Phone message template: the fields to capture on every call
Nine fields, the words to ask for each one, a finished example, and what to add for sales, complaint, supplier and personal calls.
The message template, field by field
| # | Field | How to ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Date and time | Write it, don’t ask | Tells the person how long the caller has waited |
| 2 | For | “Who were you hoping to speak to?” | A message with no owner never gets returned |
| 3 | Caller’s name | “Can I take your name? How do you spell the last name?” | Surnames get misheard more than anything else |
| 4 | Company | “Are you calling from a business?” | Separates customers from suppliers at a glance |
| 5 | Callback number | “What’s the best number to reach you on today?” | Caller ID often shows a main line, not the caller |
| 6 | Best time to call back | “When are you free this afternoon?” | Saves a round of phone tag |
| 7 | Reason, in their words | “What’s it about?” | The returner can prepare before dialling |
| 8 | Urgency | “Does this need an answer today?” | Sorts the pile before anyone reads it |
| 9 | Taken by | Your initials | Someone to ask if a detail is unclear |
A filled-in message, ready to hand over
- Tue 14 Oct, 2:41pm. For: Mark (estimates).
- From: Priya Nandakumar, spelled N-A-N-D-A-K-U-M-A-R. No company, homeowner.
- Callback: 555-0187, read back and confirmed. Best time: after 4pm today.
- Reason: “Two shingles came off in last night’s wind and there’s a dark patch on the bedroom ceiling. Wants someone to look before the weekend rain.”
- Urgency: today. Taken by: JL.
Extra fields by type of call
| Call type | Add these fields | Route to |
|---|---|---|
| New sales enquiry | Address of the job, how they found you, rough timeline | Estimator |
| Complaint | Job date, what went wrong, what they’d like done | Owner or manager, same day |
| Supplier or vendor | Invoice or order number, amount if they give one | Accounts |
| Personal or unknown | Relationship to the person, if they’ll say | The person named, marked private |
The read-back, word for word
- “Let me read that back so I get it right.”
- “That’s Priya Nandakumar, N-A-N-D-A-K-U-M-A-R.”
- “On 555-0187, after 4pm today.”
- “About two missing shingles and a patch on the bedroom ceiling. Mark will call you back.”
- Stop there. Don’t promise a time unless you own Mark’s calendar.
How to use the template so messages actually get returned
Print the nine fields as a pad, or paste them into whatever your team opens every morning. That might be a shared inbox, a chat channel or a ticket queue. A template only works if every message lands in one place. Two places means one gets forgotten.
Write the reason in the caller’s own words, in quotes. “Shingles off, patch on ceiling” lets Mark picture the job. “Roof issue” sends him into the call blind, and your customer can tell.
Read the number and the name back every time, even when you’re sure. It takes about ten seconds. A single wrong digit loses the job, and there’s no way to find the caller again.
Mark urgency by asking, not guessing. Your caller knows whether it needs an answer today. Anything marked “today” goes to the named person by text as well as by message, so it doesn’t wait in a pile.
Once a month, pull five old messages and check them against the template. Missing callback times and missing spellings are the two gaps that creep back first.
How GreetKeeper fills in the template on every call
GreetKeeper captures the caller’s name, number and reason for calling in conversation, the way the “how to ask” column words it. It reads the name, number and time back before it books. The spelling on your screen is the one your caller confirmed.
You don’t retype anything. Every call arrives as a transcript and a short summary. The summary gives Mark the reason in a sentence, and the transcript keeps the caller’s exact words for when he wants them.
Your extra fields become intake questions. Add the job address, “how did you find us” or an invoice number, and GreetKeeper asks them on the calls where they apply.
The message can go straight into your own tools. GreetKeeper sends a webhook for each taken message. It carries the caller’s name and number, plus their email and street address when they gave them. The reason, the short summary and your intake answers, as question and answer pairs, ride along too. It also carries a link to the transcript, and it’s signed so your system can check it came from GreetKeeper.
Urgent messages don’t wait for the morning read. GreetKeeper texts the on-call person with the caller’s details, and it can transfer the call to your team when a caller asks for a person.
Starter is $49 a month for 200 answered calls, then $0.45 a call. Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial, every feature on, no card needed.
Questions people ask about this template
What should a phone message include?
At minimum: who it’s for, the caller’s name and spelling, a callback number, the reason in their words, and the date and time. This template adds company, best time to call back, urgency and who took it, for nine fields in all. Each one answers a question the person returning the call would otherwise have to guess.
How do you write down a phone message properly?
Ask for each field in order, write the reason in the caller’s own words, then read the name and number back. Keep it to five short lines, like the filled-in example above. Hand it to one agreed place, never a sticky note on a desk.
Should you read back a caller’s phone number?
Yes, every time, digit by digit. Caller ID often shows a company main line or a blocked number, so the number the caller gives is the one that matters. The read-back takes about ten seconds.
Where should phone messages go after the call?
To one place your whole team checks, such as a shared inbox or a chat channel, with urgent ones also texted to the named person. GreetKeeper sends each message to your inbox as a transcript and summary, and it can post the same details to your own system by webhook.