What is call whisper? 

In a nutshell, call whisper works like this: Before a call center agent answers an inbound call, a display message, voice recording, or text-to-speech-generated verbal message is delivered to the agent that summarizes which advertising campaign a prospect is responding to (such as campaign number 103, for example), a recap of the offer (20% off regular price, perhaps), or a call to action (“Would you like to book an appointment?”). It’s also possible to know where the customer is calling from, as phone numbers are tied to specific regions.

Call whisper functionality can be built into a desktop contact center application on-premises, from the cloud, or even integrated directly into a corporate CRM application.

Information provided to contact center agents when using call whisper

When an agent receives a call with call whisper, they hear a brief message before answering. This message provides key details about the caller, helping the agent prepare for the conversation. Common information can include:

• Caller’s name and contact information: Helps agents personalize the interaction.

• Call source: Identifies where the call originated (e.g., marketing campaign, website, referral).

• Customer status: Indicates whether the caller is a new lead, returning customer, or VIP client.

• Reason for call: Provides a summary of why the customer is calling (e.g., support issue, sales inquiry).

• Previous interactions: Shows past calls, purchases, or tickets to avoid repeating questions.

• Agent-specific instructions: Any internal notes or special handling guidelines for the caller.

• Language or location preferences: Helps route calls to the right agent or department.

• Urgency level: Flags high-priority calls that need immediate attention.

Call whisper use cases

1. Sales teams: Provides lead source and customer intent before answering, helping reps personalize their pitch.

2. Customer support teams: Prepares agents with caller details to resolve issues faster and improve customer satisfaction.

3. Call centers: Enhances efficiency by reducing call handling time and improving first-call resolution.

4. Marketing teams: Tracks campaign performance by identifying which ads, keywords, or landing pages generate calls.

5. Business owners and managers: Ensures agents handle calls correctly by providing real-time caller insights.

6. New or training agents: Helps inexperienced agents handle calls with confidence by giving them key information upfront.

7. VIP or high-value customer service: Ensures priority customers receive a seamless and personalized experience.

8. Multi-department businesses: Routes calls more effectively by indicating the caller's needs before the call is answered.

How does a call whisper service work?

It may be a fairly straightforward concept, but how does call whisper work? Without getting too granular, let’s take a look at a real-world business case: a call center handling inbound marketing campaigns for a college test-prep firm that originate from sources including billboards, television ads, and both organic and pay-per-click search engine programs.

At the beginning of a marketing program that depends on inbound phone leads, marketers or their supporting developers will link specific ad campaigns to unique virtual phone numbers. When calls start coming in, they will be routed to available or specified call center agents. If a potential customer searches the words “math tutoring,” for example, the selected agent will receive a phone whisper through their headset — audible only to them — that tells them the search keyword and associated campaign name or number just before the call is connected. Other information, such as the phone number of the incoming call, campaign offer, and call-to-action, will be displayed in a pop-up window on the agent’s desktop screen. Knowing the campaign that someone is calling about before taking the call, the agent can greet callers with contextual information, which will improve their effectiveness and the overall customer experience.

Specifically, when the call is connected and the caller and the agent begin talking, the agent can call up the campaign script to serve the incoming inquiry. The call could be a simple case of answering frequently asked questions or providing resources the caller can turn to for additional information, such as a company blog article on tips for taking multiple choice math tests. Or the prospect may be ready to convert and sign their child up for math tutoring. Whatever queries the caller has in store for the agent, phone call whisper and the information it delivers should improve the agent’s ability to fully engage the customer and successfully manage the call.

Here is a typical call whisper step-by-step process for quick reference:

1. Caller dials in: A customer calls your business or support line, looking for assistance.

2. System identifies the call: A voice API detects the incoming call and gathers key details — such as the caller’s number, source (ad campaign, support request, etc.), or selected IVR option.

3. Call whisper is triggered: Before the agent picks up, a brief pre-call message (whisper) is played only for the agent, but not the caller. This message provides essential context, like: "VIP customer from campaign X" … "Calling about billing issue" … "Support level: high priority."

4. Agent answers with context: Armed with this info, the agent greets the caller with confidence and relevance, which creates a smoother, more personalized experience.

5. Real-time coaching (optional): Supervisors can use live call whispering to guide agents without the customer hearing, helping with tricky conversations in the moment.

Manager-led call whispering, monitoring, and barging

There’s another definition or aspect of call whispering, and it comes into play If contact center agent performance isn’t living up to established customer satisfaction metrics. Contact center managers can run monitoring reports to track and optimize both marketing campaign performance and agent productivity. By leveraging call monitoring, contact center managers can know when they need to take the place of the automated solution and get involved, using live-mode whispering call to talk new or struggling agents through their interactions with customers. Live call whispering can allow call center managers to talk to agents without the customer knowing. This is useful not only when managers are training agents but also when they need to coach them during a critical call — for example, when a parent is irate about their child’s SAT score after months of tutoring.

In addition to speaking to agents during customer interactions, managers can monitor calls in listen-only mode to see how coaching has improved agent performance. Or, in extreme circumstances, call center managers might want to “barge in” on agent-caller interactions, such as when customers get angry or begin to verbally abuse agents.

Call whisper vs. call tracking vs. call monitoring 

Call whisper, call tracking, and call monitoring serve different purposes. Understanding how they work can help you determine which one (or combination) is best for your business. Let’s take a look at each:

Call whisper: Providing agents with real-time context

Call whisper gives agents a brief, pre-call message before they answer the phone. Only the agent hears this whisper message, not the caller, and provides key details such as the caller’s intent, campaign source, or customer status.

Call tracking: Measuring where calls come from

Call tracking focuses on analyzing the source of inbound calls to determine which marketing efforts are driving customer engagement. By assigning unique phone numbers to different channels, such as Google Ads, social media, email campaigns, or landing pages, businesses can track exactly where their calls originate.

Call monitoring: Live listening and coaching for quality control

Call monitoring allows managers and supervisors to listen in on live calls, whisper instructions to agents, or join the call if necessary. This feature is essential for businesses that prioritize customer service quality and agent performance.

Call whisper, machine learning, and AI

In the future, as software robots — machine learning or AI — come online, they’re expected to be increasingly deployed into the contact center to learn from human agents how to handle more complex incoming calls. The longer they’re exposed to the contact center environment, the more they learn and the better they get at elementary call center tasks. Eventually, the AI bots or machine-learning algorithms will begin to make human agents more efficient by quickly searching for customer data, retrieving it, and call whispering it to agents’ screens.

For example, when the tutoring customer calls at the end of the following semester, the AI-powered call whisper can extrapolate that the parent is likely to ask if their student is ready for advancement from trigonometry to precalculus. The bot-backed call whisper is expected to become faster, smarter, and more cost-effective — freeing agents to concentrate on higher-value activities like cross-selling and upselling products and services, allowing businesses to save time, money, and manpower.

Benefits of using call whisper

Implementing call whisper in a contact center can significantly enhance efficiency, improve customer interactions, and streamline operations. By providing agents with real-time insights before answering a call, businesses can ensure better service delivery and smoother conversations. Below, we explore the key benefits for both contact center managers and agents.

Benefits for contact center managers

For managers, call whisper serves as a powerful tool to improve overall performance, reduce call handling time, and ensure better customer experiences.

• Enhanced call routing efficiency: Call whisper helps agents immediately understand the caller’s intent, allowing them to handle inquiries more effectively. This reduces misrouted calls and improves first-call resolution rates.

• Better quality assurance and performance monitoring: Managers can use call whisper to ensure that agents handle calls with the right context. By pairing it with call monitoring, they can assess whether agents respond appropriately to different caller types.

• Increased customer satisfaction: Since agents receive critical information upfront, they can offer a more personalized and informed experience. This reduces frustration for customers and leads to higher satisfaction scores.

• Faster onboarding for new agents: New hires often struggle with unfamiliar calls. With Call Whisper, they get guidance before picking up the phone, making it easier to navigate different customer inquiries with confidence.

Benefits for contact center agents

For agents, call whisper provides real-time caller context, enabling them to handle calls more effectively and confidently.

• Reduced stress and uncertainty: Without call whisper, agents often start calls blindly, leading to uncertainty and hesitation. A quick pre-call message prepares them for the conversation ahead.

• Improved response time and efficiency: Knowing what the call is about in advance allows agents to jump straight into the conversation instead of spending the first few seconds figuring out the customer’s needs.

• More personalized and relevant conversations: When an agent knows if the caller is a VIP customer, a returning user, or part of a specific marketing campaign, they can tailor their approach accordingly, leading to better customer interactions.

• Higher first-call resolution rates: With call whisper providing context, agents can quickly address the caller’s needs instead of transferring them or asking repetitive questions. This means fewer callbacks and a more efficient call center.

Elevate your customer and agent experience with call whisper

Exceptional customer service is essential, and call whisper can be a giant leap for your contact center or call center operations. Vonage call whisper feature equips agents with vital pre-call information, enabling personalized interactions that boost customer satisfaction. It also allows supervisors to coach agents discreetly during calls, enhancing performance without the customer’s awareness.

With the added benefit of Vonage Communications APIs, including Voice API, businesses can easily integrate call whisper into their systems, creating tailored solutions to meet specific needs. Boost your call center strategy, ensuring better agent performance and an improved customer experience.

Don’t miss the chance to transform your service delivery. Explore call whisper and other features of Vonage Contact Center today.