Your phone is ringing. Should you answer it? Block it? Let it go to voicemail? What if it’s an important customer or prospective customer? How can you know?
As a small business owner or professional, these questions go through your mind every day – make that multiple times a day – as you make decisions on how to best manage your time. A call screening product can help by filtering or prioritizing calls, giving you more control over which calls you answer and when. However, those products vary in what they offer.
Here are four questions to ask about a call-screening product, to know if it has the right features for your business:
Many call screening apps use broad criteria to send calls to voicemail, or show you a name but no information to judge the intent or level of urgency.
In contrast, Cloudli’s Call Screener asks callers to state their name and reason for calling, and then analyzes and transcribes that response in real-time so you have the contextual information you need to answer the call or send it to voicemail. It makes decision making easier: a customer emergency or prospective client gets answered on-the-spot, a trusted vendor goes to voicemail to be answered at your convenience and a spam call gets blocked.
If the call screening product provides contextual call information, like name and purpose for the call, the voice recording or transcription of that response must be accurate and easy to understand. A garbled recording or incoherent transcript may leave you with egg on your face as you try to respond to the caller’s need.
With Cloudli Call Screener, contextual call information is powered by KONTXT AI, which uses machine learning and natural language processing to transcribe the call, determine the intent and convey that information clearly.
Many call screeners use simple phone number block lists and voice captcha, which can be easily circumvented by criminals.
The technology used in Cloudli’s Call Screener, powered by KONTXT™ by RealNetworks, goes the next step to analyze the characteristics of the streaming audio, determine if it’s human, recorded human or robocall and uncover the intent of the caller. In seconds, all this information is revealed on your phone so you can knowledgeably protect your time and assets.
Some call screening tools require you to either screen all calls or none. Or, you have to block numbers individually, which costs you more time than you’ll save.
Not Cloudli Call Screener. The call screening tool integrates with the TalkNText app, where users have access to both their personal and business contacts. Users can program Cloudli Call Screener to screen all incoming calls or just those from contacts outside of their business contact list.
It’s important for SMBs to maintain a personal touch with high-value customers, and answering their calls immediately is a good way to do so. With Cloudli Call Screener, you won’t miss their calls and risk damaging the relationship. On the other hand, Call Screener provides contextual information that will help you decide if you need to take a specific call and take your focus away from a task at hand.
Cloudli Call Screener lets you gain better control over your time, so you can receive only the calls you want, and only at times when you can give callers the attention they deserve. It’s one of many features on TalkNText that help SMBs work smarter, including business texting, shared phone numbers, automated attendant, text auto-replies for missed calls and messages, business hour settings, group chats, and more.
Reach out today to talk to a TalkNText expert, or take advantage of our free 7-day trial and try it for yourself.
