Spruce Unknown Caller Handling: Screen or Silence Calls from Unsaved Contacts

Unknown Caller Handling in Spruce allows you to silence and / or screen calls from numbers not saved as contacts, reducing the spam call volume reaching your team. The feature is set per Spruce phone number and anyone with access to a phone number can edit Unknown Caller Handling settings for that number.

IN THIS ARTICLE

• Unknown Caller Handling Settings
  • Who Will Be Screened?
  • Message Callers That Will Hear
• Managing Unknown Caller Handling
• Using Unknown Caller Handling with Call Flows
• Frequently Asked Questions

Unknown Caller Handling Settings

There are 4 different options you can choose from for your unknown caller handling setting:

Who Will Be Screened?

If you choose either “Screen Unknown Callers” or “Screen and Silence Unknown Callers,” you can also decide which unknown callers (unsaved contacts) are screened:

• High-Risk Unknown Callers (Default): Only unknown callers that show a high risk of being spam will be screened.
• All Unknown Callers: All unknown callers will be screened. 

Message That Callers Will Hear

If you choose either “Screen Unknown Callers” or “Screen and Silence Unknown Callers,” callers who are screened will hear the brief message below (please note that the number to press may vary):

You have reached [your organization’s name]. Press 1 to be connected.

If you do not wish to have your organization's name in this message, you can contact our support team to disable it. 

Managing Unknown Caller Handling

Follow these steps to manage how your Spruce phone number handles unknown callers:

1. Go to Settings > Phone System > Phone Numbers and select the phone number you’d like to configure.
2. Scroll down to “Advanced Call Handling” and select Edit next to “Unknown Caller Handling" on web or tap the Unknown Caller Handling row on mobile. 
3. Select your preferred Unknown Caller Handling preference. Learn more about each option.
4. If you select “Screen Unknown Callers” or “Screen and Silence Unknown Callers,” you can choose whether to screen all unknown callers or only unknown callers that show a high risk of being spam under the “Who Will Be Screened?” section.
5. On web, click Save once you are done. On mobile, your settings will automatically save when you select an option. 

Using Unknown Caller Handling with Call Flows

You can apply any of the unknown caller handling settings to a phone number with a call flow. Below are some important things to remember for numbers with call flows based on the setting you choose:

• Screen and Silence Unknown Callers: If your call flow starts with a menu, that menu acts as the screening step instead of the default message, and callers must press a number corresponding to one of your menu options to pass screening. If your call flow does not start with a menu, the default message will play. If a caller passes screening, any option that would usually ring through will be sent to voicemail. 
• Screen Unknown Callers: If your call flow starts with a menu, that menu acts as the screening step instead of the default message, and callers must press a number corresponding to one of your menu options to pass screening. If your call flow does not start with a menu, the default message will play. If a caller passes screening, any option that is set to ring through will still ring. 
• Silence Unknown Callers:  If your call flow starts with a menu, callers will still hear the menu greeting and have to select an option to proceed through your call flow. However, any menu option on your call flow that typically rings phones will send all unknown callers to voicemail. Saved contacts will continue to ring through. 
• Do Not Screen or Silence Unknown Callers: Calls from unknown numbers are treated like any other call and will go through your call flow as usual. 

Frequently Asked Questions 

What counts as an unknown caller?

An unknown caller is any number that is not saved as a contact in Spruce.  

Why didn’t this caller leave a voicemail?

If screening is enabled and the caller didn’t pass screening, the call ends before they can leave a voicemail. This helps prevent spam callers from leaving messages. The call event will read “Unknown Caller Screened” if a caller fails screening. You can also view the message details to see whether the caller passed or failed screening. 

It’s also possible the caller simply hung up before leaving a voicemail. In this case, the call event will read “Caller Hung Up.”

Why didn’t my phone ring?

There are a few reasons why your phone might not have rang:

1. If the call came from an unsaved number, check your unknown caller handling settings. Unknown callers will be sent to voicemail if you have a call silencing option selected. If you have a call screening option selected and the caller fails screening, the call will end without ringing your phone.  
2. Check to see if you have Send Calls to Voicemail enabled. When enabled, all calls that usually ring through will be sent to voicemail. Go to Settings >  Phone Numbers and select your phone number to change this setting. Learn more about Send Calls to Voicemail.
3. Make sure the teammate, team, or VoIP device you want calls to ring to is in your ring list and toggled on. Learn about managing your phone number's ring list.
4. Check if the call was automatically flagged as spam by Spruce. When this happens, the conversation will include the tag “InboundCall_SpamDetected” and you will see a system message identifying the call as potential spam. Learn more about automatic spam prevention.
5. If you are still having issues and you are using softphones, follow our guides for troubleshooting issues on Web Softphones or Mobile Softphones.
6. If you are still having issues and you are using proxy dialing (softphones are disabled), follow our guide for troubleshooting proxy dialing issues.

You can also always reach out to our support team with the link to a call where the issue occurred for assistance.

Can real callers still get through with call screening on?

Yes! Legitimate callers, such as prospective patients who are not yet saved as contacts, can pass screening. If you are worried about legitimate unknown callers not being able to pass the screening step, we recommend choosing to only screen high-risk unknown callers. Learn more about screening high-risk callers.

You can also always save trusted numbers as contacts so they’re never screened or silenced.

Why don’t I see a notification for some calls?

Calls that fail screening are ended before they reach you, so they don’t trigger notifications unless the conversation is already in your inbox. Learn more about changing which unknown callers are screened.

Does Unknown Caller Handling replace voicemail settings?

Unknown caller handling works alongside your voicemail settings. If you have call screening on, only callers who pass screening will get through to your voicemail. If you have call silencing on, callers will still hear your voicemail greeting, but phones will not ring through. If you have both screening and silencing on, only calls that pass screening will be sent to your voicemail greeting. 

Does Unknown Caller Handling replace my Call Flow?

Unknown caller handling works alongside your call flow. Learn more about how this setting will interact with your Call Flow.

Does Unknown Caller Handling apply to all my Spruce phone numbers?

Settings are managed per phone number, so each line in your practice can have its own Unknown Caller Handling rules. Anyone with access to that phone number can update its settings.