Listen, whisper and barge are the three ways a supervisor joins a live contact center call. Listen is silent; whisper lets the supervisor coach the agent without the customer hearing; barge brings the supervisor into the conversation so everyone hears them. Most coaching should happen in listen and whisper, with barge kept for escalations.
Monitor live calls: Open the Edesy contact center. The supervisor dashboard lists live calls with Listen, Whisper and Barge buttons.
The three modes at a glance
| Mode | Supervisor hears | Agent hears supervisor | Customer hears supervisor | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Listen | Both sides | No | No | Quality checks, onboarding reviews |
| Whisper | Both sides | Yes | No | Live coaching, prompting an answer |
| Barge | Both sides | Yes | Yes | Escalations, approvals, rescuing a call |
Listen: silent monitoring
The supervisor hears the agent and customer and says nothing. Use it to:
- Review new agents in their first weeks.
- Check how a script or offer is landing.
- Understand why a queue's handle time jumped.
Listen is the least disruptive mode. The agent may not even know, which gives a realistic picture. Some teams prefer to tell agents that random listening happens, so it doesn't feel like surveillance.
Whisper: coaching in the moment
Whisper lets the supervisor speak to the agent while the customer hears nothing. It works best for short, specific prompts:
- "Offer the EMI option."
- "Ask for the order number first."
- "It's fine to transfer this to billing."
Keep whispers to a few words. An agent who is listening to a customer and a supervisor at the same time can only take in a little. Long coaching belongs after the call, with the recording.
Barge: joining the call
Barge brings the supervisor into the conversation. Customers hear them. Use it when:
- The customer asks for a manager.
- A call is going badly and whispering hasn't helped.
- The agent needs an approval (a refund, a waiver) only the supervisor can give.
Barging undermines the agent if it's overused. Where you can, whisper "I'm going to join" first, and let the agent introduce you.
A simple monitoring routine
| When | What | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| Agent's first two weeks | A few calls per day, across call types | Listen, then whisper |
| Weekly, all agents | A small random sample per agent | Listen |
| After a script change | Several calls in the first hours | Listen |
| Long wait or rising abandon rate | The calls that are running long | Listen, then whisper |
| Escalation requested | That call | Barge |
Pair live monitoring with recordings: listen live to catch problems as they happen, and use recordings for calm, one-on-one feedback later.
How it works on Edesy
- The supervisor opens the supervisor dashboard in ccaas.edesy.in.
- They enter the phone number they want to monitor from.
- They pick a live call from the list and press Listen, Whisper or Barge.
- Edesy calls the supervisor's phone and joins them to the call in that mode.
The same dashboard shows each agent's state (available, on call, on break, wrap-up, offline), calls waiting, longest wait, service level, abandoned calls, average handle time and average wait. That is usually where a supervisor spots the call worth listening to.
For your own tools, the API has GET /v1/ccaas/calls/active to list live calls and
POST /v1/ccaas/calls/:id/monitor to start a monitor leg in a chosen mode.
Tell callers, and respect agents
Monitoring is common in contact centers, but how you handle it matters:
- Callers: many businesses play a short notice that calls may be monitored or recorded for quality and training. Decide what notice is right for your business and get advice if you're unsure; this post isn't legal advice.
- Agents: put the monitoring policy in writing. Say who can listen, how often, and how feedback is given.
- Recordings: Edesy stores recordings in encrypted cloud storage with signed links, and recording can be turned on or off per number.
Monitoring plus AI summaries
Supervisors can't listen to everything. Edesy's AI call insights add a transcript, summary, key points, sentiment and a suggested disposition to recorded calls, which helps pick which calls deserve a closer listen. See AI call summaries for contact center agents.
Common monitoring mistakes
- Whispering too much. Several prompts in one call overload the agent; pick the one that matters most.
- Barging without warning. The agent loses face with the customer. Whisper first when you can.
- Only listening to bad calls. Agents learn as much from hearing what went well. Share good examples too.
- No follow-up. Monitoring without a conversation afterwards changes nothing. Book a short review within a day.
- Monitoring from a noisy place. In whisper and barge modes the supervisor's background noise reaches the call.
Pricing
| Plan | Per agent per month | Agents |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | Rs 1,500 | Up to 20 |
| Professional | Rs 2,500 | Up to 100 |
| Enterprise | Rs 3,500 | Unlimited |
Call minutes are extra at Rs 0.50/min on a 60-second pulse. Prices exclude 18% GST. See contact center pricing.
Read more on the cloud contact center page and in the contact center docs. For metrics to track alongside monitoring, see call center KPI formulas.