Articles: Call Screening for Directors: What a PA Does on the Phone, Without the PA

If you run a business, your phone is everybody's way in. Your best client, your business partner, a recruiter, a supplier chasing an invoice and someone selling advertising all ring the same number, and each call pulls you out of whatever you were doing. Good call screening is how directors and executives have always dealt with that: someone finds out who is calling and why before your phone rings, so you decide which calls are worth stopping for.

For most of business history, that someone was a PA. Here's what a good one actually does on the phone, which parts you can now hand to an AI receptionist, and which parts you can't.

What a good PA does on the phone

Strip away the diary, the email and the travel, and the phone side of an executive assistant's job comes down to five things:

• Answering every call properly. In your business's name, politely, every time.
• Finding out who and why. Not just a name, but the company and the reason, so you can judge the call before you take it.
• Knowing who always gets through. Your family, your business partner, the chair of the board, the client who pays half the bills. A good PA puts them straight through without making them explain themselves.
• Asking you first. "I've got Tom from Brightline Media about advertising. Do you want it?" You say yes or no, and the caller never hears that conversation.
• Taking a proper message. When you say no, the caller still leaves with a clear next step, and you get the name, number and what they wanted.

That last point matters more than it looks. Screening only works if the people you don't take still feel well handled.

Why voicemail and "just don't answer" fail

The usual alternatives each break one of those five.

Letting calls go to voicemail treats everyone the same. Your business partner waits in the same queue as a cold caller, and half the messages say "call me back" with no reason. Screening by the number on your screen works for people saved in your contacts and fails for everyone else, including the new client ringing from their office line. And a shared front desk often ends up putting every call through because it's easier than asking, which is no screening at all.

What call screening looks like with an AI receptionist

An AI receptionist can now do the phone part of the PA's job, the five points above, on your existing number. With Call Assistant it works like this:

1. You forward your line. Every call, or only when you're busy or don't answer. Customers still ring the number they know. Our guide to how to forward calls in Australia has the codes.
2. Callers are asked who they are and why. In a natural voice, not a phone menu.
3. Your phone rings once, and you hear who it is first. "I have Tom from Brightline Media on the line, calling about advertising for next year." The caller doesn't hear this. You say yes or press 1 and you're connected. Say no or press 2, and the caller goes back to the receptionist, who takes a message. We explain the detail on our warm transfers page.
4. Priority callers go straight through. You list the people who should get straight through, with the number they call from and who they should reach. The receptionist greets them by name and puts them through without asking why they're calling. You can let some of them through after your business hours too.
5. Every call is written up. Each call lands in your dashboard and your email with the caller's name, number, a summary and the full transcript.

Outside your business hours, nobody's phone rings except the priority callers you allow. Everyone else is answered and leaves a message for the morning.

Who belongs on your priority list

Keep the list short. If everyone is a priority, nobody is. A sensible starting point:

• Family. Your partner and anyone who might ring with something urgent at home.
• Your business partner or co-founder.
• Your board chair, or your biggest clients. The two or three relationships where a delay costs you more than an interruption.
• Your accountant or lawyer during a live deal. Add them for the week it matters, then take them off.

Decide for each one whether they should reach you after hours. Family, probably yes. A client, probably not.

What it won't do

An AI receptionist covers the phone, not the rest of a PA's job. It doesn't manage your diary or your inbox, and it doesn't make calls for you. It won't make judgement calls on your behalf beyond what you've briefed it on: it answers from what you tell it, and when it doesn't know, it takes a message rather than guessing.

Priority callers are recognised by the number they call from, and caller ID can be faked. That's why your phone still rings once and you hear who it is before you take the call, every time. Callers with a hidden number are always asked who they are.

If you already have an EA, this isn't about replacing them. It means they're no longer tied to the phone, and calls are still screened when they're on leave, in a meeting or gone for the day. If you're comparing options, our look at AI receptionists versus answering services covers how the two differ.

Setting up call screening in an afternoon

1. Add yourself to the team with your title, such as Managing director, so callers asking for "the boss" reach you. Add your EA too if you have one.
2. Brief the receptionist. What the business does, what to tell callers, and anything it should never say.
3. List your priority callers, and tick "also outside business hours" for the ones who need it.
4. Set your hours, then forward your line and make a test call from another phone.

Our guide for directors and executives walks through the same setup with an example call.

Quick answers

What is call screening?

Finding out who is calling and why before a call reaches you, so you choose which calls to take. Traditionally a PA or receptionist did it. An AI receptionist can now do it on your existing number.

Can certain people skip the screening?

Yes. Add them as priority callers with the number they call from. They're greeted by name and put straight through during your hours, or after hours too if you allow it, and your phone still tells you who it is before you answer.

Does call screening mean callers get blocked?

No. Every caller is answered. The ones you don't take leave a message with their name, number and reason, and it's in your email as soon as the call ends.

Does it replace an executive assistant?

Only the phone part. It doesn't manage your diary or email. Many directors use it so their EA isn't stuck on the phone, or so they don't need someone answering calls at all. To try it on your own line, start a free trial.