Typical answering machine recording

[HSC]

I am curious about what a typical recording on an answering machine would be.

"Hello. You've reached 555-1212. No one can answer your call at the moment. Please leave your name, number and a brief message and your call will be returned as soon as possible. Thank you."

How would something like that be said in Chinese (vernacular)?

[elina]

您好！您拨打的电话555-1212现在暂无人接听，请留下您的姓名、电话号码和简短留言，我们将尽快给您回电，谢谢！

ning2 hao3, ning2 bo1 da3 de dian4 hua4 wu3 wu3 wu3 yi1 er4 yi1 er4 (in Beijing we say yao1 er4 yao1 er4) xian4 zai4 zan3 wu2 ren2 jie1 ting1, qing3 liu2 xia4 ning2 de xing4 ming2, dian4 hua4 hao4 ma3 he2 jian3 duan3 liu2 yan2, wo3 men2 jiang1 jin4 kuai4 gei3 ning2 hui2 dian4, xie4 xie4

[gougou]

ning2

What's that about? Just a typo, or is that how you say it?

[elina]

Sorry for the Pin Yin mistake. It should be nin2, so the whole sentence should be:

nin2 hao3, nin2 bo1 da3 de dian4 hua4 wu3 wu3 wu3 yi1 er4 yi1 er4 (in Beijing we say yao1 er4 yao1 er4) xian4 zai4 zan3 wu2 ren2 jie1 ting1, qing3 liu2 xia4 nin2 de xing4 ming2, dian4 hua4 hao4 ma3 he2 jian3 duan3 liu2 yan2, wo3 men2 jiang1 jin4 kuai4 gei3 nin2 hui2 dian4, xie4 xie4

Thank you for mentioning that, gougou!

[maybedaisy]

nin2(您) has the same meaning to ni2(你),

nin2 is the more courteous way,

[elina]

nin2(您) has the same meaning to ni2(你),

ni2(你) should be ni3(你)

[skylee]

Are answering machines commonly used in China?

And do people usually use personalised greetings at their mobiles' mailboxes?

(I ask because I only use the mailbox provided by the network and the system greetings.)

[liuzhou]

In my experience, answering machines are not used in China at all!

They are, however, an excellent method of gathering recordings of people yelling "wei! wei!" while totally ignoring your message.

Mine lasted less than a week before I threw it across the room in despair!.

[skylee]

In my experience, answering machines not used in China at all!

Hahaha, this is exactly what I think. I, and almost everyone I know, simply don't like talking to the machine. People don't like to 對着空氣說話. When I travel I always get messages containing nothing more than awkward silence and the noise of hanging up (and most of them are from my mom). And I don't leave phone messages unless they are for business.

[elina]

I think that the answering machines are actually used in China mainland, especially in big cities or big companies.

For example, my job needs me contact FedEx Express Service Company often, I have twice experiences that when I telephone them, the answering machine tells me: 您好，对不起，您要找的人暂时不在座位上，请在“滴”的一声后留下您的姓名、电话号码，我们会尽快与您联系，谢谢！ And soon after I hang up, the clerk calls back to me.

Usually there are three situations to use answering machine:

1. 要找的人暂时不在座位上，maybe he/she goes to复印室 to copy some documents or goes to toilet or does something else at the moment (how to say “go to toilet” in a politer way in English?), but the time of not being at the seat could not be long.

2. The telephone line is busy: once a time I telephone service hot line of 中国电信, the answering machine tells me: we are sorry that the line is busy, you could wait for a moment to get a person answering you or you could leave your name, telephone number, we will contact you as soon as possible. I meet the same situation when I contact with 中国工商银行。

3. The business hour of a company ends: once after I finish my job in the afternoon, I remember I should call a 机票代理公司 to inquiry something, when I dial its telephone, the answering machine says: our office hour is from 9:00 to 17:00, Monday to Friday, welcome you to contact us in office hour. Thank you!

So I think it is a good idea on improving service to use an answering machine, especially when facing to so many customers, and meanwhile having correspondingly limited resources. But of course, if in the business hour, the answering machine could not be used very frequently.

[HSC]

When someone calls, how would you ask:

Are you calling about ...

Are you calling about the ad in the paper?

Are you calling about the job ad?

Are you calling about the house cleaning position?

Could you come to my place for a quick interview?

How much do you charge?

What kind of salary are you expecting?

[Long Zhiren]

>In my experience, answering machines are not used in China at all!

>They are, however, an excellent method of gathering recordings of people yelling "wei!

>wei!" while totally ignoring your message.

Well, it did take a few years before anyone in the US was used to answering machines. It's not a bad thing really. Most people have gotten used to them.

What about cell phones? Those have "answering machines" too, don't they?

中文怎麼說: "Please wait for the beep?"

Now, the big annoyance in the US is automated answering services with voice recognition. Airlines do this a lot. Most people think that it's a big pain in the butt and would rather speak to a real, living person. However, they should be careful what they ask for because now US companies are hiring cheap-labor phone operators and customer service people in India. Now we get real, living persons with whom to speak, but we can't understand them at all now!

中文怎麼說: "It's a big pain in the butt?"

Do "麻煩" & "討厭" give the same level of emphasis?