Note: This article doesn't have the right to copy from the author of Business Correspondence.  I post this translation just for my own test skill.

Chapter 1    Why Do We Still Send Business Letters?

第一章 为什么我们仍需要商业信函？

Despite the constant use of the telephone in modern life and despite the popularity of the telex and the ubiquitousness of printed forms, letters continue to be written in millions. Why is this so? Why have letters retained their importance in an age of electrical and electronic communications? Why is it reasonable to think that letters will retain their importance? We shall find the answers if we study some ideas that we associate with letters as a means of communication in business.

不管现代生活中的电话普遍应用，也不管电报的流行和铅印格纸普遍使用，仍有成千上万的信函。为什么如此？为什么在电子信息时代信函仍保持它们的重要性？是什么原因让我觉得信函仍是那么重要？联合其作为商业中一种通讯的手段来看看几个观点就会知道答案。

1)     信函给写信人足够的时间思考和反应。写信人有足够的时间来确定他究竟要表达的是什么，也有时间来写草稿。草稿或信纸上的字也是收信人将会看到的，写信人就会有时间来考虑他所写的文字会对收信人造成什么影响。在麻烦或重要事情回应的情况下，信函可能要花两到三天的时间才能到达目的地，所以商业中的有些人希望或要求能够立即回复。从另外一个方面讲，用电话或电报跟我们联系的人期望立即或至少是尽快回复。结果是任何人会在紧迫压力下思考和回复电话或电报。

2)     A letter gives the writer an opportunity to state things at length.

Although we should avoid wordiness in writing letters, we are justified in giving full details and even in repeating ourselves in order to assist the reader.

When, however, we make a telephone call or send a telex message we feel that we must compress our message, avoid a recital of numerous details and ‘get off the line’ as soon as we can. Staying on the line for an extra three minutes may seem to be an extravagance or a nuisance in a busy office but no one will complain about three more minutes spent on the writing of a letter in order to improve it.

People who like to use telex may object that the composing of letters is a slow way of communicating. This is true but it is this very slowness that produces a higher degree of accuracy, whereas the haste with which telex messages are often composed tends to result in oversights and errors.

2)     信函能给写信人一个机会对事情有一个缓冲的处理环境

虽然我们应该避免写信时罗嗦，但我们应该给出所有的细节，甚至我们自己应重复考虑以便帮助收信人的理解。

可但是，当我们打一个电话或者电报时感觉上必须压缩要传递的信息，避免众多详细信息然后尽快收线。在一个忙碌办公室中占用电话3分钟以上会被视为是浪费或者烦人的行为，但是没有人会抱怨你花费更多的时间来修改信件以便更好的将事情表达出来。

喜欢用电报的人可能会反对，因为决定写信是一种低速度的交流方式。说的没错，但是写出很高精确性、不管匆忙时的电报经常造成疏忽和错误。

3)     A letter has the advantage over a telephone call that it can be read an unlimited number of times. It is, moreover, the sender’s own words and not the recipient’s record of the sender’s words that are read again and again.

Telephone calls are notoriously easy to misunderstand. Of course anyone receiving a telephone call can ask the caller to repeat words heard indistinctly but anyone who made a habit of asking callers to repeat many words would provoke embarrassment.

3)     信件优于电话的方面是可以在任何时间阅读。更重要的是，信息是原汁原味的，而不是从电话听到自己写下来的信息。

电话中很容易误解。当然任何人接电话时可以让别人重复自己没有听明的地方，但是如果任何人养成要人时时刻刻重复的习惯会造成困惑。

4)     Letters provide both the sender and the addressee with a definite permanent record of what has been communicated.

For many messages the telephone is adequate but the caller knows that if the person taking the call makes a note of the conversation the latter may unintentionally (or sometimes intentionally) distort the messages; then it is only one person’s word against another’s as to the exact nature and content of the message – written records of telephone calls are remarkably unreliable.

When we receive a telephone call we can of course make notes of what the caller says but what appears on our paper is a record of only what we thought the caller had said. Moreover, if we miss a point made by the caller, we obviously do not record it and so our note may be seriously incomplete.

It may be only one of the parties to a transaction or it may be both of them who require that what passes between them be expressed in a permanent binding form. In this form their communications may be presented as evidence in a court of law.

Letters therefore give both the sender and the recipient a degree of protection that telephone messages cannot give. This protection is especially important in a place such as Hong Kong where the turnover of staff is high: when we examine the one of a telephone conversation made several months earlier the person who took the call and made the note may already have left the company. Even if he is still in the company it is highly unlikely that he will be able to recall everything that was said on the telephone. He will therefore be unable to help much if the note he made at the time of the call is now seen to be inadequate.

Letters are also written of course to confirm not only what has been said on the telephone but also what has been said during a face-to-face discussion.

4)     信件能够作为永久的证据保持双方沟通时说涉及的内容。

对许多信息而言电话沟通是合适的，但是打电话者知道如果接电话者对谈话做了无意或有意曲解本意的记录，然后双方的意思都不相同――明显写下电话内容是不可靠的。

我们当然可以在接到电话的时候在纸上记下来电者所说的内容，但是这纸上的只是我们自己认为来电者所说的内容。更进一步，如果我们遗漏了来电者的某些要点，我们所记录下来的内容明显的不完全。

也许单方面需要处理或者双方需要进行的交流可以有据可查。这种情况下他们的之间的交流就可以作为法律文件提供证据。

因此信件能给双方电话记录不能给出的一定程度保护。在香港这种员工流动性大的情况下，当我们检查一个几个月前由一个或许早已离开公司的员工写下来的电话记录时，这种保护尤为重要。即使该员工仍在公司，很有可能也记不起来当时在电话中的谈话，也就不能对现在看来不完整的记录提供任何有作用的帮助了。

信件不仅能够确认电话所涉及的也能证实当面的讨论内容。

5)     Letters have a degree of authority that telephone messages do not have.

If we call a telephone number and the people at the other end identify themselves as the people whom we wish to speak to, we take it for granted that we are indeed speaking to the right people.

If on the other hand we ourselves are the people called on the telephone, we may have a doubt that the authenticity of the call unless we can identify the voice of the caller – and even then we may be mistaken. Although nearly all calls made are genuine, it is not unknown for joke calls and malicious calls to be made. Even if the caller properly identifier himself, we may doubt his authority to make demands upon us or to make commitments on behalf of his organization.

Whether then we are the people making or receiving a telephone call we feel that what is said on the telephone has not the weight that it would have if it were put into writing. We feel that something ‘in black and white’ with a signature attached to it has more weight and authority than spoken words have. Hence we hear people say ‘Please confirm this in writing’. Just imagine all the mischief that would arise if banks transferred money after receiving only telephone calls!

5)     信件比电话记录有更大的权威性。

如果我们拨通一个电话，对方证实其是我们所要找的人，那么我们就认为所交谈的对象就是所要找的人。

换个方向考虑，我们自己接一个电话，除非能够辨别来电者的声音，我们也会怀疑这个电话的真实性――即使这样也会犯错误。尽管大部分的电话是真实的，但不知道是否有玩笑和恶意的电话。即使来电者证实了身份，我们也会怀疑他的资格或者委托的事情是否代表其公司。

不管我们接电话还是打电话所说的事情没有在纸上所表明的那么有份量。我们感觉带有签名的“黑字白底”比口头上的有份量也权威的多。因此听到人们说“请签字确认”。想象一下如果你到银行转帐然后只收到一个电话通知会造成的后果。

6)     Letters can be sent to small businesses, householders and other private correspondents that have no telex machine.

6)     信件可以作为商业信函、寄给住户或作为私人回复而不需要电报机。

7)     A letter is read when the recipient decides that it is convenient to read it. In other words, without reference to anyone outside the company, the reading of a letter can postponed until the recipient feels himself ready to deal with it.

7)     收信人可以在适当的时候读信。换句话说，不管是否有人在公司，收信人可以推迟到他自己任何合适处理的时候来阅读。

8)     A letter may reach a ‘difficult’ person who will not accept a telephone call or a visit by the writer.

It is notoriously difficult to speak to certain business people. They withdraw themselves behind a screen of receptionists, telephone operators, secretaries, personal assistants and clerks. When you want to speak to them they are always ‘out’ or ‘engaged’ or ‘in conference’. Such people, however, can almost always be reached by letter.

8)     信件可以联系到一个不接电话或者拒绝拜访而“难找”的人。

很难找到某些把自己藏在接待处、接线员、秘书、私人助理和职员背后的人。当你需要和这些人通话时，总是被告知“外出”或“忙碌中”或者“开会中”。这类人，却通常可以通过信件取得联系。

9)     Letters provide a degree of confidentiality that the telephone and the telex cannot provide.

9)     信件能够保证一定的机密性，而电话和电报却不能。

10)    Statements of account and lengthy tables of statistics are not things that can be sent conveniently or confidentially by telephone or by telex but they can be sent easily as part of a letter or as an enclosure. Although a facsimile system can easily handle statements of account and tables of statistics, it is less confidential than transmission by letter.

10)    对帐单和长长的统计表单不是能够用电话和电报就能方便发出去的，而可以作为信函的一部分或者装入信封发出。虽然传真能够方便的处理对帐单和统计表格，但是没有信函那么有机密性。

11)    Letters provide a means of promoting goodwill. Since much of a company’s business cannot be conducted face-to-face or on the telephone or by telex letters can play on important part in promoting goodwill – one thing upon which the profitability of a company depends.

11)    信件意味着一种善意。自从公司的许多事情不能面对面管理，而电话或传真不能很好的促进善意――信件就是公司所依靠有效率的方法。

12)    Letters may be cheaper than international telephone calls and telex messages.

12)    费用而言，信件比越洋电话和电报都便宜。

Points for discussion

1)                       Consider how the confidentiality of a letter may be compromised from the time that it is drafted or dictated to the time that it is picked up by the addressee.

2)                       Determine why the degree of confidentiality of telephone, telex and facsimile systems is low.

讨论：

1)                       请考虑当从起草稿或口述到收信人收到的这段时间，信件的机密性。

2)                       讲述为什么电话、电报和传真的机密性较低。

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