This job inevitably means spending a lot of time on the phone chasing down information, and people. In the course of such activities I'm frequently reminded of a conversation many moons ago with a company owner who said that finding the right calibre of receptionist involved filling one of the most crucial roles on his team.

He needed someone intelligent, alert, patient and polite to be the public face of his company. Someone equipped with the wherewithal to recognise key clients when they were on the line. In a parallel universe peopled by hags I have actually encountered receptionists who have snittily told me: "he won't want to speak to you" without the benefit of knowing who I am or what I want to talk about. Extraordinary.

A recent worrying development that appears to be a growing trend is companies operating a "no names" policy. Thus one phones up attempting to, say, check a fact only to find it's Catch-22 time. I don't necessarily know the identity of the person who would be best able to deal with my query, but if I don't know their name the receptionist won't tell me and won't put me through. Argh! Perhaps this brilliant idea is something to do with avoiding telesales, or rapacious recruitment agencies. If a few harmless callers end up entering the seven circles of hell, tough.

Amidst a backdrop of such apoplectic encounters, I was relieved and delighted to find the human face of print is still alive and well at some companies. Take, for example, FM Print in Basildon. I hadn't met or spoken to anyone at this firm prior to last week, but I instantly warmed to them after a visit to their website, which features delightful caricatures of the team, along with pithy descriptions of their roles that reinforce the key messages behind the FM offering. What's more, when I did phone them up out of the blue they were the personification of helpfulness, and upon meeting them face-to-face they turned out to be even more charming than the cartoons.

Suitably inspired, I felt a whole lot better about the opportunities for SMEs to capitalise upon the personality of their businesses. I for one would rather deal with a person than with some sort of faceless "no names" edifice.