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Call screening

Block nuisance numbers, put important callers straight through to you, and turn away sales calls politely.

Call screening lets you decide who reaches your receptionist. Block numbers that keep pestering you, put family or key clients straight through to your own phone, and have sales calls turned away politely.

Blocked numbers

Add numbers to Blocked numbers, one per line, with a note after each if you like: "01632 960123 keeps calling about energy".
Blocked callers never reach your receptionist. There are no AI minutes used, no missed-call text and no alerts.
What blocked callers hear: Nothing: the call is turned away as if the line is busy, or A short message, then the call ends ("Sorry, [your business] can't take your call. Goodbye.").

Callers to put straight through

Add numbers to Callers to put straight through, one per line, with a name after each if you like: "07700 900123 Sam (partner)".
Put them through to: a UK number. Your phone shows the caller's own number, so you know who it is.
If nobody answers within 15 seconds, or the line is busy, your receptionist takes the call as normal.
When: Only while you're open (the default) or Any time. If the Closures and holidays plugin says you're closed today, they aren't put through.

Sales calls

Set Sales calls to Say politely you're not interested, and don't log them. When your receptionist is certain the caller is selling something to you (marketing, energy, card machines, recruitment and so on), it says you're not interested and that they can write to you if they must. It doesn't take a call back or an enquiry from them.

Your receptionist never treats someone as a sales call if they mention pain, an injury, an emergency, an appointment or booking, a bill, or being a customer. If it isn't sure, it helps them as usual.

After each such call, the plugin's Recent activity notes it as a turned-away sales call. If the summary mentions something like an appointment or a complaint, it's marked "Check this one" so you can make sure a real customer wasn't turned away.

Setting it up

Switch the plugin on from the Plugins page (see Plugins overview).
Fill in either list, or both, and choose your options.
Press Save and test. It tells you how many numbers are on each list.
Press Show my lists any time to check them.

Numbers can be written as 07700 900123, +44 7700 900123 or with brackets and dashes. A number can't be on both lists.

What it costs

Free. Put-through calls use your phone line and count towards your Twilio bill.

Privacy

Your lists stay in CallsCovered. A put-through call goes to your chosen number with the caller's number showing. To decide whether a call was a sales call, the call summary is read by the AI that runs your receptionist.

Limits

Up to 50 numbers on each list.
Withheld numbers can't be screened. They're answered as usual.
Blocking works with Twilio, SignalWire and Telnyx as your phone provider, not with Vonage or Plivo.
Putting callers through needs Twilio.
Missed-call texts are never sent to numbers on either list.
Sales-call spotting is a judgement from what the caller says. It can be wrong, which is why doubtful ones are flagged.

Still stuck? Write to hello@callscovered.ai with your business name and what you were trying to do, and a person will reply.