CTI Screen Pop

Call screening is a feature in phone systems that helps you identify incoming callers and determine how to best handle their call. Support agents in organisations and call centres use it to decide the right course of action - whether to accept/reject calls, route them to another agent, or send them to voicemail.

The most basic call screening tools display the caller ID, including the name, number, and location of callers, and help identify unwanted and priority calls. More sophisticated tools connect calls to IVRs/ auto attendants to determine the purpose of calls. They work with other features like call routing, forwarding, voicemail, call blocking, automatic callback, etc., to manage calls.

Many business phone systems also have features like CTI screen pop – a pop-up window that displays relevant customer information stored in your CRM. In addition to pre-identifying customers, CTI screen pop minimises customer effort and helps agents offer a personalised experience to customers.

Call screening is the process of identifying incoming callers so that you can decide how to respond to calls. You can screen calls at multiple levels. The most basic level is caller ID identification - identify caller details such as the name, number, and location and decide whether to accept/reject their calls.

For instance, if you identify the caller as a spammer, you can decide not to accept the call or even block it. At a more advanced level, it works with other features in your phone system to prioritise VIP calls, let calls go to voicemails, route calls to appropriate agents/ departments, and forward calls.

You can screen calls manually using agents or automate the process using call screening tools that come as part of business phone systems. Further, you can use CTI screen pops to view all relevant customer details before receiving the call and during the conversation.

In business communications, call screening is an accepted practice. It helps organisations with large volumes of incoming calls and inbound call centres identify callers and decide what to do with their call. Using call screening, support agents can prioritise calls and block incoming calls from spammers, scammers, and bots.

Moreover, call screening helps agents save time and energy. For instance, by identifying whether a spam caller is on the line without picking up the call, agents can reject the call and block the number. Also, having prior access to caller information enables agents to identify and prioritise VIP customers and improve customer service.

Likewise, you can use call screening with advanced call management capabilities like Automatic Call Distribution, IVRs, call forwarding, and CTI screen pop to route calls to the best available agents or departments. They also help personalise the customer experience to a considerable extent.

It depends on how you are screening calls. If you are using human resources to receive and screen every call to your organisation, it is better to have a script/checklist to get all required background information from callers.

For instance, employees in charge of screening calls can use simple questions - May I know who is calling? May I know what it is regarding? etc. - to learn the identity of callers and the purpose of their calls. They can transfer calls based on the answers callers give.

However, manual screening is challenging for call centres and organisations with large call volumes. In such cases, using call screening software would be a better option. Standard tools fetch caller details such as their name, numbers, etc., while advanced tools work with IVRs, call routing/forwarding, CTI screen pop, and other features to give agents the information they need to handle calls.