Google Voice call screening: how it works and how to set it up

Google Voice screens calls to your Google Voice number, on every device where you use Voice, and it's built around one piece of information: the caller's name. A caller who isn't in your Google Contacts says their name, Voice plays it to you, and you decide with the keypad whether to take the call. That's a different job from the screening built into a Pixel or an iPhone, which asks for a reason too, so it's worth knowing exactly what each side hears.

What callers hear, and what you hear

Voice sorts callers three ways. A number that isn't in your Google Contacts is asked to say its name before it's connected, and that recording is played back to you. It's asked every single time, until you add the name and number to your contacts. People already in your contacts aren't asked at all; Voice reads their name to you. Businesses Google already knows, such as one with its number on Google Maps, skip the question too, and you hear something like "Call from" and the business name.

Once you've heard the name, press 1 to take the call, or press 2 to send it to your Voice voicemail. If you press 2, you can listen while they leave a message, and press star (*) if you decide to talk to them after all.

Turn call screening on or off

The setting is called Screen Calls. Turning it on in one place turns it on for all calls to your Voice number, on all your devices.

In the Voice app (Android or iPhone)

1. Open the Voice app.
2. Tap Menu at the top left, then Settings.
3. Under Calls, turn Screen Calls on. Turn it off to stop screening.

On a computer

1. Go to voice.google.com.
2. Click Settings at the top right.
3. Click Calls on the left, then turn Screen Calls on or off.

Screen only some callers

Voice can screen some contacts and leave others alone through rules, which Google files under custom call forwarding. Rules can only be created or edited on a computer; the apps just show them.

1. At voice.google.com, open Settings, then Calls.
2. Under Custom call forwarding, click Create a rule and choose the contacts or contact labels it covers.
3. Under Screen the call, pick Always screen, Never screen, or No preference to let Voice decide.
4. Click Save.

If a contact falls under more than one rule, only the first rule in the list applies, so order matters.

Spam and blocked numbers

Voice puts a warning on calls it suspects are spam. When you confirm one, future calls and texts from that number go to your spam folder, and the Filter spam switch (Menu, Settings, under Security) handles that automatically. A number you block hears "Number not in service" when it calls.

Where it stops for a business

For a personal second number, Voice screening does what it says. For a business, the friction comes from four places.

It covers the Voice number. Google describes it as screening calls to your Google Voice number. VettedCalls works on the number your customers already have. We give your account its own VettedCalls number behind the scenes, and your cell forwards every call to it.

You hear a name, not a reason. Voice plays you the caller's name. We ask who's calling and how we can help, and when you answer you hear the name and the reason before the caller is put through.

You do the sorting. In Voice, you listen to each unknown name and press 1 or 2 yourself. With us, the caller does the pressing after saying who they are, and all you do is answer; there's no key for you to press. Priority Passthrough lets customers who say one of your selected priority words ring straight through to you, regardless of the time of day. They skip that step.

Your spam list is yours alone. Voice's spam folder fills with calls you confirm as spam. Our registry is shared by every VettedCalls customer, and a number with 10 counted flags is blocked for all of them, you included, before it reaches screening.

Receptionist also adds an AI receptionist that picks up when you don't, for every call except priority calls and saved contacts, which go to voicemail. We put the two services side by side on our Google Voice alternative page, pricing has the plan details, and features lists the rest.

Screening on the phone itself

Phones have their own screening, and it works differently. See iPhone call screening, Google call screening on a Pixel, Samsung call screening, or the Android call screening overview for other brands. Our call screening page explains how VettedCalls handles each call.