Taking down messages

Taking down a message can be a problem if you write slowly or struggle to hold a handset and a pen and keep a piece of paper still all at the same time.

Some options are:

• Using a telephone with a handsfree (loudspeaker) option so that the voice of the person you are talking to comes out from the front edge of the telephone not from the handset. This leaves you with both hands free.

• An answering machine or message service such as BT Answer 1471 can take a message for you to play back later

• If you have a telephone answering machine with two way record, you can tape both sides of the conversation and play it back later to remind yourself of what was said. You should advise the other person you are doing this if you intend to use the information as evidence