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BradShoemaker
11-07-2012, 08:20 AM
Most of my shows use Skype to take phone calls where we just pick up the phone and it's Russian roulette with who is on the other end, like a good portion of the broadcasters here do. Granted, we do have people's numbers saved and those that decide to contact us Skype to Skype I can see as well...

Unfortunately I do have a sports show where it would be nice to be able to screen calls, especially when we are waiting on a guest to call in since I won't always have their number (after an NFL game a lot of times they will call using the stadium's number).

Any ideas on a way to do this? I'm used to the radio station model of having a Telos System in place and being able to screen and post who the callers are in advance, but I have no idea how to achieve this via Skype.

Donovan
11-07-2012, 09:21 AM
My first thought is to use two Skype accounts. You have your "screening" account - the one that people call into and then you have your "on-air" account. The screening account would be answered by your call screener, who would gather whatever information you need from the person calling. When ready, they can then transfer the call to your on-air account and pass along any pertinent information to you via IM or some other method.

NOTE: Just thinking out loud here. I personally haven't tried this since it requires two people to operate this way and I'm pretty much a one man show in my studio, which is probably the case for most of us. But I don't see any reason it shouldn't work. Though I've never used the function, I verified that Skype will indeed transfer calls from one Skype account to another (according to their website). If you're like me, you have more than one Skype account anyways.

TomSinclair
11-07-2012, 10:20 AM
An additional thought...

The caller screener person does not need to be in the same location as you, so my grandmother could do it for you from her retirement home in Nassau. All she needs is a PC with Skype and the knowledge of how to forward the call to you. She can communicate with you by text or Skype IMs and pass along the caller's info prior to transferring the call.

Donovan
11-07-2012, 10:59 AM
An additional thought...

The caller screener person does not need to be in the same location as you, so my grandmother could do it for you from her retirement home in Nassau. All she needs is a PC with Skype and the knowledge of how to forward the call to you. She can communicate with you by text or Skype IMs and pass along the caller's info prior to transferring the call.

That's very true. :)

BradShoemaker
11-07-2012, 11:42 AM
That's very true. :)

Excellent idea Donovan. I do have more than one Skype account and I forgot they offer the transfer (probably one of the least used features).

Also another excellent idea Tom. In the case of my sports show, it's a Colts Pregame show, I definitely have enough people to call screen at the venue, but for other shows I could definitely use that technique.