The floor number means destination to a visitor and routine to someone who works there.

The same piece of information carries entirely different weight depending on who holds it. A floor number is a whole appointment to one person, with the nerves and the preparation attached, and a daily commonplace to another. Most friction at a reception desk comes from that mismatch rather than from anyone being unhelpful.

If you deal with people arriving somewhere for the first time, add the small details you have stopped noticing. Where to wait, how long it takes, and what happens next cost you a sentence and remove most of somebody’s uncertainty.