Modern business usage Jargon

big boy - an important person

e. g. The big boys closed the deal yesterday.

big cheese - the boss, the key figure, the leader

e. g. At the end of the year we usually get a bonus from the big cheese.

big gun - someone in a company who is important and powerful

e. g. For Sam Fox, a big gun of Torstar Inc., competition is second nature.

big wheel - a very important person

e. g. Peter Moors was a big wheel with the company for a while.

big wig - a very important person

e. g. The big wigs are trying to sell the company.

Business reading Importing and Exporting: Overseas Cellular Solutions

At one time different cellular telephone standards such as DMA, AMPS, GSM, iDEN, TDMA and the different frequency levels meant that businessmen could only operate their phones intheir home countries or specific regions. Travelling abroad signified that business people had to give up their local phone numbers. Not any more. There are several altermatives available for business travellers now.

A pre-paid card.

A pre-paid card is the cheapest alternative and it means that users сап replace their domestic SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card with а local one and use it in the same way as they use any standard telephone card. Disposable pre-paid SIM cards appeared on the market in 1995. First pre-paid SIM cards were limited to domestic calling within the country they were bought. Nowadays pre-paid cards сап be found in an increasing number of countries. They can be recharged thus providing users with an opportunity to keep their numbers beyond the original pre-paid calling unit.

A pre-paid card is а relatively inexpensive alternative which provides users the ability to tie into the local network. А considerable inconvenience of this technology is that the user has to find the local cellphone outlet to purchase and recharge the appropriate card and then inform his colleagues and business partners of the new number where they сап be reached.

The second choice is international cellphone rental. If compared to the price of а GSM phone, it does not come cheap. Besides, there are numerous additional costs, namely theft and loss insurance, US-dollar exchange-rate conversions, etc.

Rent Express, World Cell and other companies rent mostly Nokia and Motorola phones that operate in more than 100 countries starting from US$79 per month. Air-time rates range from us $1.10 to $895 per minute, depending upon calling location and the destination of an outgoing call, Incoming calls are free within the country in which the service is provided. Business travellers who use rental phones longer than а certain period of time (е, g. а month) can get discounts. There is also а frequent-use discount plan. As а rule each international rental kit includes а phone, an extra battery, recharger, international adapter, and а customer support telephone number.

Business vocabulary

Additional costs Дополнительные расходы

Call Звонок

Incoming ~ Входящий ~

Outgoing ~ Исходящий ~

Cellular telephone (cellphone) Сотовый телефон

Destination Место назначения, расположе

ния

Discount Скидка

- plan Программа предоставления

скидок

Disposable Одноразоный

Domestic Внутренний

~ calling ~ звонок

Exchange rate Обменный курс

Insurance Страховка

Theft and loss ~ ~ на случай кражи и потери

Operate а phone v. Пользоваться телефоном

Outlet Магазин

Phone number Номер телефона

Pre-paid Оплаченный заранее

Price Цена

Purchase у. Приобретать

Rate Тариф

Reach v. Дозвониться

Rent v. Взять в аренду, арендовать

Rental Арендная плата

SIM (Subscriber Identity СИМ карта Module) cord

Subscriber Абонент

BUSINESS FACTS AND FIGURES

Do _you know that

Nobody argues that automated telephone reception systems make communication faster and easier. But now and again callers are put on hold for an eternity or are baffled with directions too long and too complicated от are eventually connected to the person they had no intention to talk to.

Western businessmen are moving back to hiring receptionists who have got professional training. Fairly recently employers in­fatuated with technological wonders limited the use of personnel to simply directing phone calls mainly to voice mail. At present businessmen in Europe and in America realize that this approach is not productive. They are loosing sales because confused customers hang up. Customers are just ordinary men and women and they want to be answered by а live person, preferably with а nice voice. Man-to-man communication is vital at а11 stages.

More words

Automated telephone reception Система автоматизированного

system приема телефонных звонков

Direct phone calls v. Переадресовывать телефонные

звонки

Hang up v. Повесить трубку

Loose sales v. Терять сбыт

Put on hold v. Перевести в режим ожидания

Receptionist Работник приемной

Voice mail Голосовая почта