YOU'RE flapping as you're five minutes late for a meeting but the manicured receptionist gives you a reassuring smile you take to mean it really won't matter as you're worth waiting for.

She dials your appointment's extension and cheerily informs him of your arrival.

"Just take a seat there and he'll be with you shortly, " she says, enunciating your first name so well, smiling again as you relax into the leather sofa.

You immediately feel oh so much better than you did just 15 minutes earlier as you sat in traffic hyperventilating at the thought of even being five minutes late.

'Everything's under control' is the message good receptionists exude to those they 'receive'. Really good ones tell you in the subtext you're the best thing that ever walked through those doors, look ten years younger than you really do and are of major import to their lives, but after a few visits, the norm is a more subdued 'you're fine'.

You pick up the paper as a ruse; you're watching others - couriers, callers, visitors and employees alike - being dealt the same sweet reception, and allow yourself to indulge in the fantasy of having your own secretary just like her. You wish you had that co-ordination and could keep up the act so well? and then along comes your appointment, out come the handshakes and name tags and into the bowels of the building you go.

The reception we receive when entering a new place feeds into so many human needs, it's surprising any of us ever leaves those cosy seats and the relieving accessorised sterility of the space.

Even just listening to the phone voice, the repeated company name and generic greeting has a rhythm that relaxes.

The background musak and supermarket art serve as tranquillisers to hypervigilant senses brought about by the world outside; everything's fine here, all calm; it's going to be OK.

The polished personality of receptionists feeds into our need for the human; well, the human with a lot more grace, a little more manners, better nails and a permanent smile.

Not just that, the contact helps us relax as we're often unknowingly projecting our anxiety - about being late, being small, being nervous or just being out of our depth - on whoever mans reception, and as it's usually a woman, there's that little gem of the gender thing in the mix too.

After a few months, though, even the most upbeat and unctuous temps get smile-weary and greetings to visitors become fatigued. Those permanently on reception duties may wilt within months and revert to type, which like most of us, is healthily grumpy most of the time with the odd but fleeting burst of joie de vivre.

Or they may be of that rare breed who are constantly upbeat, helpful and tolerant of the huge array of visitor foibles, and are the people we love to see when we're visiting.

The current trend in organisations is to streamline operations, cut costs, operate with fewer employees, downsize, merge and make everything machine-efficient. So what's to happen to receptionists in this craze for the machine and trust in technology?

It may well be a matter of time before real-life receptionists go the way of supermarket cashiers and are replaced by a synthesis of machines that receive visitors, relay messages, apply codes and give access to buildings.

It's not only the smile that visitors will miss, though, should these computerised reception areas take on. Arriving in an empty reception, dialling an extension, emailing your intended contact and even communicating through interactive television with their office upstairs and using codes to bypass security systems may make it all very efficient and be impressive to those with high-tech expectations, but for most of us, the pleasant effect engendered by positive human interfaces outweighs by far the advantages of minor efficiencies and machine-driven advancement.

Interacting with people is a double-edged sword. It is one of the major stressors within and outside the workforce and simultaneously one of the main causes of feeling good.

Findings from research show the benefits of real receptionist. Not only are we prone to believe the niceties exchanged, we also allow them to invade our self-esteem stores and are more positive about meetings we attend that have been preceded by positive experiences at reception.

The organisation bestows power to its receptionist's skills with people and personal style, just as its corporate image is reflected in the building, the prints, the plants and the propaganda in the annual report.

The 'personality' that marketing maestros try to foster for organisations is often costly, when really, the person on reception is where it's at; get that person right and your visitors will at least have a positive view of the transactions they're about to sign up to.

ASK PATRICIA. . .

Q: Our receptionist is out sick a lot and we keep using temps who don't stay long. It can get messy. What's your suggestion?

A: Don't just leave reception to anyone at all or to temporary workers who aren't trained at or experienced in reception skills.

Personality style is under-rated sometimes, and where you can show your organisation knows what it means is with the receptionist so train up some key administration people who can cover reception duties, ensuring the personality style is right for the specific job of greeting all sorts of people.

Discuss the reason for the sickness absence and it may be best to - where possible - consider an alternative position for the incumbent if the job is part-causing the absence or if it's stress-related.