けど in phone introduction.

[ggenglish]

みなさん、あけめましておめでとうございます。

Does anyone have a good explanation why けど is used on phone introductions?

e.g.
A: もしもし、Aです。
B: Aさん、Bですけど。
。。。

Thanks in advance,

[ajcpsaga1802]

Think of it as a telephonic equivalent to a bow or business card exchange only briefer. It acts as an introductory 'softener' to reflect the formality of two individuals communicating for the first time. A cultural equivalent for us occasionally reserved Brits would be the "It's John Fisher CALLING(the listener obviously already knows someone is in the act of calling but is slightly less abrupt than 'It's John Fisher')". In Japanese think of the 'kedo' as It's Mr. Matsuya CALLING. This is sometimes followed by 'sumimasen desu ga....' which is perhaps equivalent to "sorry to bother you but.."

[ggenglish]

thanks picknell. i kind of figured it was something like that but I find it odd that that I've heard it a ton of times but not once has there been a すみません to start which would make it completely understandable. It comes across like if you use けど, the すみません is implied. Thanks again for responding.