Me: “Good morning, how may I direct your call?”

Client: “I need to talk to Tom please.”

Me: “Tom is on another line at the moment, would you like to leave a voicemail?”

Client: “…What’s voicemail?”

Me: “It will record your voice and Tom can listen to your message later.  Would you like me to transfer you?”

Client: “You can’t transfer me because I don’t know what you’re talking about. What’s voicemail?”

Me: “It’s like an answering machine. It will record a message so Tom can listen to it when he gets off the phone.”

Client: “I don’t have one of those machines, so how can I leave a voicemail!?”

Me: “The machine is in Tom’s office. I just need to put you through to it so you can leave a message.”

Client: “Now I’m being put through, good!”

Me: “…to the voicemail.”

Client: “I have no idea what’s happenning! Just have him call me!”