Carol, as resident curmudgeon I'd say your issue is one with a general decline in phone etiquette, reflecting an overall coarsening of society. Grumble, harrumph.
It used to be considered polite behavior, when calling anyone other than family or intimate friends, to say something like "Hi, this is Mike Sebastian calling for Elvis Presley about his order for peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches", it being incumbent upon the caller to make his business clear. This before the general availability of answering machines.
I'm 45 so we're not talking about the telephone party-line days of yore.
Heck, I find it increasingly difficult to understand the speech hurled at me day in and day out, even by those who claim English as their mother tongue.
Damn I'm old.