Phone Message Template
Fill in a phone message slip with who called, their number, the message and the follow-up, then print a pad of blank slips or send the message on. Copy the message as plain text for a chat, copy it as a ready email, or print the slip, or print a page of 2 or 4 blank "while you were out" slips for the desk.
What goes on a phone message slip
For, date and time
Who the message is for and when the call came in. The time matters: "call me back this morning" means nothing without it.
Caller and company
The caller's full name, spelled the way they spell it, and who they are with. Ask once and read it back.
Phone and email
The number to call back on, even if the person thinks it is on file, and an email when they would rather get a reply in writing.
The check boxes
Telephoned, please call back, will call again, returned your call, came to see you, urgent. One tick tells the colleague what to do before they read the message.
Message
What the caller wants, in their words where it matters: the order number, the problem, the deadline, the best time to reach them.
Taken by
Your name, so the colleague knows who to ask if something on the slip is unclear.
Taking a message the colleague can act on
Get the caller's name and number first, before the conversation moves on, and read the number back digit by digit. A message with the wrong number is worse than no message.
Ask what it is about and whether there is a deadline. "Wants the revised quote before Friday" lets the colleague act; "please call" makes them call just to find out why.
Tick the boxes, mark it urgent only when it is, and pass it on straight away: copy it as an email or a chat message, or put the printed slip where the person will see it.
Was the message left on voicemail instead? The voicemail to text converter turns the recording into text you can paste into the slip.
Taking many calls a day? Keep them all on one sheet with the call log template.
Phone message slip, call log, voicemail
- Phone message slip
- One message for one person, passed on and done. This template, filled in here or printed as a pad.
- Call log
- Every call on one list, with outcomes and next steps, kept for the day or the week. Use the call log template for that.
- Voicemail
- The caller's own recording when nobody picked up. Turn it into text before you write the slip, so the number and the details are right.
Tips for messages that get returned
Read the number back
Say it back in groups ("three one two, five five five, zero one four two"). It takes five seconds and catches most mistakes.
Write what they want, not just who called
A name and a tick in "please call back" starts a game of phone tag. One line on the reason ends it.
Keep urgent for urgent
If every slip is urgent, none is. Tick it when there is a deadline today or a customer waiting.
Pass it on at once
A slip that sits on your desk until lunch is a call returned too late. Copy it as an email the moment you hang up.
More for the people who keep the office running: meeting notes for executive assistants, sales admin tasks, sales voicemail scripts.
When the message is a voicemail
Not every message comes through the desk. For messages left as voicemails, save the audio and ParrotNotes turns it into text with a short summary, so the number and the details are right before you pass them on. Free for 100 minutes of recording a month.
Get Started FreeRelated tools
- Voicemail to Text ConverterSave a voicemail from your phone, upload it and get the message as text with a short summary, saved to your free ParrotNotes account.Open the tool
- Call Log TemplateLog your calls with date, contact, company, outcome and next step, see totals by outcome, then print the log or download a CSV.Open the tool
- Contact List TemplateBuild a contact list for customers, a team or a job site with names, roles, phones and emails, then print it, save it as a PDF or download a CSV.Open the tool