, he was also foreign and pronounced it exactly the same way the guy on the phone had, but within context I understood. U for Hubert made absolutely no sense to me.

As long as it’s slow and clear….
I used to work in a role where people needed to give long membership numbers, and oh Lord, the number of people who mumbled and gabbled at the same time…
’Could you repeat that please, slowly?’
I could often almost ‘hear’ the eye-roll at the other end…

I'm a two digit-space-two digit-space person.

What really gets my goat is when you have entered your date of birth, policy number, inside leg measurement and the year great aunty Ada lost her virginity in to an automated system and then when you get through to a human they ask for it all again!

I have worked in a call centre taking emergency calls for a utility company but location was as important as postcodes. Many incidents are reported by people on the move and not outside their own home.

I’m…. e: oh shit, sorry I don’t know it

I remember Johnny Vaughan’s radio show did an updated NATO alphabet once when listeners suggested better names for letters….
H for Hashtag
Q for Quickie
T for Techno Techno Techno
U for Umbongo
W for Womble
Are the ones I remember.

I am B, although I try not to put too long between each pair of digits

I take calls for a GP practice

Me: Can I take the patient's date of birth

Caller: John Smith

Me: Frantically typing "John Smith" into search field, hoping he's not Jon Smith, Johan Smith or even a Smithe, Smyth or Smeeth

Me: Finds dozens of John Smiths

Me: And the date of birth, please?

Caller: Do you want my postcode?

Me: No, your date of birth please?

Caller: SW1A 2AA

Me: Unable to ascertain which John Smith that relates to as all I can see are names, DOBs and NHS Numbers from the results I've already called up

Me: I just need your date of birth, please?

Caller: Can you not find me? This happens every time. You lot can never find me. I've been with this practice for years, ever since I was a boy and it's gone downhill so fast, I remember when Dr Livingston/Jekyll/some other long dead guy was there and so on

Me: almost literally banging my head against the desk for the fourth time this morning

I go with groups of an equal division and wait for confirmation before moving on to the next one, so 6 digits would be 12- yes-34-yes-56-yes. And give the full number.

As someone who takes numbers over the phone I go with whatever the caller gives me.

There's those who get halfway through and then wander off on a tangent asking a question halfway through giving me the number,, or wants to change something that affects the amount and I can't change that once I've started inputting the digits, I can't get a word in edgeways and because it's generally card numbers I'm taking the machine times out.

"Long number?"
"1111-2222- what's the weather like there? Do you have x,y,z amenities? Where can I park...."
"Can I take the rest of the number please?"
"The number? Oh I forgot to mention something really important can you change that?"
"We can do this bit first and then I can amend everything, can we continue with the number please?"
"The number? What about ABC? I forgot to ask that as well?"
So the machine times out and I go back and change everything.
"That's all changed"
"Great"
"Could I take the long number please?"
"I already gave you the number though?"
"I'm afraid the machine timed out, could we start again please?" and you only gave me half of it!!
"Well I've put my card away now? Can't you just remember it?" and guess the rest?!
"I'm sorry we'll have to start again"
"Hmph"

I also need the numbers from the address, but, asking for just the numbers from a postcode really throws people so we ask for the full postcode, cue a conversation about why I need the postcode, why I ask for the full one and not just the numbers, so the machine times out and wipes the numbers and another "Hmph" because we have to start again and because I haven't committed the numbers I've already input to memory or the machine hasn't saved them (and do you really want me to be able to do that or for the machine to be displaying your card details for an infinite time?).

It can be much harder than it needs to be!

The best phonetic one I've had is Z for Xylophone...... Ummmm is that Z for zebra or X for X-ray? Nope Z for Xylophone 🤦.

Uniform.

Much more ordinary than udders though.

I'm a 123 (small pause) 456 (small pause)... person.

I once forgot the Nato word for V and said 'V for... Vendetta' and the call handler and I both got an attack of the giggles... 😄

(It's a graphic novel and film).

I'm an A but try to listen out for affirming noises to show that they are ready for the next bit.

@outforawalkbiatch
F for fuck! 😂

A with a polite offer to repeat

Thats not a Scottish thing we do that in England too

I would request you don't use the nato phonetic alphabet unless you know it. The caller can query it if they don't think they've heard correctly.

@ADHDHDHDHD
We do do that in England too but I think we are a dying breed _ maybe a gen x and above thing? Happy to be corrected.
I am a London girl who remembers
My phone number when it started with 01. As the London phone code has grown over the years, I have always kept it lumped together but other people don't seem to,
i.e. 0207 594 7790. Others do the 020 7594 7790. Its wrong, its so wrong.

Im an A.

What about phone numbers? I’m strictly 5-3-3; “07xxx - xxx - xxx”. Anything else is wrong. DH does it completely randomly in different ways each time and it drives me up the wall.

EDIT: next time I’ll RTFT. This conversation has already been had 😄