Your strategy would have worked in one of my places of employment, yggy. It was a phone center, and there were 5 Michelles in the office (tho some spelled it with only one l). Callers would say, "I spoke to Michelle," and we would just guess.

Prior to that job, I worked in a phone center where you had to choose a different phone name if someone already shared your name. I used my middle name, Celeste, because it was the only thing I was sure I'd remember! I always said it clearly at the beginning of the call, but that didn't stop callers from saying things like, "Thank you, Mary!"

Thanks for inspiring the walk down memory lane...