Call Whisper, otherwise known as Call Screening, is a calling feature that often appears on Non-Geographic Telephony

Non-geographical telephone numbers in the UK

In the United Kingdom, non-geographic numbers are telephone numbers available for private sale which, rather than being assigned to a particular telephone line or circuit, provide callers with a contact number which gives no indication as to the geographical location of the line being called...

 systems and hosted

Internet hosting service

An Internet hosting service is a service that runs Internet servers, allowing organizations and individuals to serve content to the Internet. There are various levels of service and various kinds of services offered....

 inbound call handling software. It involves the playing of a message to the called party

Called party

The called party is a person who answers a telephone call. The person who initiates a telephone call is the calling party....

 when they have answered a call, during which time the calling party

Calling party

The calling party is a person who initiates a telephone call over the public switched telephone network, usually by dialing a telephone number....

 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 ID

Caller ID , also called calling line identification or calling number identification or Calling Line Identification Presentation , is a telephone service, available in analog and digital phone systems and most Voice over Internet Protocol applications, that transmits a caller's number to...

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

Customization

The Call Whisper feature can be customized

Personalization

Personalization involves using technology to accommodate the differences between individuals. Once confined mainly to the Web, it is increasingly becoming a factor in education, health care Personalization involves using technology to accommodate the differences between individuals. Once confined...

, 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
  Telephone number
  A telephone number or phone number is a sequence of digits used to call from one telephone line to another in a public switched telephone network. When telephone numbers were invented, they were short — as few as one, two or three digits — and were given orally to a switchboard operator...
  
   that has been dialed, a particular product for which the caller requires support
  Technical support
  Technical support or tech support refers to a range of services by which enterprises provide assistance to users of technology products such as mobile phones, televisions, computers, software products or other electronic or mechanical goods...
  
  , etc.

• An element of dynamic content
  Dynamic web page
  A dynamic web page is a kind of web page that has been prepared with fresh information , for each individual viewing. It is not static because it changes with the time , the user , the user interaction , the context A dynamic web page is a kind of web page that has been prepared with fresh...
  
   can be introduced to the recording
  Sound recording and reproduction
  Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
  
   so that it responds to the Caller ID in an intelligent way i.e. 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
  Database
  A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...
  
   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
  Voicemail
  Voicemail 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 individuals, organizations, products and services, using an ordinary telephone...
  
  answering the call creating the need to prevent useless voicemail 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 customised 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.