On the phone

Using Welsh - On the phone

When you greet a member of the public on the phone, you must make sure that the Welsh language is not treated less favourably than the English language, so that members of the public know that they have a right to use Welsh with the council and feel comfortable in doing so.

Remember, if a member of the public wants a Welsh medium service, the entire phone call needs to be provided in Welsh even if it needs to be transferred to another member of staff at any point during the conversation.

Before starting to engage with the public, consider who can speak Welsh in your department, and who would be able to deal with calls on your behalf should a Welsh speaker ring your department. Information on Welsh language skills is available in the address book in Outlook.

When you are phoning a member of the public, or when they phone you:

1. Greet in Welsh. Start the phone call with an entirely bilingual message. When you answer the phone: ‘Good morning. Bore Da.’ Give the name of the department bilingually. When you phone a member of the public ‘Good morning. Bore Da. ‘It’s {your name}, from Carmarthenshire County Council/{your name} sydd yma o Gyngor Sir Gâr’.
2. Establish their language choice
3. If  the member of public chooses a Welsh medium service, you should
   • Provide a Welsh medium service in its entirety. Remember if another member of staff is going to be part of the process that they also know that they need to deal with the phone call through the medium of Welsh, OR
   • If you don’t speak Welsh, transfer the call to a member of staff who can speak Welsh so that they can deal with the phone call in Welsh in its entirety.
4. If it will be necessary to have a further conversation at a later date, make sure that you make note of the individual’s language choice so that you can communicate with them through the medium of Welsh in the future.

We have developed a series of sound clips which will help you to pronounce words, terms and phrases that you might be unsure of.  These include:

• Answering the telephone
• Our services
• Answerphone message
• Job titles

Further information

• Example: Answering the telephone (.pdf)
• Example: Answerphone message (.pdf)
• Download "Using Welsh - On the phone" (.pdf)
• For further advice e-mail: iaithgymraeg@sirgar.gov.uk.
• To read the Standards (Standards 8-10, 18-22), go to: www.comisiynyddygymraeg.cymru.