Call Whisper: Definition, Cost, Features & Providers

Call whisper is a feature that plays a message identifying the source of the call while the other person continues to hear ringing. It is a functionality found in many business phone systems and gives users the ability to screen and track incoming callers based on more than what is shown on a caller ID.

We recommend RingCentral to anyone looking to better screen calls with a call whisper module. The service also comes with call management features, text, voicemail, and other key business phone modules. Click the button below to start your seven-day free trial.

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How Call Whisper Works

The call whisper module found in most Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) phone services is a fairly straightforward business phone feature. When someone calls one of your employees, the system will announce the identity of the caller. The user can then decide whether or not they want to accept the call. While this functionality is more commonly used with marketing or call center teams, it is a feature that can benefit any business setting.

For example, the feature might be used in conjunction with a call answering service that automatically greets and routes callers. If you decide not to answer the call, you could let your automated attendant route that call to voicemail. You could then listen to the message at a later time and call the person back.

Call whisper is not intrusive to the caller in any way. In fact, a caller trying to connect with your business won’t even know they are being screened. You will hear or see their information, while they continue to hear ringing, so you do not have to worry about making a caller feel uncomfortable.

All told, this functionality is helpful to virtually any type of small business. Having the ability to know who is calling your organization and being able to choose whether or not to take the call can be extraordinarily helpful for sales teams.

Who Call Whisper is Right For

Call whisper is beneficial for any business user that wants to know who is calling them. After all, the ability to see who is calling your number and deciding whether or not to answer it is a useful feature for any busy employee who can’t afford to waste time answering spam calls or having any conversations not immediately relevant to their job. Furthermore, the call source tracking abilities offered by some systems can also help marketing teams.

This feature is especially beneficial for the following people:

• Sales Representatives: Sales people need to be having as many client conversations as possible. Therefore, they can’t afford to waste much time with unproductive phone calls. Call screening helps agents prioritize incoming calls so that they are only speaking with important clients and associates.
• Marketing Campaigns: The feature helps users determine which efforts are generating the most calls to help businesses make better marketing decisions in the future.
• Spam Avoiders: This applies to nearly all business users. Spam calls are extraordinarily frequent in 2019 and show no signs of slowing down. Screening reduces the risk a business user will fall victim to a scam.

Ultimately, the positives of call whisper far outweigh the negatives. These features ensure that you block out distracting and meaningless phone conversations. They also keep you safe from spam callers. Virtually all types of businesses can make use of these benefits.

Call Whisper Costs

The cost of your call whisper solution will vary based on what business phone service you have. Furthermore, prices between systems vary widely. Free services like Google Voice offer call screening, and advanced call center systems like CallRail start at $30 per user, per month.

Fortunately, most business phone services priced affordably enough for small business users. Even an entry-level system can make a large difference in seeing caller information before you pick up the phone. You don’t need a lot of capital to start screening and tracking calls with call whisper.

Call Whisper Providers

There are no shortage of call whisper functionality providers on the market. Not only that, but there are service packages for all budgets and business needs. Many systems also offer additional features like reporting as well as the ability to connect data with other business software.

Notable providers include:

1. RingCentral

RingCentral is one of the leading business phone systems on the market and starts at $29.99 per user, per month. It offers a wealth of call management, texting, and conferencing features. RingCentral also includes features that help you effectively screen calls for your business. However, it advertises its call whisper feature as the call monitoring kind which allows managers to listen in on agent calls. Click the button below to start your free trial.

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2. CallRail

CallRail is a call tracking solution that lets small business users create multiple phone numbers for marketing campaigns that forward to a main line. You can then track the origin of the call to better understand which of your campaigns gets the most traffic. CallRail offers some of the stronger marketing-focused call whisper functionality on the market. The service even offers a 14-day free trial.

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3. Invoca

Invoca, which does not offer concrete pricing information, is a marketing system that allows users to analyze incoming call traffic. When an incoming call happens, the service has the ability to provide call center agents with a whisper message that provides the identity of the caller and even the nature of the call before they pick up. This can help provide support staff with proper context to better assist customers. Click here to learn more.

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4. Twilio Flex

Twilio Flex is a fully customizable contact center platform for small businesses and enterprises alike. On top of standard features like multi-channel communications and software integrations, Twilio Flex also offers call whisper features that provide agents with caller information as callers wait to be connected. Click here to start using Twilio Flex for free.

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5. CallTrackingMetrics

CallTrackingMetrics is a contact center solution with call tracking functionality. The service, which starts at $39 per month, also offers a call whisper module that will play a voice message identifying all incoming callers. It can also announce the source of calls, so it can play messages like “new call from Instagram ad post” to let you know where people found your company. Click the button below to learn more today.

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Types of Call Whisper & How to Use it

Call whisper features screen calls to provide context to workers before they answer the phone. Knowing the name of a user, or where they are calling from, can help build context for users before they ever pick up the phone. This can also be used to identify spam calls, which are becoming more frequent in the United States.

However, another term commonly associated with call whisper is call tracking, which some vendors use to refer to functionality that identifies a source of a call for marketing purposes. Alternatively, the term “call whisper” can also refer to a monitoring tool found in many call center applications.

Here are some brief explanations of how the feature can be used beyond call screening:

Call Whisper for Call Tracking

Offered as part of a call tracking module, call whisper can be used to identify the source of phone calls you receive, which can assign in managing marketing efforts. However, to make the most of this functionality, you usually will need to set up multiple numbers and put them in different campaigns to be able to track your efforts.

For example, a telephone marketing system like CallRail can show you incoming call information like the caller’s name and number. However, the call whisper function means it will also play a message saying “this is an incoming call from a Google Ads campaign.” This can tell you where that person found your company’s number and helps you understand which of your marketing efforts are getting the most attention.

One important thing to note is that with many services, the call screening and call tracking benefits happen at the same time. For example, some services both identify the name of the caller and also tell you the source of the call. The two features are often combined into one service. As such, we will focus on the call tracking aspects here as well as the call screening benefits.

Call Whisper for Call Monitoring

Some providers, such as 8×8, advertise call whisper as the ability for managers to enter calls as a third party to coach employees during calls without the person on the other end hearing. This is usually used for training and evaluation purposes. We will not be focusing on this version of call whisper in this article.

If this is of interest to your unique business needs, there are plenty of options on the market that can help you with this. Many call center services offer this kind of call whisper functionality as an included feature. Alternatively, you could also just set up a three-way conference call between you, your employee, and the customer and mute your microphone. Check out our buyer’s guide to call monitoring for more information.

Pros & Cons of Call Whisper Functionality

Call whisper features are beneficial for the vast majority of business users. With that in mind, there are some scenarios where it may not be appropriate. Here are some pros and cons of call screening features.

Pros of Call Whisper Functionality

• Efficiency: Being able to see call information ensures that you are only having important, useful phone conversations at work.
• Context: Knowing caller information before they even pick up the phone gives your team the context to better serve customers.
• Market Research: Knowing the source of calls helps you better understand who your audience is, what their preferences are, and what sort of mediums they look at most.

Cons of Call Whisper Functionality

• Technical Knowledge: Being able to configure and deploy a call whisper service requires some technical skills. Using the feature might be too complex for less technical business users.
• Spam Issues: Spam calls are extraordinarily common in 2019. Therefore, even the most diligent business users will likely be connected with a spam call at some point.
• Lead Quality: There will always be some percentage of incoming calls that are either from non-serious inquiries or scam lines. These calls can contaminate the usefulness of your tracked call data.

Alternatives to Call Whisper

If you have decided that a dedicated call whisper solution is not a good fit for your business needs, there are still ways to gather some of the valuable insights that call whisper can bring. Additionally, these alternatives are either extremely affordable or completely free of charge.

There are two call whisper alternatives that are especially helpful. On one hand, you can simply set up multiple virtual phone numbers to use in all of your marketing content. Alternatively, you can also simply ask your callers where they found your business by asking or sending out surveys.

Call whisper alternatives include:

Virtual Numbers

A free virtual number service like Google Voice can serve as an effective call whisper alternative because you can set up multiple numbers for each of your marketing campaigns. For example, you can create numbers for your social media campaigns, and another for print ads. You can then look at the call log to see what number the person called.

If you are on a limited budget, this is a way of getting similar functionality to call whispering features. This feature also helps you screen calls. Like any modern business phone, a virtual phone service will tell you the number or name of the person calling before you answer.

Offering Surveys & Asking Questions

Free tools like SurveyMonkey let you build and deploy follow-up surveys for your customers. If you do not want to use a call whisper service, this is a useful way of finding out where your customers find your business. Additionally, you can also ask incoming callers where they found your company’s number. This is a free and easy way of understanding incoming callers.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What devices support call whisper?

Virtually any device you use for calling will have call screening options, whether it’s a desk phone, a mobile app, or a desktop interface. Other services, like CallRail, offer tracking functionality as well.

Can I automatically block all calls at specific times?

Yes. If you are out of the office on sick leave or vacation, most systems have an option to set business hours that can reject all calls between specific times. From there, you can choose to either block calls or send all callers directly to your voicemail inbox so you do not miss any messages.

Can I port existing numbers to my call whisper numbers?

Yes. Most call whisper services on the market offer the ability to port pre-existing numbers into the service. This is especially helpful if you have been using certain numbers in your marketing campaigns for many years and want to keep them.

Bottom Line

Call whisper functionality is an important part of modern business telephony. The insights gathered from these solutions can be transformative in helping you decide what calls to pick up and where to invest your marketing dollars. These services help you both effectively screen calls and understand where your customers are finding your company’s phone.

If you are looking to better understand who is calling your business before you pick up the phone, we recommend checking out RingCentral. The service comes with a free local or toll-free number, business texting, and a powerful call screening system. The company even offers a seven-day free trial.

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