Call whisper, otherwise known as call screening, is a

calling feature A vertical service code (VSC) is a sequence of digits and the signals star (*) and number sign (#) dialed on a telephone keypad or rotary dial to enable or disable certain telephone service features. Some vertical service codes require dialing of ...

that often appears on non-geographic telephony systems and hosted inbound call handling software. It involves the playing of a message to the

called party The called party (in some contexts called the "B-Number") is a person who (or device that) answers a telephone call. The person who (or device that) initiates a telephone call is the calling party. In some situations, the called party may number m ...

when they have answered a call, during which time the

calling party The calling party (in some contexts called the "A-Number") is a person who (or device that) initiates a telephone call. The person who, or device that, receives a telephone call is the called party (or callee or B-party). In some countries, it is ...

continues to hear ringing. The called party can then decide whether to accept the call (usually by pressing a particular key whereupon the call will be put through to them) or to reject it (either by pressing a key or simply hanging up). They can also identify the caller by their

caller ID Caller identification (Caller ID) is a telephone service, available in analog and digital telephone systems, including voice over IP (VoIP), that transmits a caller's telephone number to the called party's telephone equipment when the call is ...

number or answer the phone in an appropriate manner for the number that has been dialed.

Customization

The call whisper feature can be customized, depending on the options offered by the hosting product, in many ways: *The message played to the ‘called party’ can be customized to convey any relevant information that can be of assistance to the answering agent such as the

number A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers c ...

that has been dialed, a particular product for which the caller requires

support Support may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Supporting character Business and finance * Support (technical analysis) * Child support * Customer support * Income Support Construction * Support (structure), or lateral support, a ...

, etc. *An element of

dynamic content A server-side dynamic web page is a web page whose construction is controlled by an application server processing server-side scripts. In server-side scripting, parameters determine how the assembly of every new web page proceeds, and includin ...

can be introduced to the

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

so that it responds to the caller ID in an intelligent way e.g. it could simply read out the caller ID of the caller, it could specifically advise what location the call is coming from, based on the caller ID, or it could check the caller ID against a customer

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases sp ...

and therefore advise the agent which customer is calling in and what their account number is. *The amount of time the system waits for the call to be accepted or rejected can be shortened or lengthened. This can be particularly useful if there is a possibility of an automated messaging service answering the call creating the need to prevent useless

voicemail A voicemail system (also known as voice message or voice bank) is a computer-based system that allows users and subscribers to exchange personal voice messages; to select and deliver voice information; and to process transactions relating to ind ...

recordings of the call whisper message being left in the mailbox.

Advantages of using call whisper

Because call whisper settings are specific to a particular non-geographic telephone number, the feature can allow the called party to identify which telephone number the caller has dialed. For instance, ten separate numbers can all be routing their inbound calls to a single destination number. However, each of the ten numbers could have their own customized call whisper message on them relating to the nature of the call i.e. the function of the number that has been dialed. Therefore, the agent answering will know the number that has been dialed and thus the appropriate way to answer the call. Whisper messages also allow businesses to identify the success of their marketing campaigns by being able to identify which campaign the phone number was assigned to; for example, different numbers can be assigned to billboard advertisements, online ads, printed brochures, and contact information on a website.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Call Whisper Calling features

Customization

Advantages of using call whisper

See also

References